Is society miserable?

[Sideways]

Why would government subsidize childcare when teenagers can do it. My state sacked head start about ten years ago. Cuz socialism I guess and “lazy people just want free stuff”.

So women can return to work?
Because good quality early learning leads to healthier more successful kids?
Because subsidising childcare the govt gets a massive return on its investment from the taxes that people who are able to continue working end up paying?

There’s a lot of humbug in this thread. Like, the world is going to the dogs and it’s never been this bad and everyone is miserable and… I guess it depends on your perspective and the information you have available to you.

 

[Tinyflame]

We need subsidized childcare here and available spaces IMHO. I think prioritizing people's welfare and care pays off in society. And reduces a lot of stress.

 

[Rose White]

You are exactly right @Sideways and @Tinyflame . Sorry I was being sarcastic and didn’t say, I know it doesn’t come across on text.

I guess it depends on your perspective

In USA it depends on what state you live in. I just happen to live in one that is attempting to privatize every aspect of society. When my son was addicted to drugs and alcohol at age 12 I was told by the (private) rehab facilities (which the county referred me to) that they don’t take kids on weed and alcohol only heroin, meth, fentanyl etc because they don’t have the space. (I would have had to send him to a city hours away or out of state and that’s if I had tens of thousands of dollars). My T told me to pray he gets arrested, which three years later he finally did multiple times and now he gets services. There are no truancy officers anymore, I was told by my son’s school, but they have their own police force (HS population approaching 3,000 due to school closures). It may not be the whole world but it’s the world around me and others in states like mine.

the information you have available to you

It’s the services you have available to you that make the difference. We just don’t have that. I am glad there are places in the world that have that. What they say in America is that if you don’t like your state just move. Or stop complaining and being lazy.

The good things are that there are no regulations so the government leaves you alone (except for the police, but only in the suburbs because in my city the metropolitan police force is working at less than half the capacity they are supposed to have—and the police are the main social workers now.). The main helpers of the poor are churches.

I think that’s really cool that people have social services somewhere in the world. I think that would be neat if we could get them back, but that is not the direction we are heading. My state is kind of a canary in the coalmine. It’s a place to make money. Is it surprising to you that prisons, hospitals, schools, and rentals are run by multinational investment companies? It seems unsustainable doesn’t it? But money speaks loudly, and louder than human welfare in some US states more than others.

 

[Roland]

Here it's stranger still: teachers where I am will soon be the best paid in the country, those with seniority making 6 figures. They pay more to those raising pigs than children (child care), but even a few years ago if you were late picking your child up, say 10 minutes, it was a 300$ fine. Our country is trying to establish 10$/ day childcare, but there is a gross shortage of spaces. I have found that female-dominated professions pay substantially less on average. Nurses here gained a massive pay bump but not until the 1990's.

Wow that's wild. Where do you live?

 

[scout86]

f you don’t like your state just move. Or stop complaining and being lazy.

What they generally DON'T say is that the other option is to get better people in office and change things. That's a big lift, I know. But it's hard for me to believe that the real majorities in states like yours don't agree with YOU. (You'd be welcome in my state, though. With our "dangerously liberal" governor.)

 

[Rose White]

@scout86 we currently have a liberal governor. But our state senate, which makes the laws, is overwhelmingly conservative business people and has been for quite a while. Most of the cabinet is also red. We are considered a purple state and voted blue last presidential election—possibly will this time as well. Which gives us a little hope.

Also the split between parties is razor-thin in my county, and overwhelmingly red in most counties. Blue strongholds are in the many fractured voting districts of the major city. Both parties agreed on legalization of cannabis so we do come sometimes!

The way we currently try to fight the privatization is through the courts with class-action lawsuits. Slow, not very flashy, but can send a message, perhaps. That is only beginning to get underway.

 

[Rose White]

It suddenly dawned on me that so-called rich people can also have less than nothing by being in massive debt but surrounded by stuff. I don’t know why economics is so confusing to me—oh wait, it’s confusing to most people I think.

