There is change in the air. One only has to read the daily news and look at our current political climate to see that many in this country are prepared to revolt. The fact that Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, candidates who are polar opposites, have garnered widespread support and catapulted to the forefront of their respective parties, should have, by now, captured the attention of even the most apathetic.
People are sick of politicians and fed up with childish behavior by congressional representatives who act more like pre-schoolers fighting for ownership of a favorite toy than grown people making decisions that impact the lives and livelihoods of their constituents.
America is a land of opportunity filled with riches and resources beyond imagination. Yet January finds many feeling burdened, overwhelmed, empty, and depleted. We struggle to scrape together enough money to buy food and keep heat on to stay warm in our homes. Many struggle to keep a home.
For most of us, the frustration stems from the fact that we do everything that we were told we needed to do to be responsible and have a good life. We are not slacking. We work 30 to 80 hours a week. We don't feel that the world owes us anything. We are more than willing to work to get what we want. We are more than willing to expend time and energy to achieve reward. We want for our children the same things our parents and grandparents wanted for theirs- freedom, good health, and the opportunity to pursue happiness.
Much of the reporting and media coverage we see promotes the idea that we are doing something wrong. We are not working enough or in the right place or in the right way. We are in the wrong field, or the wrong industry, or the wrong company. The country is great but something is wrong with us. If we would simply follow the rules better and get in line, we would not have the problems we have.
We want too much, have unrealistic expectations, and we are lazy. We made poor choices in life. We expect welfare, government handouts, and subsidies paid for by the hard working people. We think we should have everything without having to do anything.
And here my friends is where the disconnect gets real. Democracy works when people participate. When people do not, whether due to apathy, hopelessness, or institutionalized exclusion, it does not. When candidates are funded and controlled by special interest groups, they work for those groups, not the people. When elections are bought and sold, we devolve into dictatorship and corruption.
As a whole, we are not lazy or unwilling to work. The issue at hand is that we are capable of basic math, and unwilling to enslave ourselves further in an economy where the payout has clearly been rigged.
We see our company brought in several billion dollars this year, and the CEO was paid 45 million. The reality is, many of us can be perfectly fine with that. We know it is a job that requires long hours, stress, hard decisions, and dedication. The problems really crystallize when a 25 million dollar bonus is added to that 45 million dollar salary. Then, the same week the 25 million dollar bonus is added to the CEO salary, the employees see their medical copays increase by 20%. So, the CEO gets 25 million, and the employees who make 10.00 an hour for a 40 hour workweek lose 80 more dollars of what would have been 400 BEFORE taxes were taken out.
Of course, that example is based on those fortunate enough to actually have what is considered a good job - one with full time hours, insurance, and some benefits. The contrast when industries that only have part time jobs and no benefits are considered widens the chasm even further.
We don't actually begrudge anyone being successful or making money. We tend to be happy about successful endeavors, and we love seeing people live their potential. We are apt to get sentimental and teary eyed when we see people achieve their dreams, learn, grow, and excel. Of course, that could be because our ranks are filled with educators, doctors, nurses, artisans, musicians, artists, farmers, and the like. We have heart. We have courage. We have strength. We have resilience. We have a sense of fairness and right and wrong. We have a moral compass that is not determined by the highest bidder.
Our biggest issues generally lie with unfair policy and bad management. Just as in the private sector, it leads to animosity, apathy, and wasted human potential. We look around our country and our world, and we see abundance. We see beauty, health, vitality, energy, and money. We see trees, streams, wildlife, clear skies and oceans.
We are not negative, apathetic people by nature. On the contrary, we are believers and supporters and dreamers and doers. We are, however, tired.
We are tired of paying and paying into government taxes and funds, but seeing little or no benefit from our contribution. It angers us that able-bodied, healthy adults get benefits that were put in place for those who have real need. It frustrates us that women who have multiple children and are already receiving government aid have more. It makes our blood boil when we see people manipulating the system, but we have collectively reached a turning point with two different states of mind.
One mindset is that the only way to make a change is to charge in like a bull in a china shop with guns blasting and sirens blaring. Make rules, make regulations, build walls, and surround them with razor wire and guns. Prepare to shoot and blast everyone who challenges the change, because it is desperately needed and if the change does not come, the outsiders will ruin our way of life like they have started to do already.
The other mindset is that while there needs to be radical clear change with immediate, visible impact, it would be dangerous to create the same violent war zone dynamic in this country that is spreading through so much of the world already. Change the rules, make new laws, create a system to level the playing field but still allow growth and reward individual effort. Focus on collective strength and a sense of community, and trust that when supported and empowered, most will respond positively.
