[Content Note: Class warfare; wage stagnation; financial insecurity.]
This is a really great piece (minus some male-centric imagery) by Neal Gabler on the 47% of USians who are unable to come up with $400 in case of an emergency, and how this financial precariousness extends across many demographics.
It's a long but very good read.
I will note that the biographical story at its center is really more relatable for people who have had some amount of choice in their lives, and may not resonate with people who have been and remain in absolute poverty.
But certainly many parts of it will be meaningful to a whole lot of people.
It made me think, once again, about all the expenses people have now that previous generations didn't have: Computers, internet, cable, mobile phones, mobile phone plans... None of which are "luxuries." You need those things to survive. And they're expensive.
Wage stagnation isn't just about salaries not keeping up with the cost of housing and healthcare and education etc., but also about the fact that we just have more expenses than previous generations did.
Anyway. Read and discuss!
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