Did anyone else watch 20/20 last night?

[shanvan]

What store is taking them out?

ACME, mid-atlantic to northeast states.  I think ACME owns Safeway.

[IfIOnly]

I know where it went at my school.

 

 

Whoa, 9 mil to coach college football.

[Guest]

Whoa, 9 mil to coach college football.

 

And college players get......

 

uh scholarships. Injured. Laid.

 

But not beau-coup dollars!

[TranquilMind]

Is it sad?  I think there is more to it than that.  Lets take my dad - retired blue collar worker.  He built tractors.  My brother in law does the same job.  In this part of the Midwest, job unemployment is crazy low and there are Help Wanted signs all around.  (Forgive my lack of apostrophes - the key is missing - two year old. :p )

 

My dad was pretty well paid for his job, no denying it, but he started low, he worked hard, he worked in the bowels of the plant for several years where the conditions were brutal, and he got a raise every year.  Every year, there are cost of living raises and obviously raises for superior work ability/ethic.  So, heck yeah, he better be making more after THIRTY years of sacrifice to the company as a kid walking in the door with more EDUCATION but, thus far, unproven commitment, loyalty, and work ethic - and not to mention ZERO experience.

 

Those old guys?  They are better paid because they have proven their worth.  My DH has the degrees to pad his resume but the starting wage between him just out of college and after 15 years experience is huge.  And, IMO, it should be.

 

When a company makes him an offer based on his degree, it is assuming he has the knowledge he ought to have.  When they continue to employ him, give him raises, give him bonuses, that is based off his applied knowledge, his commitment, and mostly experience, and, in this day and age, his ability to network with people he has come into contact in the past fifteen years.  That is almost more valuable than just experience.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No argument at all here that your Dad's 30 years of experience and sacrifice are worth much more than some new employee's service because he happens to have acquired a degree first.  The comparison was between your dad's wages in the beginning and a kid's wages in the beginning today (not after the experience).

 

It's lower today, yet they have whopping school loans, many of them. That's what is hard. 

 

[mommyoffive]

I didn't watch the show, but it sounds like a show I'm really glad aired.

 

So many try to say poverty is deserved - that people just don't work hard enough or try to advance.  So many feel that one ought to be happy earning minimum wage or slightly above it.  It makes me gag TBH.  I try to explain otherwise and get nowhere.  

 

In this country, the rich get wealthier and the rest pay for it.  The system is NOT working.  When 40 - 50% of all working Americans make less than $15.00 per hour ($31,200 income if one says 40 hours per week and 52 weeks per year), while multiple company bigwigs earn in the millions (plural) - something is just plain wrong.

 

Our country is supposed to be a first world country.  I think we're slipping.  If one is wealthy, sure there are plentiful opportunities for everything from food choices to health care, etc, but if one isn't... I'm not even convinced $15/hour is a living wage and close to half make LESS than that.

 

What needs to change is wealth distribution - on a major scale.  There are ways this could happen (not connecting basic income to jobs, etc), but I don't see that happening in the American future.  We're too hooked on practically unchecked capitalism and human nature is rarely content with what they have, so the wealthy always need more.  ('Tis tough to live earning merely millions, you know!)

 

In the meantime, we (personally) do what we can (tipping, supporting as many mom & pop places as we can, donating to charities, esp individual causes, as we are able, and trying to teach the next generation to be understanding and compassionate, etc).  I always wish we could do more (sigh).

 

Yes there are some who cheat the system, but there are far more who have simply given up figuring out there isn't hope (drowning sorrows in cheap drugs, etc).

 

I admire those who are trying to make it work and do my best to support them at all levels (even preferring larger companies who are loved by their workers, etc).  It takes time to be an educated consumer, and of course we're not perfect, but we try. 

 

 

I love your post.

 

I think selfishly I was thinking what else can I do to make sure this doesn't happen to me.   But I was also thinking what can I do to help the people that are in this position? 

You gave some great thoughts on the second part. 

[creekland]

A great time to find this story as I'm waiting around today.  Apparently it's not really millions individuals need.  It's billions - while half the world struggles:  (At least Gates and Zuckerberg finance some world worthy projects...  I admire them for that.)

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-38613488

 

"The world's eight richest individuals have as much wealth as the 3.6bn people who make up the poorest half of the world, according to Oxfam."

 

 

The world's eight richest billionaires

1. Bill Gates (US): co-founder of Microsoft (net worth $75bn)

2. Amancio Ortega (Spain): founder of Zara owner Inditex (net worth $67bn)

3. Warren Buffett (US): largest shareholder in Berkshire Hathaway (net worth $60.8bn)

4. Carlos Slim Helu (Mexico): owner of Grupo Carso (net worth $50bn)

5. Jeff Bezos (US): founder and chief executive of Amazon (net worth $45.2bn)

6. Mark Zuckerberg (US): co-founder and chief executive of Facebook (net worth $44.6bn)

7. Larry Ellison (US): co-founder and chief executive of Oracle (net worth $43.6bn)

8. Michael Bloomberg (US): owner of Bloomberg LP (net worth $40bn)

Source: Forbes billionaires' list, March 2016

Edited January 16, 2017 by creekland