The truth is, while many will never admit it, there are strengths and weaknesses to both ideals. We have reached a point in time where people are fed up with the status quo, and they are ready for change by any means necessary. The disillusion has spread, the distrust has grown, and a mindset of self-preservation has started to replace patriotism and loyalty on a widespread scale in this country.
Decisiveness and willingness to make tough calls is admirable, but when that is tempered with arrogance and intolerance, living in America could become a lot like reporting to work daily in a company where you are nothing but a commodity - a number in a chair, disrespected, devalued, and belittled. Or, it could become a place where you are locked in by our valiant attempts to lock others out.
It is not hard to imagine curfews enacted, arbitrary stops and searches, and interrogations to protect national interests. And those guns we hold so dear? Only duly appointed government officials will be able to own those. National security trumps personal rights any day.
We are under no disillusion that everyone is just going to play fair and fall into place and do their part. If that were going to happen, we wouldn't be in the place we are now. We are experiencing what apathy and trust in a governing body beholden to financial institutions and private investors brings. We are also seeing the outcome of entitlement programs without clear oversight and accountability.
We are not concerned at this point with luxury items and discretionary spending. We are talking about healthcare, shelter, utilities, and communication.
History gives us example after example of revolutions that occur when oppression and hopelessness are rampant in a country or region. Typically, these revolutions come about through violence and bloodshed because the ruling class is never going to willingly give up power.
"We the people" are sick of being told there is not enough money to pay for health insurance for our families while the executives at the companies where we work buy mansions and vacation homes and plastic surgery.
We are tired of paying insurance and then being hit with out of network billed charges in the thousands because we did not interrupt the surgeon in the Emergency Room to ask if he was in network. We would have, really we would have, but we were passed out and not breathing at the time.
We are tired of paying thousands of dollars in taxes to support our government and infrastructure while legislators allow corporations to make billions without paying their fair share. We really don't mind some tax credits, we understand the logic and intention. But, when a company changes strategy and there is no longer a clear demonstrable benefit to area economy, they need to be recoverable or modifiable.
Can the brilliant minds in charge really not come up with a tax structure that rewards companies who provide jobs and economic growth but includes penalties when they no longer deliver what they promised?
We are tired of hearing from the companies we do business with that they have to charge us fees ranging from five to twenty five dollars to take our payments. We are fed up with late fees that are no longer even percentage based but now flat rate charges from five to fifty dollars.
We are tired of being burdened with restoral fees and reconnection fees from forty to hundreds of dollars for the click of a mouse or flip of a switch. We are sick of spending hours juggling money to try to find a way to pay for medicine or a trip to the dentist or doctor, only to have the 30.00 we finally scraped together snatched away by our bank or credit card company because we made the payment after midnight which made it one day late because grace periods are non-existent anymore.
For the skeptics who sniff that the "uneducated and lazy" need to get a better job or start a business, let's do some translating into real world numbers. The numbers promoted in the popular financial sections of the high profile websites and media outlets give us awesome financial management advice for couples making over one hundred thousand a year, so we will examine financial reality for the rest of America.
For someone making 18.00 an hour, which is more than double minimum wage and equates to a little over 37, 000 a year, here some numbers to try on for size. The median monthly asking rent for unfurnished rental apartments completed in 2014 was $1,372, and our income in this example comes to 3083.00. That means that in order to stay fiscally responsible by not exceeding cost of housing expense of 25% of income, we must find a place to stay that costs between 770 and 925.00. So....as Anyone who has looked for a place to live recently can attest, that pretty much leaves one of two choices: either try to find a place in a bad neighborhood and hope to not get mugged or robbed, or work for almost 2 weeks just to pay the rent in a decent location.
Now, let's assume that we find a passable location for 900.00, and assume around 450.00 of our monthly salary is going to taxes and government fees, that leaves us with around 1733.00 in hand. If we are super conservative and manage to limit ourselves to spending 260.00 in groceries for the month, we will have 1473.00 left. We now pay our utility bills so that we have heat and the ability to bathe and cook, so when we count up water, electricity, maybe gas, that's another 175.00 to 200.00 gone.
Next up, for this example, we do not live in a place where public transportation is available or reliable, and since we need to get to our jobs and work to be responsible, we have to pay for our car. We are realistic and conservative, so we bought a used car that is mid-sized, reliable, and costs half what a new car would. Our monthly car payment is 230.00, which impresses most of our friends because most of them pay more and owe more than we do.
