American Social Contract
Based on responses to polls, a majority of us–Republicans, Democrats, and Independents– have consistently agreed to 5 simple principles. This is the American Social Contract.
First: Everyone should have an equal chance to get ahead.
Second: No one should be discriminated against because of race, religion, gender, or sexual preference.
Third: No one who works full time should have to live in poverty.
Fourth: People should take responsibility for themselves and their families, but deserve help if they need it through no fault of their own.
Fifth: No one should have special privilege and power based on wealth or class.
These values are anchored in moral teachings and democratic ideals that often predate the founding of our republic.
We know we’ve veered far away from all these principles. But that doesn’t make us any less dedicated to them.
No matter how discouraging things may seem right now–regardless of the bigotry, cruelty, and greed and Obstruction of Justice that dominate our politics and corrupt our society–it’s important to remember the positive values we share and the social contract that binds us together.
Let's break this down even further.
1. Right now the average Americans have the most obstacles in their way than any other Presidency. We have very high cost for education, healthcare childcare and home ownership. Much of this is caused from lack of the Government to really get involved by stopping the monopolies, and questioning or stop the rising prices of prescription drugs and hospital cost. Or because of laws in place.
Our own Government also opened a revolving door for predatory lenders in college education. They made predatory lending to students legal!
Even though healthcare is bankrupting americans and making them homeless our Government has done nothing to stop healthcare prices from rising even further. Many Americans don't know how bad prices have skyrocketed until they need it.
Health spending totaled $74.6 billion in 1970. In 30 years or by the year 2000, health expenditures had reached about $1.4 trillion, and in 2017 the amount spent on health had more than doubled to $3.5 trillion. Total health expenditures represent the amount spent on healthcare and health-related activities (such as administration of insurance, health research, and public health), including expenditures from both public and private funds.
On a per capita basis, health spending has increased over 30-fold in the last four decades, from $355 per person in 1970 to $10,739 in 2017. In constant 2017 Dollars, the increase was almost 6-fold from $1,797 In 1970 to $10,739 in 2017.
This puts a substantial burden on those making a below par minimum wage that hasn't raised since the late 1970's at a rate that keeps up with inflation.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. There is also the taxes raised on households while lowered on Corporations.
In 2017, 80.4 million workers age 16 and older in the United States were paid at hourly rates, representing 58.3 percent of all wage and salary workers. Among those paid by the hour, 542,000 workers earned exactly the prevailing federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. About 1.3 million had wages below the federal minimum. Together, these 1.8 million workers with wages at or below the federal minimum made up 2.3 percent of all hourly paid workers. https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/minimum-wage/2017/home.htm
2. "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" is a well-known phrase in the United States Declaration of Independence. The phrase gives three examples of the "unalienable rights" which the Declaration says have been given to all humans by their creator, and which governments are created to protect. But when States create laws that hurt humans they are literally taking Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness away from them. In other words people they are denying them their rights under Constitutional law. Not one of us is above the law, but none of us is below the law either. We are equal!
3. A full time job for many in the US today is a joke. First you have to get a full time job, which is very hard to do if you live in a rural area. But what they don't tell you is that many places in big cities are now hiring part time to get out of the insurance requirements for which has skyrocketed. You can't hire full time if insurance for business has tripled, but wages have not. Who will buy your product or service if they can't afford it? Wages are stalemate in many places, but mainly in the southern states. While northern states bask in good wages and haphazard insurance premiums, the south has to balance what is more important...food, education or healthcare. Pick your poison wisely because if you don't you could lose more than a roof over your head.
4. A recent White House report on imposing work requirements, for example, put Medicaid, food assistance, and housing aid into a rebranded program called “noncash welfare.”
Defined this broadly, a large chunk of America relies on welfare. Add in disability benefits, unemployment insurance, and medical benefits, such so-called “welfare” amounts to 17 percent of the average American’s income.
Welfare has become especially unpopular in “red” states that vote Republican and support Trump.
But these same states are often the biggest beneficiaries of government assistance.
Include price supports for agriculture, subsidies for land management and forestry, and defense contractors, and you find that a large portion of the economies of red states depend on federal dollars.
Here’s the irony. Residents of “blue” states send more tax money to Washington than they get back in federal help, while residents of “red” states send less money to Washington than they get back in federal help.
In 2015, for example, New Jersey got back only 74 cents in federal spending for every tax dollar it sent to Washington. New York got back 81 cents, Connecticut: 82 cents, and Massachusetts: 83 cents.
