I have been somewhat scarce around these parts, as of late.
In part, I have simply been too busy with "life" to post here much, and part I have just been taking a break from technology... personally, I think it's a pretty healthy thing to do.
Butterfly leaving its flower...
Being in my 50's-- meaning a remember a world without computers and Internet-- it's probably easier for me to break away from the online environment than it is for someone who's a web "native" (born 1990-ish or later). I know our kids (20s to 31) get pretty antsy if they can't check their phones on a regular basis.
I'm old fashioned. I have a smartphone, but I don't ever check it (if it rings, I pick it up and say "hello")... and all the writing I do is done on a full sized desktop machine.
I won't philosophize too much on whether or not we have become too technologically dependent... I expect everyone has their own threshold for when they want to "get away," if at all.
As I spent time doing "off web" things, I got to thinking about Japan's "Net Cafe Refugees," a whole subculture of individuals who aren't exactly homeless and aren't exactly unemployed... and yet live in the equivalent of a closet in pretty public spaces that stays open 24/7.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post entitled "How Can People Afford to LIVE?" and reading about this Japanese subculture brought that to mind, again.
Memories of summer...
Yesterday, there were several people in the shop who were obviously a group of friends, one of whom was evidently going to move away soon.
What I overheard what somewhat sad-- and a little alarming. The salary at her full time job, even with considerable overtime, was insufficient for her and her young son to continue living in our town, so she was moving back to a smallish Kansas where (evidently) you can still rent a 2-bedroom house for under $500.
I suppose I can see her point-- $500 rent on $7.25/hr is more affordable than $1250 on $11.00/hr.
Meanwhile, our town continues aging... when I moved here in 2006, the median age was already 46; 11 years later it has risen to 53.
How about YOU? Have you ever had to move because your income did not support the cost of living where you were living? Does it seem strange to you that someone employed full time and even having overtime can't afford to live? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 171110 14:57 PDT
I learned something new today. I had never heard of Internet Café Refugees. At least Japan has provided one solution to homelessness and being out on the street. There are so many countries where there is NO solution at all.
Your examples were men, living alone. You do not mention if similar spaces exist for women or families.
One thing is clear, losing one's well paying job and being forced into homelessness, or living in sub-standard conditions is not necessarily indicative of being uneducated, unskilled, or lazy. And these conditions exist in every country, some more than others.
From what I see, there are many reasons for conditions like these. Companies downsize and creat circumstances that force employees out, with no unemployment benefits - like one of your examples. For small business owners, unfair competition coupled with marginal to no profits push closures. A host of other circumstances, too many to name, cause people to be unemployed with little to no source of income.
Solutions from governmental agencies are not forthcoming. Legislators in every country, especially in the United States, are determined to make as many laws as possible to feed the privatized and extremely lucrative prison system. The laws combined with other negative aspects of racism, sexism, and classism cause excessive law enforcement activity as well as excessive court judgments that ruin so many people's lives for the rest of their lives. In many case their destruction of a healthy workforce begins when people are at a young age.
Also, there appears to be a targeted plan to reduce the overall workforce, to stifle and punish innovative thinkers, and overall to stifle competition from up and coming small business owners; in order to concentrate power and wealth into the hands of a very few. And, on the local level there are many tools utilized to interfere with and sabotage people's efforts to improve their lives. These homeless, semi-homeless, and inadequate housing conditions are not happenstance, not coincidence, and often not the undoing by the individual.
I see the Blockchain use as solving some of these obstacles. With it, more and more people will have direct contact with a customer base, so one's own abilities and work will result in direct payment. Without having to get acceptance from and depend on an employer, without having to endure costly business fees, more people can become entrepreneurs and have more independence to earn in a free market. More free markets create more income, resulting in the ability to afford suitable housing.
Of course, it is not an all-encompassing solution for everyone; however, it offers opportunities for economic improvements for individuals who would not otherwise have it.
I applaud you for bringing forth a little known issue. Sharing information is the beginning of bringing about change. I upvote your post.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I think it's important to be willing to have dialogue about these evidently "difficult" topics... I think a lot of people are afraid of sharing their truth simply because they fear potential repercussions.
One of the places I really DO appreciate our little corner of the web is that Steemit remains a place to "record" these things... one way the blockchain technologies are already helping us. Even if someone comes along and says "You can't say that!" what's been said has already been recorded and remains there for people to see.
One of the things I have always hoped would be developed on Steemit (or a similar platform) is a true peer-to-peer marketplace, again based on blockchain technology and operating in cryptocurrencies... as you said, cut out the middle layers and just have producers deal with consumers directly... perhaps a bit like a farmer's market works... yes there is a "centralized framework" of sorts (because who wants to drive to 17 farms to shop for dinner?) but it simply serves to facilitate the interaction of individuals.
Oddly enough, eBay was a LOT like that, in its earliest incarnations (late 1990s) and was one of the coolest things around... this was pre corporate sellers. Why not have something like that here?