For those of you still with me, we now have 1043.00 to work with. We live in a state that requires insurance on our vehicle, but fortunately, because we are over 30, live in a passable neighborhood, have an average credit score, and have an excellent driving history with no accidents in the past 10 or 15 years, we manage to get our insurance at a great rate of around 95.00 monthly. 948.00 left.
Now let's take out our health insurance at 275.00. Hmmm...we Have 673.00 left. Now, according to the financial experts and savings and investment gurus, we should save a minimum of 10% of income to create a sound, responsible financial foundation for self and family.
However, we haven't put gas or oil in our car yet. We have to buy shoes to replace the ones our child has outgrown, and we need to go to the dentist. After all, it has now been proven that dental problems can lead to heart attack, stroke, and other serious medical issues, so it would be irresponsible of us as good citizens to neglect dental care because that would likely result in higher health care treatment costs in a few years.
Unfortunately, our health insurance doesn't cover dental care. As we idly wonder why that is, we deduct the cost of gas from what we have left. With current gas prices at less than 2.00 per gallon, 60.00 for the month will carry us through if we conserve, so that leaves us with 613.00.
Our child comes in and needs money for a field trip at school, and they have a project due next week, so we need to go buy the supplies to get that done. Make that 583.00 left.
Damn it! We forgot to pick up the prescription at the drug store. It's for blood pressure, so can't make do without it. To do so would be irresponsible because risk of heart attack and stroke (increased medical treatment costs) would go up, and a child might be orphaned which would place an additional burden on society if he needed support. Even with insurance, it's 25.00 out of pocket, so now we have 558.00 left for the month with which to splurge IF we don't put it directly into savings.
Ooops, forgot that we do need a means of communication because as a parent and an employee, it would be most irresponsible not to have a way for the school, job, or child to contact one of us. Besides, the way society is these days, it's also a matter of safety. We can get a basic phone that will make and receive calls and texts for about 35.00 a month, so if splurge and get one for each of us, that's 70.00. The service might be hit and miss, and the audio might not be great, but it will serve the purpose. So, we have 488.00 now.
We hoped to connect the internet at home so our child could use it for homework, and I could take some online classes after work, but we better hold on to that 25.00 in case something comes up. We revisit the dental appointment...last Time I went to the dentist, around 4 years ago, he quoted me 1500.00 out of pocket, even with insurance, to have the minimum amount of work done to restore one bad tooth. We tuned out the other completely unrealistic 3000 to 4000 he recommended to avoid future problems and health issues. We mark the dental visit off my list.
My co-pay at the doctor's office for follow up will be 35.00 with insurance, so that would normally leave 453.00. However, we have a 1000.00 family deductible, so the insurance company pays nothing until we have paid the 1000.00. This means we have to pay the doctor's office 150.00 this month before I can be seen since we have not met our deductible for the new year.
We do need to buy household supplies and toiletry items like toothpaste, soap, deodorant, toilet paper, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, and light bulbs, so we set aside 25.00 for that. We have 313.00 to work with now. We are still 5.00 above the recommended 10% savings if we put this away now.
Oh wait, we thought we had 313.00 to work with, but I forgot my annual required car registration and tax and tag fees are due this month, that is 192.00 so that leaves us with 121.00. I also have to get the annual inspection so it can be registered, and surprise, I need tires. If I only get 2 instead of a set, I can get them for 260.00.
Officially in the hole on the first month of the year! Yay.
Clearly however, according to the powers that be and the mainstream financial advisors, the American dream is well within everyone's grasp, so I will get to work straight away on minimizing my punchiness and eye rolling. It is probably a just a side affect of that chronic laziness and entitlement mindset spoken of so frequently in conservative circles.
One only has to look at history to see that civilizations rise and fall. Sometimes the fall is precipitated by events of nature, and other times by events created by mankind.
My hope at this time is that we are intelligent enough and involved enough to THINK about the changes taking place, make tough decisions about how we want the process to play out, and ACT by voting.
There are a lot of givens and predictables, but there are an equal number of variables and non-controllables. We are all stakeholders in the process.
We are currently facing the very real possibility of bloodshed and war on our own land, in our neighborhoods, and in our cities, the likes of which we have never seen in this lifetime. There is an old adage that says don't take my kindness for being a fool.
Given the current state of both domestic and world affairs, is there more value in a traditional top down, authoritarian management style that relies on a few expert players and brute execution? Or might it be time to finally move to a new era where finesse, cooperation, and teambuilding for the common good is an expectation?
