This story is endemic at how ridiculous greed has become in our country. It's getting so bad that 99.9% of people in our country are being thrown into a meat grinder that's inescapable in a very real sense. I'd be humbled if you read my elaboration below.
Full disclaimer: our family is far from hard up. We do well enough to almost be called middle class with me being sole provider.
For the past 7 or so years I've worked full time as a software engineer, and I still do. It took me the better part of a decade to earn my degree, because I was foolish enough to believe I could work my way through college. (I did, but I sacrificed my young decade to do so.) Once I graduated though, I just crossed the six-figure income line at $100,500 per year. I saved and invested every dime I could through that time, retaining my rinky-dink studio apartment that I lived in through college. Sounds like a bachelor with a bachelors set up to do okay yeah?
About 3 years ago, I met my now wife and I love her dearly. We have three children together, and we love them dearly. We do everything we can to give them what we didn't have growing up. Yet, over the last three years costs for our basic needs (food, shelter, and paying the electric bill) has gone up nearly threefold, all other things held equal. And for what?! What could possibly justify permanent increases for a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, or a bag of rice?!
Over the past three years, we've had to fight for custody of her two eldest children, who were essentially kidnapped from her before we met. (It's a horrible, sad story that exploited a strange loophole in custody laws which hopefully we can tell and warn the world against.) Given the legal bills and constant having to travel to fight the bitch who stole them, we've nearly run bankrupt.
We've gone from having upwards of $20k in savings to having $20 in savings today and almost $11k in credit card debt, quite literally. Now, we're quite literally fighting for our lives to stay afloat and fed. Of course, being raised in this shit system, I'm no stranger to working two jobs; “honey, I'll get a second job doing whatever I can get to help us out.”
Here I am, two weeks into searching for any part time job I can get, and not a single call back! “How about calling them and follow up?” Oh I hear you over there asking that, and I do. That's how I know that these jack-offs aren't serious about hiring and aren't desperate for help. It's all talking points you guys; all bullshit. I am so fucking goddamn sick of hearing our fascist capitalist overlords crow on about how “no one will work!” and that “we can't seem to keep anyone working for us at dirt wages!” Because here stands a man who just wants to keep his feed fed and housed whilst paying some capitalist pig attorneys through the nose, but can't be hired because he won't put his day job side-saddle to return to being a dirt-wage slave!
Capitalism is a crock, and so is the “free market economy”, because it's far from free. We've been lied to peoplechiks. But, you're here, so you already know that.
Working is bullshit. Thanks for reading my rant.