Let me state, I would not want to raise a family making minimum wage, which in my state is $7.45 per hour. I don't like to see families struggling to pay bills. I think it is a shame to see a person choose between medication and food for the month. I see that more and more in America. Too much.
On the other side of the coin, years ago, there were definite wants and needs in life. Food, clothing, shelter was a need. Anything beyond what was needed to live was a want. And, you had to save for those wants. These days, it seems that wants and needs are one and the same. Here would be my modern day wants
Cell phone
brand name clothing
designer purses
brand new or next to brand new cars
large houses
vacations
Modern day needs
medication
food
clothing
shelter
car
There are probably a few more needs, but you get the gist.
My point being, is America has turned into a consumer and commercialism economy. Even with the housing bust, credit bust and the CEO scams that have taken place, people don't have seemed to learn much. Maybe they were not affected, but I would imagine, they knew someone who was. Did they not learn from the experiences that their friends and neighbors went through?
We were not affected by any of this, but I knew plenty of people who were. I witnessed people loosing their jobs, cars getting repossessed, and houses being foreclosed on. As I watched what was going on, I felt sorry that good hard working people suffered. As selfish as it sounds, I knew that could happen to each and every one of us. Scary.
I suppose that is what led to our life now. We made the decision to do more with less. We made the choice to rely on ourselves versus an employer that we didn't know if our jobs would be there the next day. When the economy tanks, each and every business is affected.
I don't know what will fix a society that is based on consumerism, I don't know if it can be fixed if people don't stand up and pay attention.