In closing, I leave with you the following to actually read and consider:
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
From The Declaration of Independence,
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--
2016 © by RKersey- Pensights™
People are sick of politicians and fed up with childish behavior by congressional representatives who act more like pre-schoolers fighting for ownership of a favorite toy than grown people making decisions that impact the lives and livelihoods of their constituents.
America is a land of opportunity filled with riches and resources beyond imagination. Yet January finds many feeling burdened, overwhelmed, empty, and depleted. We struggle to scrape together enough money to buy food and keep heat on to stay warm in our homes. Many struggle to keep a home.
For most of us, the frustration stems from the fact that we do everything that we were told we needed to do to be responsible and have a good life. We are not slacking. We work 30 to 80 hours a week. We don't feel that the world owes us anything. We are more than willing to work to get what we want. We are more than willing to expend time and energy to achieve reward. We want for our children the same things our parents and grandparents wanted for theirs- freedom, good health, and the opportunity to pursue happiness.
Much of the reporting and media coverage we see promotes the idea that we are doing something wrong. We are not working enough or in the right place or in the right way. We are in the wrong field, or the wrong industry, or the wrong company. The country is great but something is wrong with us. If we would simply follow the rules better and get in line, we would not have the problems we have.
We want too much, have unrealistic expectations, and we are lazy. We made poor choices in life. We expect welfare, government handouts, and subsidies paid for by the hard working people. We think we should have everything without having to do anything.
And here my friends is where the disconnect gets real. Democracy works when people participate. When people do not, whether due to apathy, hopelessness, or institutionalized exclusion, it does not. When candidates are funded and controlled by special interest groups, they work for those groups, not the people. When elections are bought and sold, we devolve into dictatorship and corruption.
As a whole, we are not lazy or unwilling to work. The issue at hand is that we are capable of basic math, and unwilling to enslave ourselves further in an economy where the payout has clearly been rigged.
We see our company brought in several billion dollars this year, and the CEO was paid 45 million. The reality is, many of us can be perfectly fine with that. We know it is a job that requires long hours, stress, hard decisions, and dedication. The problems really crystallize when a 25 million dollar bonus is added to that 45 million dollar salary. Then, the same week the 25 million dollar bonus is added to the CEO salary, the employees see their medical copays increase by 20%. So, the CEO gets 25 million, and the employees who make 10.00 an hour for a 40 hour workweek lose 80 more dollars of what would have been 400 BEFORE taxes were taken out.
Of course, that example is based on those fortunate enough to actually have what is considered a good job - one with full time hours, insurance, and some benefits. The contrast when industries that only have part time jobs and no benefits are considered widens the chasm even further.
We don't actually begrudge anyone being successful or making money. We tend to be happy about successful endeavors, and we love seeing people live their potential. We are apt to get sentimental and teary eyed when we see people achieve their dreams, learn, grow, and excel. Of course, that could be because our ranks are filled with educators, doctors, nurses, artisans, musicians, artists, farmers, and the like. We have heart. We have courage. We have strength. We have resilience. We have a sense of fairness and right and wrong. We have a moral compass that is not determined by the highest bidder.
Our biggest issues generally lie with unfair policy and bad management. Just as in the private sector, it leads to animosity, apathy, and wasted human potential. We look around our country and our world, and we see abundance. We see beauty, health, vitality, energy, and money. We see trees, streams, wildlife, clear skies and oceans.
We are not negative, apathetic people by nature. On the contrary, we are believers and supporters and dreamers and doers. We are, however, tired.
We are tired of paying and paying into government taxes and funds, but seeing little or no benefit from our contribution. It angers us that able-bodied, healthy adults get benefits that were put in place for those who have real need. It frustrates us that women who have multiple children and are already receiving government aid have more. It makes our blood boil when we see people manipulating the system, but we have collectively reached a turning point with two different states of mind.
One mindset is that the only way to make a change is to charge in like a bull in a china shop with guns blasting and sirens blaring. Make rules, make regulations, build walls, and surround them with razor wire and guns. Prepare to shoot and blast everyone who challenges the change, because it is desperately needed and if the change does not come, the outsiders will ruin our way of life like they have started to do already.
The other mindset is that while there needs to be radical clear change with immediate, visible impact, it would be dangerous to create the same violent war zone dynamic in this country that is spreading through so much of the world already. Change the rules, make new laws, create a system to level the playing field but still allow growth and reward individual effort. Focus on collective strength and a sense of community, and trust that when supported and empowered, most will respond positively.
