Debate : 21599


Off-Topic / Debate / 21599	21598 \| 21600

Subject:	Re: How many things need to stack up before we throw this jerk out?
Newsgroups:	lugnet.off-topic.debate
Date:	Wed, 16 Jul 2003 23:55:46 GMT
Viewed:	520 times

In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Schuler wrote: > Let's pose a hypothetical example as a counterpoint (admittedly anecdotal, but > no Conservative argument has ever turned away a good anecdote) to the second > part of your citation above. I'm going to fabricate dollar figures to make my > point, so they're not my real situation, but the point is made nonetheless: > My hypothetical monthly net income is just a shade over $1600. My wife is > currently unemployed (because of corporate downsizing), so I'm supporting both > of us. How badly do you want out of your situation? McDonalds is hiring. Seriously. Your wife could presumably (if college educated or reasonably hard working, (and she must have been smart to select such as yourself Dave!)) become a manager in no time. Except in really terrible situations, that would be a net positive to you even after increases in expenses for transport, additional taxes, etc. Especially if you're childless. Act now to escape before you have kids... > Our monthly student loan payments are $600, our car payment is $190, car > insurance is $85, and rent (a typical rate for a tiny Pittsburgh apartment) is > $450. For those expenses alone, we're shelling out $1325 each month, leaving a > whopping $275 to cover food, utilities, and emergency costs(not to mention my > clone addiction). > > So here's my problem with the Spectator article. How the heck am > (hypothetical) I supposed to save $1000 a month when my optimum net income (due > to currently-unavoidable monthly expenses) is a little more than $200? What makes it *optimum*? You have an additional source of income available to you. The person used in the example earlier does not so she's arguably a LOT worse off than you are. Before you turn your nose up at McDonalds, let me point out that my father came to the US with an advanced degree after the war, but nevertheless started over at the bottom, moving steel on a shop floor, while he got a degree from an american University so he could start climbing again. (this is a lesson that is lost on my wife, to my chagrin). Things are tougher now than they were then. But a lot of that is due precisely to large government (and the oligopoly/welfarequeenism it seems to foster), the very thing we're debating, ne?

Message has 2 Replies:

		Re: How many things need to stack up before we throw this jerk out?
(...) No, they're not. In most cases menial work like that is available part-time only so that the employer can avoid granting an employee much by way of the benefits that usually go to full-time workers only. Plus, how do you realistically explain (...) (21 years ago, 17-Jul-03, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

		Re: How many things need to stack up before we throw this jerk out?
(...) That's actually not true, or at any rate it's only true insofar as you can become a manager in no time for $7.50 an hour or less, along with guaranteed straight-rate overtime, minimal benefits, and minimal job security. (...) Given the (...) (21 years ago, 17-Jul-03, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

Message is in Reply To:

		Re: How many things need to stack up before we throw this jerk out?
(...) snip (...) Most sharply-biased (in either direction) media sources hope that the audience never makes the connection that you point out, and all too often thats exactly what happens. It's interesting that a common conservative tactic is to (...) (21 years ago, 16-Jul-03, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

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