When people hear of sweat shops being busted in 3rd world countries they get outraged and offended, when sweat shops are being run here in America it’s “capitalism”. This comment will offend some and others will think I’m crazy but since Abe Lincoln freed the slaves corporations and the rich have been trying to bring the practice back and are succeeding at a high rate. Lets looks at an example
Company A pays min. wage 7.25 an hour and you work 40 hours a week you make 1160 a month - of course you don’t see that much
1160
- 6.2% Fica Tax (that rate is for the poor, since you only pay on first 117K rate is lower the richer you are)
- 1.45% Medicare Tax
= 1071.00
If you live in states/locality with their own tax there goes another 5% so you are down to 1015.00 then you have housing/utilities (estimates)
Mortgage / Rent 250.00
Water/Refuse Bill 100.00
Electric 100.00
Gas 100.00
Phone 50.00
TV/Internet 75.00
That leaves you with 342.00 a month assuming you don’t have a car payment or need gas. That leaves you 11.00 a day to feed your family and buy necessities and that’s IF you don’t get sick and need medical care or have any other surprise expenses..
Now you get sick and miss some work but you still have to pay your bills and feed your family so you ask for a little help - maybe Medicaid or Food stamps until you get back on your feet and all of a sudden you are labeled lazy, a taker or a “welfare queen”. Slave owners used to beat, murder and rape their slaves so I’m not comparing it to that but now they try to shame you into not asking for a hand up because god forbid you rely on assistance that’s not the “American Way” they tell you.
Now you’re in serious debt and stuck in that job you hate and have to start looking for another income because working multiple jobs just to feed your kids is “American exceptionalism” and “self reliance” so now you’re working two dead end jobs, not seeing your family and still scraping by without insurance.
This is why we don’t have universal healthcare like every other civilized nation, it has nothing to do with costs or long waits because countries with it have lower costs and not much longer wait times. It’s about keeping you in line, if you need that dead end low income job because it offers you some insurance you won’t quit to find something you enjoy because you might get sick and not have the safety net of health care.
Who are these “sweat shops” that don’t pay employees enough to live on or allow them to see a doctor when ills? Some names like Wal Mart and McDonald’s which themselves are HUGE “welfare queens” receiving over 1,000,000,000 a year in subsidies and tax breaks each.
So the moral is if you are a single mother without health insurance and need a hand you are a lazy welfare queen taker and what is wrong with America but if you are a multi-billion dollar business and ask the government for a handout it’s a “subsidy” and capitalism. So don’t complain and get back to work because rich people everywhere depend on you busting your ass so they can get richer and don’t worry if you get sick there’s 100 people waiting to replace you.