But when you turn to the red states, it’s the opposite. Mississippi received $2.13 for every tax dollar it sent to Washington. West Virginia: $2.07. Kentucky: $1.90. And South Carolina: $1.71.
So the next time a Republican degrades welfare and creates new laws to take those benefits away from their citizens remind them their States are the biggest spenders and receivers of welfare in the United States, and they are denying their citizens benefits after trashing wages and putting unnecessary burdens on their citizens while begging the Feds to pull them out of their mess they created by keeping wages below par, and then made it difficult to get help, plus degrading those benefits by adding a welfare label. What nerve. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/04/map-shows-what-a-living-wage-would-be-in-every-us-state.html
5. Everyone deserves a equal chance but things are no longer equal, and we have lawmakers and regular everyday citizens that want to push equality out. There is nothing in our Constitution that says everyone is equal except Trans, or Gay, or poor American people. You need to spot them and know everyone in the US is an American citizen and all have the same rights and shout from the rooftops what really is going on when they make laws that state otherwise. There are lawsuits over this stuff too.
No one person is special enough to be above the law, or to be able to miss hoops to change the law to suit them. If I pay 7% in taxes and I get no subsidies, then a rich man or woman should get the same. If my business pays taxes then so should Amazon, Walmart, and iPhone. We all are supposed to pull our own weight, but many have obstacles in the way before they even start. Others sail though because they have cash to blow and will save thousands, or even millions of dollars paying an attorney.
All you have to do is look at taxes, wages, and the Justice System and you will see what I mean. People want to work for what they get. So I think this idea of a guaranteed minimum wage is something most people want. No one wants to bust ass all week and still not be able to support their families. I don't care what Ivanka thinks, she is and always was looking out for her own business while making $1,000 bucks an hour, take it away and give her a minimum wage. She will be homeless the whole month. and most of her workers they know how to pinch pennies and live paycheck to pay check. Look at her daddy too he never wanted to pay a good wage in his life to anyone. That is why he had illegals working for him, and he knew ICE was fixing to come knocking. He fired every one of them. D. Trump said, "They want the ability to be able to secure a job. They want the ability to live in a country where there is the potential for upward mobility." Securing a job is one thing but having it bring security to you is another. You do that with decent wages.
Justice in our country sucks, and there's just no other way to describe it. You can spend 3 months to five years in jail just waiting for bail, and then you spend another amount because you can't make bail. Meanwhile you lose your job, home, car, and freedom and it doesn't matter how innocent you are if you don't want to be locked up then plea deal the charges. Plus you get an attorney that doesn't have the time to prove you innocent so you have plea deals at record amounts all over the US. Don't even get me started on the trumped up charges on petty crimes either and the excessive amounts on bails. Cash is king in the Justice department and if you are poor then to hell with you. Want to fix this real quick? Start suing the hell out of ALL OF THEM! The City, County, and State. They will change the laws if they have a couple hundred or more filling lawsuits.
In closing I just want to say most of this stuff effects just the poor. It was never meant to be this way because our Constitution says so. Over the years different lawmakers, State and city officials decided to change the system. They made it very hard for people to get out of poverty. They absolutely refuse to help the poor.
In all honesty we all know that regardless the job the position needs to be filled. We all don't have posh jobs sitting in three piece suits behind a desk.
We have:
Food preparation and serving workers, including fast food
Dishwashers
Cashiers
Hosts and hostesses
Amusement park attendants
Movie theater ushers, ticket takers
Farm workers
Personal and home care aides
Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners
Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers
Manicurists and Pedicurists
Hair care workers
Childcare workers
Waiters and Waitresses
Everytime you go to a grocery store, or you run to a fast food store, or go to the movies, or need a maid at home, or at a motel/hotel you add less value to the person doing that job you depend on. Why are their jobs less valued even though EVERYONE depends on them everyday of the week? This is one of the major reasons we need to follow the American Social Contract.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obstruction_of_justice
https://www.houstonpress.com/news/group-sues-harris-county-over-bail-system-that-keeps-people-in-jail-just-because-theyre-poor-8417193
https://www.ajc.com/news/local/calhoun-case-should-poor-person-who-can-make-bail-held-jail/HKd1Rb8ki1U9nV8bCPUGsM/
https://www.facingsouth.org/2019/02/georgia-legislators-try-kill-bail-reform-and-require-jail-poor
https://www.al.com/news/2017/10/too_poor_to_make_bail_alabama.html
https://www.philly.com/news/money-bail-philly-aclu-criminal-justice-reform-yasp-pretrial-20190312.html
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