Struggling to survive

i really don't give a damn if a troll started this thread or someone on somebody's payroll or whatever. the behavior on this thread and others recently just got on my last nerve. my point here is, this site offers us a unique opportunity to support one another through these hard times. no, i can't make anybody change their behavior or attitude, but i'm calling you all out. you're a bunch of smart, talented people with at least a bit of surplus leisure time available to post on this site. i'm asking you to make good use of your energy. don't squander it on spawning petty negativity. remember who you are.

incidentally, nobody's ever handed me anything either. i've worked hard since i was a young kid to support myself. i prefer to be self-reliant. but life has taught me that sometimes no matter how hard you work, bad shit happens to ya and you end up watching all your hard work go down the shitter. and the last thing you need is somebody else coming along to shit on you again. that's really just not very helpful.

there are lots of people who only have internet access through the public libraries or work, everybody who comes here isn't paying for high speed internet access as a luxury, and we shouldn't assume so. everybody who posts about their hard times isn't necessarily looking to be coddled either. sometimes they're just sharing their stories because it's a relief to get it out, or because who knows...maybe someone else is going through something similar and might feel better to hear that others are having it rough too...or maybe they have an idea for you, something you didn't know about, a spark of inspiration...it could be anything.

people who are sittin pretty and got it made in the shade rarely want to acknowledge that luck had anything to do with it...but it always does. unfortunately, most don't recognise that except in retrospect after some bad luck comes along. random accidents and reversals of fortune happen to smart, hardworking people all the time. before getting all arrogant with people who are having a rough time, remember...be kynd on the way up, because you might be meeting the same folks on your way down.

 

How did you do that while unemployed? Just interested in upping my bottomline. Were you playing one of those infomercial things where you buy foreclosures, and make a profit with nothing down. Thus playing off the subprime game?

I know I've said that the bailout is needed, but like on Palin...I've changed my mind.

Why, you ask? Because I watched the market yesterday. If this was a true crisis the market wouldn't have recovered so well. What I see are speculators continuing to play the future markets and triple and double their earnings at our expense. The little guy isn't playing the market, he's holding his breath hoping his investments don't evaporate.

The new senate bill does nothing to address derivatives or Hedge Funds, it doesn't actually put in place any new regulations to ratchet down speculation. It all appears to be a new political endrun. They benefit and the working man gains nothing not even protections that this will never happen again. It allows for more game playing and values to be based on whatever they can put on paper that makes their assets appear be of more value.

I am waiting to see something that really thinks about the real problems that created this, not just a temporary bailout for those that were gambling with our money. It don't just want an election period circus. I want actual thought behind this.

 

Well said.

 

Pretty well put Lady/Freaks. I can see the hard times coming for a lot more people and it's already been pretty rough for me and my family. The story Randy Johnson tells is a real story for lots of people...I know a lot of those same kind of people...trying to keep their lives together and maintain some dignity while they're at it. I also agree that the government damn sure has an obligation to help...not necessarily giving individual handouts but making sure that people have a means to survive. Pissing money away on a pointless war that amounts to welfare for Haliburton and other "contractors" doesn't sit well.

 

Agreed! I am sorry but I don't see how repealing the Alternate Minimum Tax will help me. I think it will help a lot of higher income people, but what I want to see are protections that the market won't be allowed to run wild again. I want to see that the value of a good is the actual value of it not some wild market vision of what it might be if speculators are allowed to manipulate. I want to understand what is traded, I don't want even experts to say I don't understand Hedge Funds or derivatives. The reason they don't understand them is because of bills passed that have kept them protected from full disclosure. I want to see those bills overrided and full disclosure and regulation of this junk put in place. I want caps on CEO salaries based on what their workers earn not on how they can play the market.

 

gardener i was laid off/let go September 11 of this year. my pay decreased over the last 12 months due to the economy slowing. i saw it coming and prepared..

lol and i find it hilarious that lady has her panties in a wad because i said someone gets no sympathy from me if they still have internet but are complaining about hard times..

i guess someone has a internet addiction..lol

 

You've only been unemployed for a few weeks...

So you made this while employed.

 

Hillbilly for anyone to get by today they need internet access. Do you deny that? It's as necessary as phone or plumbing.

I don't have cable or satelite, and I can tell you when the new Digital TV thing comes into play in February there are going to be a lot of folks, poor working people without access to full unbiased TV news coverage. Even with the converter boxes most people aren't going to have full news coverage without new antennas. I've lost PBS.

I get by today because I can access Democracy Now on the internet. You are promoting that we buy rice and milk and stay uninformed. Those that live under bridges have given up their internet access and I think we know how they are seen on a national level.

Even at $40,000.00 a year you are doing well. I make a whole lot less than that. You can probably stay warm during the winter.

 

Thank god for free internet access through libraries, but perhaps Palin will seek to censor access through them.

 

yes that is what i made before i was laid off.. i now get a whopping 277 a week. and we figure we should be able to add about 200 a month to our savings out of that no problem.
when thats gone and if i havent found a job we take one more step back. which means getting rid of the phone and internet(we will keep a prepaid cell,even though we dont get service here without hiking up the mountain). like i said ya do what ya gotta do.

so yes i deny that you cant get by without internet.
its not a necessity. and has already been pointed out one can go to the library once or twice a month and take care of whatever business they have on the net.

 

but.... but... it's the INTERNET

Not to worry. We can all head out Californi-way. I hear they got internet there.

 

How about this? Is this better?

 

No the internet isn't free here. But like I've done to stay connected and informed I have dialup for $48.00 a year, $4.00 per month. I plan and I stay connected through the slowest means possiible. I am not going to let go of the new access to information. Especially since my free television access is now going to be compromised. Sorry but I wish to be informed.

Should we promote that everyone disconnect. Or only the poor?

 

Through deregulation ATT is now a huge conglomerate power with little regulation. I just received a notice from them saying they could change their rates and customer agreements at any time, and they would post their notices on the internet before the changes take place. But if I have no intertnet access how will I know if they change their rates.

How many other companies are notifying their changes through internet notice. And poor folks are supposed to give up their access? Who benefits from that?

 

I am not sure where your Kudzu vine is located, but here in California you can receive if low income a lifeline phone account. That way your landline stays connected and you could have access at home to dialup internet connection with that, which is pretty cheap if you look around. You wouldn't have to hike up the mountain to make a call, which might be hard to do in an emergency. I'd hate to hike up the mountain while one of my grandkids was choking just to use a cell phone.

You plan on living on $77.00 a week? Admirable.

 

in a emergency we dont even bother to call.. we just preform triage and drive to the hospital.. the alternative means almost certain death.. lol

not good emergency response times around here.. pays to be self reliant..

 

Should I know who Randy Johnson is? Should I care that he's fed any better than any other child?

 

I understand that, but what if you don't have gas in your pickup? And more and more lately there's no gas in my truck. I try to make sure I have enough, but when things are really rough what then?

 

You know, seriously folks, if every means of physical survival is extinguished then we die. It's as simple as that. No problem, unless we make it one.

 

True. And I may end up there. I hope not. I'm still hanging on. And I think a lot of us can.