Oh, Give Me a Home....

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Joe Guy
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Re: Oh, Give Me a Home....

Post by Joe Guy »

Econoline wrote: I'm not sure how much older I am than you, but when my wife and I were just married the minimum wage was $1.40/hr (it went up to $1.60 a couple of months later), and we rented our first apartment in Chicago for $60 a month.
Well... your memory is longer than mine - but the idea of moving into a rental with others in order to afford a place is certainly nothing new.

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RayThom
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Oh, Give Me a Home....

Post by RayThom »

On the other hand, the force needed to evict the squatters appears to have been somewhat excessive.

Oakland Uses SWAT Force With Tanks and an Armored Vehicle To Evict Squatting Activists
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https://reason.com/2020/01/15/oakland-u ... activists/
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“In a world whose absurdity appears to be so impenetrable, we simply must reach a greater degree of understanding among us, a greater sincerity.” 

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Long Run
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Re: Oh, Give Me a Home....

Post by Long Run »

Joe Guy wrote:
Econoline wrote: I'm not sure how much older I am than you, but when my wife and I were just married the minimum wage was $1.40/hr (it went up to $1.60 a couple of months later), and we rented our first apartment in Chicago for $60 a month.
Well... your memory is longer than mine - but the idea of moving into a rental with others in order to afford a place is certainly nothing new.
When I was earning low wages, I always roomed with others, so late 70's on through college. The minimum wage was never intended to provide a basic level of living. It was designed to prevent employers from abusing employment situations where they can extract labor for next to nothing. Better solutions exist to provide basic housing and living expenses than substantially disrupting the employment market by setting a minimum wage at an artificially high level (California has about the highest minimum wage in the U.S. and also the highest homeless rate, so if this is the strategy, it isn't working).

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Joe Guy
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Re: Oh, Give Me a Home....

Post by Joe Guy »

It was more a show of force than excessive force. It's probably best for the situation they were going into. In that part of Oakland, armored vehicles are probably a good idea, not only for the police, but for the average person.

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Joe Guy
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Re: Oh, Give Me a Home....

Post by Joe Guy »

Long Run wrote:When I was earning low wages, I always roomed with others, so late 70's on through college. The minimum wage was never intended to provide a basic level of living. It was designed to prevent employers from abusing employment situations where they can extract labor for next to nothing. Better solutions exist to provide basic housing and living expenses than substantially disrupting the employment market by setting a minimum wage at an artificially high level (California has about the highest minimum wage in the U.S. and also the highest homeless rate, so if this is the strategy, it isn't working).

Exactly right. Also, the article doesn't mention anything about the whereabouts of fathers of the children and reasons these women aren't aren't able to rent a home. I believe we're expected to assume that it is society's fault and they are innocent victims.

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Bicycle Bill
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Re: Oh, Give Me a Home....

Post by Bicycle Bill »

Econoline wrote:I'm not sure how much older I am than you, but when my wife and I were just married the minimum wage was $1.40/hr (it went up to $1.60 a couple of months later), and we rented our first apartment in Chicago for $60 a month.
  • ● $1.40 per hour x 40 hours per week = $56.00 per week.
    ● There are four weeks (plus a couple of days) in a month, so $56.00 x 4 = $225.00 per month.
    ● Rent, you said, was $60 per month. That's roughly 27% of your pre-tax income.
    ● I would say, therefore, that minimum wage covered the rent.
Yeah, it might have been tight, and you had to skimp somewhere else — like skipping the brand-new bikes for Christmas or darning socks and patching elbows in shirt sleeves rather than just tossing them out and running out to Sears to buy new — so you could put food on the table and pay to keep the place warm and the lights turned on.  But that ain't the way we do it nowadays, is it?  Can't be without those Air Jeezies and $90 Lululemon stretch pants and thousand-dollar iPhones, can we?
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-"BB"-
Last edited by Bicycle Bill on Thu Jan 16, 2020 2:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
Yes, I suppose I could agree with you ... but then we'd both be wrong, wouldn't we?

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Bicycle Bill
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Re: Oh, Give Me a Home....

Post by Bicycle Bill »

RayThom wrote:On the other hand, the force needed to evict the squatters appears to have been somewhat excessive.
Ron White (one of the Red-Neck Comics from about ten years ago) summed it up best when he talked about being thrown out of a bar —
"Six bouncers hurled me out of a nightclub like I was a Frisbee.  And then they squared off with me in the parking lot, and I backed down from the fight.  'Cause I don't know how many of 'em it would have taken to whip my ass, but I know how many they were gonna use."
If you come prepared for trouble, you may actually prevent it.
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-"BB"-
Yes, I suppose I could agree with you ... but then we'd both be wrong, wouldn't we?

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Guinevere
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Re: Oh, Give Me a Home....

Post by Guinevere »

Long Run wrote:
Joe Guy wrote:
Econoline wrote: I'm not sure how much older I am than you, but when my wife and I were just married the minimum wage was $1.40/hr (it went up to $1.60 a couple of months later), and we rented our first apartment in Chicago for $60 a month.
Well... your memory is longer than mine - but the idea of moving into a rental with others in order to afford a place is certainly nothing new.
When I was earning low wages, I always roomed with others, so late 70's on through college. The minimum wage was never intended to provide a basic level of living. It was designed to prevent employers from abusing employment situations where they can extract labor for next to nothing. Better solutions exist to provide basic housing and living expenses than substantially disrupting the employment market by setting a minimum wage at an artificially high level (California has about the highest minimum wage in the U.S. and also the highest homeless rate, so if this is the strategy, it isn't working).
The FLSA was created in 1938, in an entirely different time and world. Whatever it was intended to be, it is not that any more. It is indeed often a floor and a ceiling for wages, and it has not kept up with the cost of living.

I’d like to discuss the better solutions and options for livable wages and affordable housing. You’ve mentioned the concept - tell us please what you think they are/should be.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

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