A bridge to a brighter future ......... 🦅

The US GDP has grown by 33.5% in the third quarter of this year, a big increase from the last quarter when the country was in lockdown due to the virus. Before the coronavirus outbreak, politicians, kept bringing up how the US had a long history of prosperity, mobility, and justice for all. But if you delve into their claims more deeply, you will discover that too many people have been left behind, struggling to get by, with little hope for a better future.

Fifty million Americans live on incomes below the federal poverty level, including one in every four children. Most of them have lost hope of upward mobility for themselves or their children. I became angered in the summer of 2018, when I saw a homeless person in Washington, DC using a child to garner pocket change from a passerby. “No one in America,” I said to myself,  “should live without a roof over their head especially a child.”

 Many in the US are struggling to make ends meet because there are growing numbers of people facing the burdens of being underemployed due to shrinking job prospects. Too many workers have two or three part-time jobs with no benefits and little financial security.

Poverty is about power, not scarcity. The richest country in the world should be able to sustain an economy that is healthy and fair. People who are willing and able to work at a full-time job should be able to earn enough money to support their families and have opportunities to climb the ladder out of poverty. Poverty in the US is deepening, perhaps by racism, gender discrimination, denial of basic rights in health care, and most importantly income inequality. There are also many unjust policies when it comes to the affordability of basic health care. Not to mention, a growing number of people are being refused equal pay for equal work.

The education system in many high schools throughout the US is also diminishing, especially, in impoverished school districts. Overall the US global assessment scores on reading comprehension, science, and math, place America at 36^th in terms of test scores.

American companies that step up to the plat and offer decent living wages will increase the tax base in their local towns and cities. This has a direct impact on their local school districts. Because the biggest investment a worker can make is buying a home. It creates an increase in property taxes and benefits the quality of public education in those areas.  

Good companies are not driven solely by their profit margin they also provide pathways for advancement and enable workers to have a voice in the workplace.  

When those on unemployment can collect more on their unemployment insurance than working full-time. What does that say about the ethical and moral responsibility of the employer who refuses to provide their employee with a living wage? A two-income household, working minimum wage jobs, cannot adequately provide for their child or children’s needs.

Minimum wage adult workers at most are disproportionately people of color, hard-working immigrants, and workers with low educational skills. These people are working harder and longer than ever before, falling behind, and losing hope. As our economy widens the gap, between those who have much and those who have little, our country falters and we lose our moral standing in the world.

Poverty can also lead to a life of crime out of desperation which can lead to higher crime rates in impoverished neighborhoods. This can have a drastic negative impact on possible corporate redevelopment initiatives because people do not want to open a new business in an area where there is a lot of senseless crime.

The bottom line is - millions of Americans today work hard at jobs that do not sustain them and their families. Low-wage jobs do not pay enough to provide even a modest standard of living. Many companies in today’s world do not offer proper benefits to meet the demands of raising children and leave workers unable to invest in paths to prosperity (like education) buying a home, or saving for retirement.

Greater educational opportunities seem like the best option for low-income workers it can be key to greater financial security. Only 33% of working adults in the US have a 4-year degree.

Education in today’s world is vital for gaining a decent standard of living. Another option can be learning a specialized trade. The problem though is that the cost of higher learning seems to lock out the most impoverished because the cost seems out of reach for them. All state universities in America should be free for those seeking to better themselves and that includes trade schools. A decent education can be a bridge to a brighter future not just for the students but for our country as a whole.    

Always with love, from Suzhou, China.

Thomas F O'Neill

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