The truth is, while many will never admit it, there are strengths and weaknesses to both ideals. We have reached a point in time where people are fed up with the status quo, and they are ready for change by any means necessary. The disillusion has spread, the distrust has grown, and a mindset of self-preservation has started to replace patriotism and loyalty on a widespread scale in this country.
Decisiveness and willingness to make tough calls is admirable, but when that is tempered with arrogance and intolerance, living in America could become a lot like reporting to work daily in a company where you are nothing but a commodity - a number in a chair, disrespected, devalued, and belittled. Or, it could become a place where you are locked in by our valiant attempts to lock others out.
It is not hard to imagine curfews enacted, arbitrary stops and searches, and interrogations to protect national interests. And those guns we hold so dear? Only duly appointed government officials will be able to own those. National security trumps personal rights any day.
We are under no disillusion that everyone is just going to play fair and fall into place and do their part. If that were going to happen, we wouldn't be in the place we are now. We are experiencing what apathy and trust in a governing body beholden to financial institutions and private investors brings. We are also seeing the outcome of entitlement programs without clear oversight and accountability.
We are not concerned at this point with luxury items and discretionary spending. We are talking about healthcare, shelter, utilities, and communication.
History gives us example after example of revolutions that occur when oppression and hopelessness are rampant in a country or region. Typically, these revolutions come about through violence and bloodshed because the ruling class is never going to willingly give up power.
"We the people" are sick of being told there is not enough money to pay for health insurance for our families while the executives at the companies where we work buy mansions and vacation homes and plastic surgery.
We are tired of paying insurance and then being hit with out of network billed charges in the thousands because we did not interrupt the surgeon in the Emergency Room to ask if he was in network. We would have, really we would have, but we were passed out and not breathing at the time.
We are tired of paying thousands of dollars in taxes to support our government and infrastructure while legislators allow corporations to make billions without paying their fair share. We really don't mind some tax credits, we understand the logic and intention. But, when a company changes strategy and there is no longer a clear demonstrable benefit to area economy, they need to be recoverable or modifiable.
Can the brilliant minds in charge really not come up with a tax structure that rewards companies who provide jobs and economic growth but includes penalties when they no longer deliver what they promised?
We are tired of hearing from the companies we do business with that they have to charge us fees ranging from five to twenty five dollars to take our payments. We are fed up with late fees that are no longer even percentage based but now flat rate charges from five to fifty dollars.
We are tired of being burdened with restoral fees and reconnection fees from forty to hundreds of dollars for the click of a mouse or flip of a switch. We are sick of spending hours juggling money to try to find a way to pay for medicine or a trip to the dentist or doctor, only to have the 30.00 we finally scraped together snatched away by our bank or credit card company because we made the payment after midnight which made it one day late because grace periods are non-existent anymore.
For the skeptics who sniff that the "uneducated and lazy" need to get a better job or start a business, let's do some translating into real world numbers. The numbers promoted in the popular financial sections of the high profile websites and media outlets give us awesome financial management advice for couples making over one hundred thousand a year, so we will examine financial reality for the rest of America.
For someone making 18.00 an hour, which is more than double minimum wage and equates to a little over 37, 000 a year, here some numbers to try on for size. The median monthly asking rent for unfurnished rental apartments completed in 2014 was $1,372, and our income in this example comes to 3083.00. That means that in order to stay fiscally responsible by not exceeding cost of housing expense of 25% of income, we must find a place to stay that costs between 770 and 925.00. So....as Anyone who has looked for a place to live recently can attest, that pretty much leaves one of two choices: either try to find a place in a bad neighborhood and hope to not get mugged or robbed, or work for almost 2 weeks just to pay the rent in a decent location.
Now, let's assume that we find a passable location for 900.00, and assume around 450.00 of our monthly salary is going to taxes and government fees, that leaves us with around 1733.00 in hand. If we are super conservative and manage to limit ourselves to spending 260.00 in groceries for the month, we will have 1473.00 left. We now pay our utility bills so that we have heat and the ability to bathe and cook, so when we count up water, electricity, maybe gas, that's another 175.00 to 200.00 gone.
Next up, for this example, we do not live in a place where public transportation is available or reliable, and since we need to get to our jobs and work to be responsible, we have to pay for our car. We are realistic and conservative, so we bought a used car that is mid-sized, reliable, and costs half what a new car would. Our monthly car payment is 230.00, which impresses most of our friends because most of them pay more and owe more than we do.