 

[Friday]

So women can return to work?
Because good quality early learning leads to healthier more successful kids?
Because subsidising childcare the govt gets a massive return on its investment from the taxes that people who are able to continue working end up paying?

There’s a lot of humbug in this thread. Like, the world is going to the dogs and it’s never been this bad and everyone is miserable and… I guess it depends on your perspective and the information you have available to you.

This.

Here it's stranger still: teachers where I am will soon be the best paid in the country, those with seniority making 6 figures. They pay more to those raising pigs than children (child care), but even a few years ago if you were late picking your child up, say 10 minutes, it was a 300$ fine. Our country is trying to establish 10$/ day childcare, but there is a gross shortage of spaces. I have found that female-dominated professions pay substantially less on average. Nurses here gained a massive pay bump but not until the 1990's.

teachers in my area have made 6 figures for 20 years. And strike almost annually. As do nurses & cops. Which means? 100k = lower middle class, in constant threat of poverty. In my area. When 30k per year, or 12k, is the same economic value in other areas of the country.

Is a 2b1ba fixer upper starter home 10k or 500k? Depends on where you live. As does whether a salary is livable, comfortable, extravagant, lux, or… make you decide between utilities & necessary medicine. The exact same number? Can mean ALL of those. Depending on the area you live.

 

[Rose White]

@Friday so true. And now with online jobs people can get paid from your city’s wages but live in my city’s housing. But not the teachers and police and nurses.

 

[Tinyflame]

Yes @Friday , long since here been a shrinking of the middle class, an ever increasing divide between those having a great deal and those starving and homeless. And a country where individuals are carrying much more debt than most admit.

 

[Rose White]

I just read that governors of TX and FL made it illegal for any government agency to mandate or regulate heat/water breaks. Corporations have the power to decide for themselves what they see as appropriate breaks. Are people who work outside in the heat seen as disposable? I imagine this looks either frightening, stupid, or evil by people living outside of USA.

The reason this came up is that there are new federal guidelines that have been rolled out for workers’ rights related to heat. TX and FL already had the laws in place to block cities and counties from protecting workers, so this should hopefully override that?

I think the misery of a society is tied to how much corporate rights are valued over workers rights.

 

[Anitza]

Okay, so I got a lot to sort out here so bare with me.

I have an entrepreneur spirit, I'm a visionary, and small business owner.

I'm more intelligent and more logical than most women.

And of course, I have PTSD, and personality splitting.

I can't work full time? Like I could if I had to for survival, but it's miserable for me. Life being working, recovering from working, or preparing to go to work is a terrible way to live.

When I say I can't, I mean I have, but it was miserable. If I did anything after work besides come home, eat dinner, ask and prepare for work and sleep, I would be stressed and exhausted the next day. If I didn't get 7 or more hours of sleep, I struggle to get through the day. And I mean like sometimes coming home and needing to sit in the dark for hours to be able to decompress, that's what I mean by recover (not a daily occurrence but regular).

I'm very blessed to have a husband that makes good money, so I can say I live b exactly the lifestyle I want. I stay home with my baby, and work part time.


Oh also, United States Corporate America is bullshit so that may be part of it.

Although I'm not in your situation with a family, this really resonated with me. I've been a hospitality worker most of my life. It's something I was born into but have never managed to escape even with a useless "liberal arts" college degree. Anytime I've left, I've returned because I couldn't make enough to live. That being said, as a person with C-PTSD, it has absolutely killed me. That environment is literally like pouring gasoline on your PTSD every day, and getting paid for it. You can quickly google how scientists say that waiting tables is the most stressful job, as much so as being a neurosurgeon. I just don't know what I'm going to do...And the office jobs I've had killed my spirit to the point where I wanted to ram my head into my computer, especially when I wasn't bringing enough money to survive and was being sexually harassed! I often wonder if it's just me! I wonder if I should be on disability sometimes because I cannot continue in this way and NEED to work! No trust funds here