The Rich, the Poor, and the Middle Class

[Conan71]

HT- Yep working schmuck here and bottom-feeding troll- so far as you know.  I work my 40+ at something I love to do and I make a good living for my level of education.  George Kaiser wouldn't wipe his a** with my paycheck, and yet there are others who would think I'm well off.

I'm fortunate, my job doesn't really feel like work to me since I enjoy it as much as I do.  According to my boss, I earn every penny I make and I was a wise investment for him.  My needs are met, I have about all my wants, and my savings are growing.  All in a "crappy" economy. [xx(]

I believe once you mentioned you do or did some sort of legal clerical work, yes?  Why didn't you or why don't you go to law school and put yourself in a position to collect a larger part of the fees the firm generates and be the one who distributes the pittance to the minions in the firm, instead of being one of the minions collecting it?  

Please don't say you don't have the opportunity to return to school and better your skills.  Millions of people have worked and attended school simultaneously.  Many people have earned baccalaureate and post-graduate college degrees well into their 50's and 60's, so don't say you are too old to go back and do it.

If you are over 23 and under-employed or on the dole, you can get financial assistance for school.  If you have to pay to keep a roof over your head, you have to make the the personal sacrifice in the hours which are required to work and go to school for a few years.

Do yourself a favor: quit living in a fantasy world that Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton is suddenly going to improve your standard of living in 2009.  What will your excuse be then?  That Bush tanked the economy so bad that the new President couldn't assure you a better job if he or she wanted to?  

I seriously doubt you were really doing that much better when you lived in San Francisco, considering how high the cost of living is out there.  Only your own ambition and motivation are going to improve your personal economic picture.

George Bush isn't the reason I'm doing well, nor was Bill Clinton, Bush I, or Reagan.  I'm doing well because I have many marketable skills, figured out which one was my best asset, and decided long ago on the standard of living I wanted for myself and my kids and refused to settle for anything less.  Anyone can gain a variety of job skills if they have the motivation and/or inquisitiveness to learn something new.  

I went through one period of near destitution, not because of the government or economy, but because of a poor personal and business decision on my part.

My wife does well for herself and has a degree that took her the better part of ten years to earn because she had two small children at home and was working full time.  If she hadn't done that, she would still be earning $8 an hour working at a florist with no benefits.  

Yet she is back in school looking to further her education at a great personal sacrifice in her discretionary time to do it.  It's because she has better goals and aspirations above and beyond where she is at now, not necessarily financially, but for personal achievement and flexibility it may afford her later.  She's an example of someone who overcame overwhelming odds to get to where she is and she isn't stopping till she reaches her ultimate goal.  She also knows her own betterment isn't going to fall into her lap.  She knows she has to earn it.  

Me, I'm just a comfortable slob, I have no intentions of going back to school.  If for some reason the company I work for was ever sold and it came down to having to further my education to remain at my standard of living, I'd sure as hell do it and not snipe about how politicians aren't allowing me to earn what I'm worth.

I didn't grow up in a socialist society expecting the government to keep potatoes and cabbage on my table.  You grew up in the same America I did.

[cannon_fodder]

for the record - I'm Libertarian not Republican.

But you can add me to whatever 'friend' list you so desire. []