For those of you still with me, we now have 1043.00 to work with. We live in a state that requires insurance on our vehicle, but fortunately, because we are over 30, live in a passable neighborhood, have an average credit score, and have an excellent driving history with no accidents in the past 10 or 15 years, we manage to get our insurance at a great rate of around 95.00 monthly. 948.00 left.
Now let's take out our health insurance at 275.00. Hmmm...we Have 673.00 left. Now, according to the financial experts and savings and investment gurus, we should save a minimum of 10% of income to create a sound, responsible financial foundation for self and family.
However, we haven't put gas or oil in our car yet. We have to buy shoes to replace the ones our child has outgrown, and we need to go to the dentist. After all, it has now been proven that dental problems can lead to heart attack, stroke, and other serious medical issues, so it would be irresponsible of us as good citizens to neglect dental care because that would likely result in higher health care treatment costs in a few years.
Unfortunately, our health insurance doesn't cover dental care. As we idly wonder why that is, we deduct the cost of gas from what we have left. With current gas prices at less than 2.00 per gallon, 60.00 for the month will carry us through if we conserve, so that leaves us with 613.00.
Our child comes in and needs money for a field trip at school, and they have a project due next week, so we need to go buy the supplies to get that done. Make that 583.00 left.
Damn it! We forgot to pick up the prescription at the drug store. It's for blood pressure, so can't make do without it. To do so would be irresponsible because risk of heart attack and stroke (increased medical treatment costs) would go up, and a child might be orphaned which would place an additional burden on society if he needed support. Even with insurance, it's 25.00 out of pocket, so now we have 558.00 left for the month with which to splurge IF we don't put it directly into savings.
Ooops, forgot that we do need a means of communication because as a parent and an employee, it would be most irresponsible not to have a way for the school, job, or child to contact one of us. Besides, the way society is these days, it's also a matter of safety. We can get a basic phone that will make and receive calls and texts for about 35.00 a month, so if splurge and get one for each of us, that's 70.00. The service might be hit and miss, and the audio might not be great, but it will serve the purpose. So, we have 488.00 now.
We hoped to connect the internet at home so our child could use it for homework, and I could take some online classes after work, but we better hold on to that 25.00 in case something comes up. We revisit the dental appointment...last Time I went to the dentist, around 4 years ago, he quoted me 1500.00 out of pocket, even with insurance, to have the minimum amount of work done to restore one bad tooth. We tuned out the other completely unrealistic 3000 to 4000 he recommended to avoid future problems and health issues. We mark the dental visit off my list.
My co-pay at the doctor's office for follow up will be 35.00 with insurance, so that would normally leave 453.00. However, we have a 1000.00 family deductible, so the insurance company pays nothing until we have paid the 1000.00. This means we have to pay the doctor's office 150.00 this month before I can be seen since we have not met our deductible for the new year.
We do need to buy household supplies and toiletry items like toothpaste, soap, deodorant, toilet paper, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, and light bulbs, so we set aside 25.00 for that. We have 313.00 to work with now. We are still 5.00 above the recommended 10% savings if we put this away now.
Oh wait, we thought we had 313.00 to work with, but I forgot my annual required car registration and tax and tag fees are due this month, that is 192.00 so that leaves us with 121.00. I also have to get the annual inspection so it can be registered, and surprise, I need tires. If I only get 2 instead of a set, I can get them for 260.00.
Officially in the hole on the first month of the year! Yay.
Clearly however, according to the powers that be and the mainstream financial advisors, the American dream is well within everyone's grasp, so I will get to work straight away on minimizing my punchiness and eye rolling. It is probably a just a side affect of that chronic laziness and entitlement mindset spoken of so frequently in conservative circles.
One only has to look at history to see that civilizations rise and fall. Sometimes the fall is precipitated by events of nature, and other times by events created by mankind.
My hope at this time is that we are intelligent enough and involved enough to THINK about the changes taking place, make tough decisions about how we want the process to play out, and ACT by voting.
There are a lot of givens and predictables, but there are an equal number of variables and non-controllables. We are all stakeholders in the process.
We are currently facing the very real possibility of bloodshed and war on our own land, in our neighborhoods, and in our cities, the likes of which we have never seen in this lifetime. There is an old adage that says don't take my kindness for being a fool.
Given the current state of both domestic and world affairs, is there more value in a traditional top down, authoritarian management style that relies on a few expert players and brute execution? Or might it be time to finally move to a new era where finesse, cooperation, and teambuilding for the common good is an expectation?
In closing, I leave with you the following to actually read and consider:
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
From The Declaration of Independence,
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--
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