Is rape and pillage really the only way to get ahead these days?

[The Backlash Cometh]

It's everywhere and we know it. Most of us are all one pink slip away from the poor house.

I was just thinking about this as Hillary was committing to helping out new buyers with new home loans. I'm thinking to myself, self, I should be in that stage of my life that I know if I live like a monk, I should be able to weather anything. But, that's not true, is it? A person buys a new home today, but so what? If the city they live in doesn't have enough quality jobs to accomodate an upwardly mobile way up the social ladder one of two things happen. Either they lose the house altogether when they lose their job and can't find an adequate job within a month or two; or they have no choice but to move to find a better job, and there's that American dream house of theirs, left behind. Because once they move into the new city, everything they made off the sale of the last house is eaten away in rental fees.

The answer? Get into predatory markets that pay well? Who knows? What does it take these days to get ahead? Is there any DUer out there that feels the future looks so bright, they have to wear shades?

[Selatius]

1. Want to become a billionaire?

You should read this:

http://www.counterpunch.com/petras03212007.html

Basically, you have to lie and cheat and bribe your way into a position to solicit corporate welfare from the government. A good way to become rich quick is to get the government to privatize one of its operations by selling it to you...undervalued. You can then turn around and sell it at market price and make a killing or keep control of it and let the revenue flow into your bank account. You can siphon out hundreds of billions from the host economy, as demonstrated by the Russian oligarch billionaires.

Read about how billionaires got rich the world over in many cases by reading the above link.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. That's what I'm saying.

[Selatius]

8. Well, you can always fly straight and narrow and take a job in the lower-paid service sector

If you live in a city and find your computer or manufacturing job was sent overseas by your boss, you can work cleaning up hotel rooms at the Marriott or the customer service desk there or some other service sector employer. You probably won't make as much as people once did in manufacturing and other once vibrant jobs in heavy industry that built the blue-collar working class of America, but when it comes to putting food on the table, a roof over your head, it's better than nothing.

Hell, if you're adventuresome enough, you might start a small business, a restaurant or even a mini-mart. If you're lucky, it becomes your bread winner, and maybe you'll grow enough to have a staff of 10 employees to handle things if you take the day off.

Unfortunately, not everybody can own a small business. Otherwise, there would be no workers to do the menial labor and the more disagreeable tasks.

And that's the message many Americans are receiving. Work more for less. You are left to clean up the shit left behind by people who just happen to have more capital than you and who coincidentally treat everybody else like crap.

If it makes rich people happy, then America says you should bite the bullet. If not for yourself, than for your rich bosses on Wall Street. Maybe they will treat you better if you work harder.

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. Is anybody out there even thinking about this?

Do you realize the rotten world we're creating because people have to be complete assholes in order to afford the roof over their houses?

[Blue_Tires]

4. great info in the link, thanks nt

[blues90]

3. That's what it seems like .

I am ready to toss a backpack over my shoulder with my wife and her backpack and just hit the road walking and hope that sooner than later we run across some sort of place and a way to sustain life until we drop dead .

I don't see anyway possible to make a good income anymore let alone buy a house or a used beater car .

I am sick of the game of business and the low pay jobs that seem to be all that's left . I had a good job 2 years ago until that evaporated now we live from day to day rather than month to month .

It still amazes me how many people here are driving new cars and have Ipods or anything else that costs more than basic necessity .

I guess I have been far to honest all my 57 years on earth and this is the reward one gets .

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. Thank you for posting.

I feel the same way. It seems like the only people who get rewarded in this community are people who have no scruples. Everybody else is considered a deadbeat.

[Hubert Flottz]

5. It beats working a real job I guess...

[walldude]

7. The entertainment industry pays a living wage

I worked in the corporate sector for years doing video for trade shows and conferences. After giving 16 years of my life to a company that paid me just enough to keep me and my family going I got fired(thanks to a DU post and a nosy freeper but that's a whole nother story). I found out that the skills I developed were seriously desired on the concert circuit. In the first year I made more than double what I did in the corporate sector. This year I will more than triple what I was making. Not to mention that the work is immensely more satisfying. I realize that this is not going to work for everyone but it sure did for me. I'm not going to get rich but I am now in a position to take good care of my family and I actually enjoy my work. If you can get into music, theater, film, or television you can find a real career there.

[DaveJ]

9. We have some of the most amoral billionaires ever running this country

Most make money off the rising cost of commodities and real estate, not creating new jobs or doing anything else to help others.

In other words, they get rich making things harder for us to afford. Nice. And we just take it, and get called communists or whiners if we say anything about it.

But I do feel more optimistic about the future, knowing that the people are waking up as a result of public discussion like this.