Free Health Care & Free Education- Would the USA be a better place with it?
I was at a friends house and this topic came up last week.
My friend and I were talking about how a lot of young people want to leave the USA because they desire free health care and free education. They see these other countries with rose colored lenses, having all pros and no cons. This builds a resentful attitude of America.
My friends distant family lives overseas, which resulted to the discussion.š
She began to tell me that many countries offer free education and free health care, but it doesnāt come without any strings attached.
Despite what we would like to think, Nothing is truly ever free in life. This seems to be something people always, always, forget.
And if you follow the money train, you quickly will realize that itās not free at all, itās just that taxes are higher so that these things can be offered.
Do we as Americans think that it is right to instill even more taxes on us to benefit others?
Fine if itās an option, but in other countries it is not an option. You work for butt off, only to have taxes taken from you so that other people can have the benefits. Much like how welfare works here.
Where does this leave the average Joe, that is perfectly happy to graduate high school and work at his fatherās mechanic shop or store front? Should he be okay with having money removed from his weekly paycheck so that people who have medical issues or people who desire to further their education can benefit on your dime.
Itās kind of a loaded question. The Taxes that we pay, pay for welfare. If not us, then where should the money be taken from to help those who really need help? And what is the definition of someone who really needs help?
Ii it someone who has a choice and an option, but chooses the easy route out of convenience or pure laziness?
Should welfare be reserved for only the disabled, elderly and single parents?
Getting back to people that really can work, but choose not too.
Some stores here ask if I would like to round up to the nearest dollar when I cash out.
Most of the times I say yes, knowing that the extra change goes to job programs.
But if I was not asked if Iād like to round up, and these stores were āallowedā to just round up my bill to the nearest dollar whether I wanted to or not, would I be fine with that?
Would you?
What if you were on a set income and every penny you have counts, and yet each time you made a purchase or transaction the cashier took it upon themselves to round up the cost on you.
You buy a gallon of milk for $3.29 and you are charged $4.00. You purchase a loaf of bread for $2.47 and are charged $3.00.
Sounds like just cents, but how much would you be giving away at the end of the month or year without your consent?
This is just not right.
People are complaining that there are no jobs. Really?
It appears that people just like to complain that there are no jobs. Iām not entirely sure why though.
I donāt want to be rambling on without giving a few examples thorough.
I have been taking a moment while out and about to ask the store managers if they are hiring and how the turnaround rates are. I only had one manager ask me why I wanted to know, so I told her, but the others were happy to just come right out and chit-chat.
āItās just awful!ā
That was one managers quote to me.
No one wants to work she said.
She said that people get hired and get as far as showing up for orientation, but after that you never see them again.
Mainly because they realize that they will ACTUALLY have to work for their pay.
Another manager told me that they canāt get employees to stay for more then a week or two.
I was told that one guy was hired to be a cashier and when he was asked to wipe down the counters and take out the trash in-between ringing people out, he quit on the spot.š³
Another Manager said that their help wanted signs have been in the window since quarantine. And they are still under staffed. Then she asked me if I was looking for a job. Lol
I told her I have one which I love. So true!
The issue at hand isā
There ARE jobs, but people feel entitled to make $20 per hour if they are expected to wipe counters, check customers out,clean bathrooms, work drive-thurs, pour coffee, make subs, and hang clothing on racks.
Really?
Itās a mixture of issues, but what I keep hearing is that Everyone wants equal pay. But it actually sounds more like people want to get paid without having to work at all, which is why you have the cashapp all over social media with people begging for a handout. I have even had random people message me on Twitter, EBay and Poshmark asking me if I could send them money to their cashapp. Umm, no!
The cashier at Chipotle feels like he/she needs to be making the same pay as the advertising executive. The grocer cashier feels like he/she should be making the same as the computer programmer, and so forth. These are the things that Iām reading from people.
No body wants to save up for anything and everyone wants instant gratification. No one wants to start at the bottom and work their at up.
This is the reason why you hear so many young people saying they want to move to Europe, or other countries that offer more benefits and freebies.
Iām fully aware that with todayās minimum wage, young people canāt put in a forty hour week and get the apartment of their dreams. I have a young adult who is still at home for this very reason. And if they do fine their dream job after college, sure they are making more money, but have nothing to show for it because they spend the next twenty years paying off all their student loans. That has never made any logical sense to me, but young people will continue to do it, assuming that is the only option.
Here, in NC, minimum wage is $7.25. Most companies will only hire part time so they donāt have to pay for healthcare. So you could have two part time jobs to equal one full time. That is what I use to do when I was single. Working two jobs was the only way I was able to have my own apartment. And I was working for $4.50 a hour. And I even pet sat, baby sat, and cleaned house on the side. My rent was $400 per month. Nowadays an efficiency is $800 per month. Had I wanted to go to college, I would have had no choice other then stay at home while working and going to school to pay for my way. That is not the route I wanted though. And I have no regrets for my choice.
Getting back to income.
If you work forty hours per week at $7.25 per hour, and work forty hours, you will have roughly one thousand dollars a month to live on after taxes, give or take.
If your rent is $800 a month you will be left with only $200. Water is always included, but Iām not sure about utilities. You will need about fifty dollars a week for food. Well, there goes the remaining $200 you will also need Fifty dollars a month for most phones, unless you remain on your parents plan. So you will already be on the negative. But this is the price you pay to have it your way.
So yes! We can clearly see that no one can live alone on $7.25 per hour. So of course this is an issue that needs to be fixed. But how?
Only three states have a $15 per hour minimum wage, and it should probably be raised to that in all the states in my opinion, but then again the Government has never been for the people, and wants the end result to be for us to only depend on them and be at their mercy. Why else would they keep the poor, poor? Think about it.
So what does this mean? Many young adults are choosing to stay at home rather then move to an apartment that doesnāt meet the mark. (The projects or Subsidized housing) Yes, you can get on hud or move to the bad area of town and find an apartment for $400 per month still. Currently there are two apartment complexes that come to my mind that are in this price frame, but most of us do not want to live in either area.
However, If that is your only option, then you have to do what you need to do. This is life! I myself have lived in an apartment in a shady area before, because at the time I made a bad life choice which resulted in this consequence.
Turning eighteen and remaining at home seems to be todayās norm, and it has been in many other countries, actually. And this is perfectly fine if your parents donāt mine. My husband and I really donāt mine. Weād rather our kids work and save for a down payment on a house, then pay for a rent.
But all these things come down to life choices. I try to drill this into my kids because it was something I never thought of as a teen, which resulted in my reckless life choices, right up until I got married.
The choices you make today will affect your tomorrowās.
I was on Twitter earlier and a lady I follow in Europe, was complaining that she needed a medical procedure done for two years now, but because of the free health care, sheās just another number waiting her turn. She was ranting up a storm!
Would I rather exchange my current pricy healthcare that I pay, for a universal free healthcare that I will need to wait and wait and wait. No thank you!
Free Education?
The Pros: Well, you get a free ride.
The cons: Over crowded classrooms, higher drop out rates and much less resources. After-all, itās free.
And, you will still need to work and have some sort of job for your basic needs.
And, you will need to feel completely fine taking away from others that are working hard trying to live their own lives that may have taken a different route in life but are taxed up the wazoo.
Just because there is a free handout, and I use the term free lightly, doesnāt mean you should take it.
This reminds me of last year during quarantine, as I was leaving the grocery store in the city, a lady walked up to me with a line of brown bags on a tray and handed me a bag and told me that lunch is on her. She explained how times are tough right now and wants to help the community. She was so nice!
I politely told her no thank you. And then I explained that Iām going home to make lunch. I told her how nice it was that she was offering a free lunch to those who need one. And as I got into the car I saw two homeless people taking a free lunch. And her stopping others to ask if they would like a free lunch. THAT is how it should work.
The lady passing out the free lunches in the store parking lot was one of lifeās little angels who used her own funds to fill a need that she saw.
Of course the free lunches should not just be for the homeless, that is not what Iām saying. Free food should also be for a family whose parents loss their job,etc. not to mention, hungry kids who were not getting their free school lunches during quarantine. There are many different circumstances, and I did not feel right taking away from someone that truly needed it.
But, how would would I have felt if when I cashed out my groceries, the clerk took an apple from my bag and gave it to the lady in the parking lot to give to someone else? Without my permission.
Personally, I may have been okay with it. But if I were a single mom or I recently loss my job, or whatever the case may be… having even one apple taken from me to give to another would just not be right. It wouldnāt! Itās not right to take anything from anybody without their consent.
Why cant the young people see this?
From North to South 