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Definitely. A Steemit marketplace using STEEM as the currency is something both feasible and truly needed. I am in support of it! I hope the developers make it happen.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I turned the keys to our house over to the bank on Christmas Eve of 2012.
My wife and I were both highly skilled professionals with a strong work ethic. It wasn't anything like the American dream we had been sold all of our lives.
I wrote a post yesterday about the Reality Behind the "Economic Recovery" (I won't link it here, you can find it easily enough).
My post was inspired by our experience and an article I had read about the "working homeless" just like you're talking about. We must have just been on the leading edge of this tidal wave of "economic recovery."
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Good post-- I enjoyed your explorations of alternative housing.
The "reality" behind the Economic Recovery is that the stock market is up and corporate profits are doing really well. That, however, doesn't tangibly measure how the individual economies of people are doing... we spend more "effort hours" than ever to obtain one "unit" of the accepted lifestyle of the current moment... and it's a losing proposition.
Just here in our local town, we're suffering from eternal "creeping elegance." The local electric utility decides to raise its "base fee" for having service from $20 to $50 which allows them to claim that the price per KWH hasn't risen. We no longer have a "vacation" option for garbage service... in fact garbage service recently became mandatory... you HAVE to pay for weekly garbage pickup, whether you use it or not. Meanwhile, the county decided that all homeowners with a septic system now must have an annual "soundness certificate" (Cost $175/year) which can only be done by a "qualified technician" (at $125 per inspection). And so on, and so forth...
It all feels more and more like we are moving towards some version of the world depicted in The Hunger Games or Elysium.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I'm picturing a different movie:
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Ah yes, Idiocracy. That does seem to be part of the picture, too.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I tend not to use technology often because I feel like in some ways it takes you away from the real world
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I'm not that big a technology user. I'm online quite a lot because I have two web-based sales businesses, but other than that I use Steemit, and that's about it.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
how MUCH of the high cost of living where you are is due to government regulation? Zoning comes to mind.
some time ago a snowflake wrote a letter to the editor of one of the newspapers here.
She complained about the high cost of living. She complained that it wasn't fair. She lamented that she was a GOOD citizen..she voted FOR all the bonds, and the tax increases to improve the infrastructure. She whined that NOW her taxes had gone up so much that she couldn't afford to live in her small 'bungalow' downtown..the property taxes were outrageous.
I searched for it just now but couldn't find it. At the time I thought that it was ironic.
(I'm being polite)
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
A mixture of zoning and corporate assflake greed (I'm also being polite)...
Like the electric utility encouraging everyone to install low consumption appliances and LED bulbs and stuff to conserve energy. As a result, they sell less energy. But instead of celebrating that they succeeded at what they set out to do... and now would be able to naturally downsize to be a smaller organization, they hike their rates to not only keep the same number of people, but to give raises as well. WTF?
We have a lot of snowflakes around here, too... they are always "demanding" things, but are never willing to foot the bill.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I went the other direction and then back.
Where I lived in Idaho, one just couldn't earn what I wanted to earn. After I burned out of the Corporate world, I moved back to a rural area where my investments would go further.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I went from a million+ city in Texas that was disproportionately expensive relative to incomes to a 10K town in Washington; It is now becoming gentrified while incomes are largely stagnant... many of the people who work here can no longer afford to live here.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Yes, we did move when the cost of living in our area was outrageously high. It doesn't seem strange to me. Wages have not kept up with inflation and the cost of housing in most cities is absurd. Working two or three jobs to make ends meet is just crazy.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
That's one of the dilemmas we face here. Housing and cost of living keeps rising but incomes are not because a lot of local businesses are struggling.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
My son had to move back in for a year when his room mates got jobs and had to move across the country just so they had a income to support themselves. He was in school and working full time and still could not handle the rent by himself for just him.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
All three of our kids have come back and lived with us at one time or another, during their 20's, unable to deal with $1400 monthly rents on tiny 1BR apartments. Our middle son (29) now lives in "a room" he rents for $800 a month which is his share of a 5BR house with six occupants.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Makes you wonder if the schooling instead of a trade is the better solution.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
It's like a game of Monopoly where whoever's winning gets to change the rules.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Yes! I emigrated in Cambodia because as a white woman and western, I have an easier life here than in Italy, where I would need recommendation to find a job. Even with a full time job, taxes are so heavy and the extension of age pension became exagerated that Italy does not offer la dolce vita of 40 years ago.
Technology is causing and will cause massive social and economical problems. It is making humans economically unworthy. We won't be employable, 95% of us will become very poor and not able to buy anything and the economy will collapse.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
It is sad but it is a generalized reality, for economic reasons I left my home before I was 14 years old, living alone was very complicated, I lived in a street situation on several occasions, although it is also learned to be strong before the adversities of the lifetime.
my province is one of the poorest in the country, there are few sources of work, it is very common to see migrate adolescents, my children Brenda and Ivan had to migrate to Ushuaia in search of a better future.
Excellent post dear friend @denmarkguy, thank you very much for the opportunity to express ourselves
I wish you a wonderful weekend
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit