Is your Hourly Wage actually Less than What you Thought?

Currently in the United States, the Federal Minimum Wage is set at $7.25 an hour. A state is able to set the wage higher or lower, however, if the state minimum wage is set lower than the federal wage, than automatically the state's minimum wage is the federal wage. If the state decides to raise their minimum wage to be more than that of the federal minimum wage, than the higher of the two rates is applied.

Now an interesting thing - whatever your hourly rate is, is not actually what you are being paid.

Let's look at a practical example:

Say you are working in a position that pays minimum wage, which was reported to be about 4.7% of the working class in 2012. Doing the basic math, we can see that if you were to work 40 hours in one week, at $7.25 an hour, your gross pay would be $290 (40 x 7.25). Usually pay periods are every two weeks, so calculating the pay check to be expected for one pay period would be - keeping up with the 40 hour work week - you would gross $580 (290 x 2).

So that is a 'standard' paycheck for working 80 hours in one pay period. Yet here, you are not actually bringing home the 'minimum wage' set by the law as the federal requirement. The reason being, there are taxes that are then taken out for various purposes. Mainly, in the US, we have the OASDI and HI taxes which are the Social Security and Medicare taxes, sitting at 6.2% for OASDI and 1.45% for HI (Medicare).

So let's now remove these taxes from your taxable wages, which is what we calculated above, the $580.

The amount taken out for OASDI would be $35.96 (580 x 6.2%), and the amount taken out for Medicare would be $8.41 (580 x 1.45%). So taking into account these taxes that are being removed from your paycheck (35.96 + 8.41= $44.37), you would receive a total of $535.63 (580 - 44.37).

Once the taxes are removed and you are given your paycheck, the total hourly wage you are ACTUALLY "making", or is for you to support your life, is now at $6.69 an hour (535.63/80 hours). What this means is that after all is said and done, you are making lower than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, which is apparently set as a standard to ensure a minimum wage for all workers in the US. Yet we can clearly see here that we are not actually making that amount - we are making 56 cents less than that amount. One might say that is nothing to gripe about, yet it all adds up.

Now I'm not saying that we should not have to pay taxes or that 'taxes are the bad guys, and do away with taxes', what is clear here is that the Minimum Wage should be set as a rate that takes into account the taxes that are being paid. The Minimum Wage should be set at a rate in which, once the taxes have been removed, equals that of the Federal Minimum Wage, definitely not lower. I say definitely because it does not make any sense, why set a MINIMUM amount when one is actually making LESS than the MINIMUM amount?

We already know that the current minimum wage of $7.25 for an individual working full time, does not cut it in terms of actually supporting one financially, and then we see now that we are making even less than that. The point of the Minimum wage would to be to ensure that a minimum amount is guaranteed for ALL workers to ensure their ability to provide themselves the access to ALL Human Rights - food, shelter, water, education, health care, etc. The Minimum Wage is currently providing the most minimal standard of living and cuts people off from accessing a more dignified, comfortable life. No one should have to work more than 40 hours a week to survive, if they choose not to. No one should have to work more than one job to ensure they are making more than the hourly minimum wage rate. No one should have to be forced into positions where they are stuck, doing what they can, just in order to put food on their table and a roof over their head. This should all be guaranteed, because it is a human right.

No one should have part of their less than effective income be removed to then pay in to support others. It's not "Give and Get Less," it's "Give and you shall Receive." And so as we give, we should receive - a balance economy that is effective in supporting everyone - that is truly an advanced society; one that functions in harmony.

So the point I wanted to make here is simply that we are fooling ourselves in thinking the current minimum wage is doing it's job effectively, when we can see in the numbers above that the actual minimum wage is not the real minimum wage that goes to those that are working the hours.

Why not give a wage in which takes into account these other costs and yet still allows one a decent wage to live.

I will go more into various other perspective in regards to Minimum Wage in blogs to come. In the meantime - investigate the Living Income Guaranteed proposed by the Equal Life Foundation that recognizes the fact that we have lost sight of how to ensure a healthy and thriving population, which in turns provides a healthy and thriving economy. It realizes that a Living Income becomes more effective than a Minimum Wage and should be set to ensure a standard of Living that is Best for Everyone, because in the end, that is our Basic Human Rights.

Investigate, Question, Find Solutions... Till next time.

A Living Income for Difficult Times

Imagine yourself a young parent, with a child less than a year old. Your partner faces inner demons that drive them to abuse substances that create them to no longer be a supportive role in this child's life. They lie, cheat and steal for their addiction and you are put into a situation to make a choice. Stay or leave - what is best for the child?

You decide to leave and seek refuge with your family. They offer you a temporary  place to stay while you fight for rights to your child to ensure you are the one responsible for the child's well being and that until the other parent has proven to support themselves through the addiction and stable enough to support the child, you are the sole custodian.

Meanwhile you must continue to work. You are now a single parent, paying legal fees to ensure the child stays in the safety of your home, you cannot count on family for child care, as they are already given you a place to stay. You have to work so you have to pay for someone to care for the child while you work.

All the while, facing the internal struggles of what this situation is showing you - is there any hope for the future? How can you provide for the child alone? What is the main point within all of this... money. Money is the one thing that will ensure a stable process of finding you and your child a place to call home and your ability to pay for legal services and child care. You must also remember to provide food and clothing for yourself and your child, as well as transportation cost for all the required traveling. You are pushed into a situation where you are not free to move about and make the rational decisions that are currently necessary of you, as you are also faced with the emotional turmoil of losing your partner to addiction, while attempting to remain focused on the child's best interest.

What do you do? What do you do in a world where you are not given the proper support to walk through this transition period? You must not only focus on the child and their well being, and your stability in a living environment, and that you are the one responsible, legally, for the child, you must also ensure you have the Money to pay for this all, within also ensuring your own sanity in this whole thing.

Imagine now if there was a Living Income Guarantee that allowed you the financial support to do what you needed to do in order to get your life aligned to the best possible situation for you and your child. You would be given the resources you needed for child care, food, shelter and transportation. You would not have to worry about work and the time away from making sure all these other things are in place, as you are given the support to do that without having to work. It is a bridge of support, a temporary relief from any added stress so that you can handle and take care of what is necessary to get through a difficult time, without having to worry about where the money is coming from - it's here for you. Because as a human, you have a right to your basic human rights and the rights of your child. You have a right to take care of priorities without having to worry about the time you must put in to work to ensure you have the Money that, without it, wouldn't give you the opportunity to walk through this time in your life with as much ease as possible.

Why is this not a guarantee for all? Why does our money system say it doesn't matter what happens, if you don't work, you cannot survive, because you need money to buy your life. Why do we not unconditionally care and support each other to do what is necessary to take care of ourselves, our children and our family? Why do we not honor each other with that ability - the ability which is our birth right?

This is another situation that many have and are facing where a Living Income Guarantee would support. You are given the money necessary to take care of your basic needs of survival to walk the process to ensure everyone is stable and cared for. You do not have to work to make money through this stage, unless you see you are able. You can take the time you need to get support for your partner. The opportunity that opens up for the one individual is beyond what we have at the moment, not to mention the self-care available as the time for oneself to work through any internal conflict or struggles that happen in such a situation.

Our economic system should not put more stress on an individual, it should in fact be a life-support system that allows one the ability to live - isn't that what we strive for in our technological, social and economic claim of advancement - a better standard of living for all? If all are not having access to such a point, then we have failed in our "advancement" - we have only then re-designed the same pattern where some are kept in dire situations of worry, stress and fear, while others are ensured their life and living is comfortable and so any unexpected events, such as the one above, does not become a burden and an experience of hopelessness. We have come too far along in our history to have not yet learned that when all individuals in a society are supported to exist in a state of well being, which is supported through ensuring all their basic rights as a human, than you have a healthy society as a whole. It is a disservice to ourselves as a whole in not making sure money is used to support All life, through all situations and events, and not used as a weapon to keep people trapped, in fear and without hope.

Stand in the Shoes of Another, Imagine who you would be and what would best support you. Ensure that you could trade the lives of anyone on Earth and still live in dignity - Investigate the Living Income Guarantee, proposed by the Equal Life Foundation. Stand up for those that are not in a position to do so.

How will a Living Income Support College Students?

Currently I am a finishing up a two-year degree at my local Community College. After starting slow in my education process, I have been a full-time student the last 3 semesters.

While I have been in school, I have also been working. Obviously one require money to support any kind of life in this world, to buy food, to live in a house, to live in an area with fresh, clean drinking water, to have clothes to buy, to have transportation - everything we currently use as a means to Life and Living costs money.

This includes education. My education is not free. It's quite expensive actually. And with finishing a two-year degree this spring, I have made the decision to stop for the moment, because financially, I cannot practically afford to continue with my education.

Obviously I could continue to take out student loans, which I have been doing to support myself to get my education. Yet at the rate of which I've accumulated and the cost of living where it's at, I see it would be more beneficial for me to stop the education process for the moment and get a job in the field in which my degree and the certificates I am completing, are in, which is accounting. I realize that if I am to continue to get my undergraduate degree, I will more likely get a better paying job in this field.

However - for a single person, independently supporting themselves financially, attempting to go to school as well, is a very difficult thing. To work and to Educate oneself in our current system is unreasonably expensive. Yes we can put ourselves into debt yet is this something that is best for ourselves?

I am 28 years old and in my early twenties, was ignorant to the debt system of our world and the consequences of taking out loans and charging credit cards. I am still paying back the debt I accumulated from the beginning of my twenties. With this and now the accumulated student debt, I am not eager to continue to go into debt trying to get an education. From my perspective, it would be best for me to enter my field with the certificates I have and work my way up then to continue putting myself into debt while I continue to get a higher degree.

Now I am not saying I do not want to finish my education - I very much would like to complete at least a bachelor's in my field of choice. Yet for the time being, it's best I do not continue to dig a deeper hole that accumulated debt is and to instead work with the debt I've already established, by getting a stable job that provides a stable income and work towards paying down my debts.

This is a classic scenario for many my age. If you do not come from money, if your parents are not able to help out financially, if you are unable to go through your classes at a full-time rate, the education process can be slow and costly. Almost impossible for one who is faced with the reality of our current economic system, alone, and realizes survival is the first priority. So when many work for a minimum wage or around that or have to have second jobs - the option to educate yourself to be able to get a better job that is more financially secure, the idea of being able to educate yourself seems hopeless.

I mean when survival is not guaranteed and debt is a certainty in life - what are we signing up for when we go into school? Are we ever guaranteed a job when we graduate to be able to start even paying back what we owe for the years we've been educating ourselves?

This is one reason why I support a Living Income Guarantee and see how this would change my Life as a current College Student.

With a Living Income Guarantee - one is giving the financial support to ensure all the survival necessities are in place. Money to have a home, to have food, to have clean water and to have proper health care and the ability to be educated.

I mean just from the one point of having a Living Income Guarantee while in school would take the pressure of the time requirement that is necessary for one to study and do well in school while also working to survive - this one point would remove the need to work so one can focus on doing the best in their studies to ensure they get the most out of their education. Yet with the Living Income Guarantee - one is able to educate themselves simply because this is a fundamental human right. ALL should be able to educate themselves, freely, as we all know that a healthy society consists of healthy individuals, and being educated allows for one to think critically, become more rational in their life decisions and thus more inclined to make choices that not only serve them but others as well.

I see how the last few years in my education process would be different if I was supported unconditionally with a Living Income. Yet that is not yet our reality. We will have to make the changes, see what we are supporting in this world, realize the common sense the Living Income represents and how not only will it serve people to educate themselves, but to also be able to Live. No more homelessness, no more poverty, no more ignorance in our world - we will make choices that are best for everyone involved, which includes ourselves and the first place we can start is to Stand in support of a Living Income Guarantee.

No one should fear furthering their education because of the lack of funding. Money should not be an obstacle for someone finding something they truly enjoy and wants to get further education and training in. We should be free to learn and expand and express and create while we are here on Earth - not in fear of survival and fear of debt and fear of working our whole lives without the ability to tap into our passions that would also support the betterment of All. When one is giving the opportunity to 'go for it' in terms of making themselves a more well-rounded, satisfied human being, when one is supported to be actually happy and stress-free, then we have individuals within a society that no more exist in conflict or friction in their life - no more aggression towards others without understanding the real reason. A living income is what we need in this world - a support foundation that allows all the opportunity with the ability to better themselves, and most simplistically, to live.

Investigate Equal Life Foundation and the Living Income Guarantee - it's time we take responsibility for what we have as our current economic system that does not make any sense when it comes to actually Living on Earth - it's time we redefine the rules of our Existence and say ALL have the right to Live in Dignity and to pursue their passion and enjoyment yet first we must ensure all are able to survive. We must do that equally for all. Those that currently cannot, because of our Money System - then we Change it. We give to others what we would like to receive and we do not accept anything less of ourselves.

Be a part of the solution. Investigate - Educate - Take a Stand. We have this one life, is the one purpose to make money? Or to discover who we are, the skills we have, how to interact and relate with each other - to better ourselves and thus the betterment of All?

I am a Student and I support a Living Income Guarantee.

The Rights of the Children

When a child is born into this world... are their basic human rights provided to them? Are they ensured that they will be cared for properly? Are they ensured that they will have a home, health care, food and parents that are in a position to effectively support them in growing up in our world? Some yes - those with Money; money is currently the determining factor of what kind of life you live and whether you have access to any form of human rights. However, many no - because many within our world are not guaranteed money, and thus are not guaranteed access to basic human rights. Actually - no one is guaranteed basic human rights. We might think we are, and even the United Nations have so graciously placed words on a document saying that each and every human being does in fact have 'inalienable' rights as a human - that are the basic requirements in order to live a decent life on Earth. But is this guaranteed? No because money is what buys us that, and again, not all have access to enough in order to actually provide it for themselves. Basic Human rights are implied to be given freely, to All, as an understanding of what is required to survive in this world, and yet - this is not given.

The only guarantee that we have is if we make enough money, then we can buy ourselves the comforts that shelter us from a World that does not support any one's Basic Right to Life.

And children are victims in our World and this acceptance.

Children are born into a world where the parents have no clue how to raise them, as they were raised by the generation before who had no clue how to raise them, and before them the same and so a pattern has been repeated throughout time, as parents are simply the product of a world that does not actually care enough to Live the Words it speaks or writes - as we have the words placed - we see what is necessary for a Human to be able to Live and yet it is not implemented. It is not enforced. It is simply there, in the background without action. And thus parents are teaching, as they have been taught, to not ask any questions and simply accept our World to be the way it is - where some are fortunate and others are not.

Do we have any right to bring a Child into this world? While so many children that are here are not being provided their basic human rights? Isn't it our responsibility to ensure that ALL humans are given their rights to life - actually their ABILITY to live - should we not first ensure this is a reality for all before we continue to bring children into this world that does not prove that it can support them?

Obviously children are going to be born into this world - we will not stop that, however then we MUST consider preparing a reality that is best for them. Surely that is what we would like for ourselves? I mean, have we stood in the shoes of the children? Wouldn't we want to be supported with proper health, diet, a family unit that can create a stable human and not an emotional, self interested consumer that continues to not care about this world? Wouldn't we like to be able to be educated? Wouldn't we like the opportunity to express and explore what this real world - the natural world, has to offer? Wouldn't we like to be able to take care of ourselves? Wouldn't we like to be able to live a fulfilling life where ALL our basic rights as a human are met and provided for? Surely we would - so why are we not ensuring that this is a reality? Why do we think we can continue to ignore the fundamental problem of our society - that no human rights are being offered or given and millions of children are continued to be allowed within this world without assuring any kind of safety or future for them. In fact - the future we are currently creating for the children to come is of misery.

Time to become responsible and get out of the 'now' of what is right in our immediate attention and consider the consequences of our lack of action. What kind of future are we possibly creating from where we are currently standing? It is clear, one that is NOT best for our children, or for ourselves and each other.

Investigate the Equal Life Foundation as an Organization actually providing a solution to our World and the Problem that we currently face - Children without Basic Human Rights. Become an advocate for Life and give your Life to ensure we leave a place worthy for the Children to come. Stand in the shoes and realize you would want this for yourself.

Human Rights for Children by Bernard Poolman:

Hey Protesters... BE the CHANGE

As we see more and more becoming aware of 'the system'...

what do we see for solutions?

People walking in the streets - yelling at 'those to blame' and sitting and waiting for their anger to be validated through change.

Does this sound like something that will change the System?

Obviously not - as we have seen protests for years and years with no real solution created - only a temporary relief where we are able to 'lash out' our angst to those we want to blame for the way things are. Stop Waiting for Change - CHANGE YOURSELF

Why does no one consider using what is Here already? We have Systems in place - that will, with the 'right kind of people' - Ones Standing Up for what is Best for All - Ones willing to Stand AS the System - that can/will include Everyone Equally - through 1 Vote. One Person = One Vote. Democracy.

We humans tend to want to blame the system - blame those in power - blame those with money - blame those in 'control' - yet while we are busy blaming - we fail to see what we are actually allowing. We allow our own enslavement - our own dis-empowerment - our own control, as we have yet to consider BEING the Change - Stand AS the System - using what is already Here to implement a System that is Best for All.

Are we too impatient... to impatient to educate ourselves to 'get to know' the system, how it operates/functions and how we are able to tweak it in order to care for all.

The point is that it's not 'them' - It is US. WE are the ones, all equally creating/accepting/allowing this System to function as it does, and thus it is US that has to Change it... and waving flags and banners and yelling chants of blame will solve nothing... we are then less than the system not realizing the system is us. We have to change ourselves as the system - through taking Responsiblity for what is Here - educating ourselves and PLACING OURSELVES in the Position of Power. BE the Change - BE the System - BE in this World, not of it, and Change it from the inside out.

We as Destonians realize protests and resisting the system is useless - as with or without our percieved participation - the system continues, and so we must be the ones to Stop it.

How? Getting off our Asses and MOVING ourselves to be within this World - within the System - where we can be the ones to effectively change the System.

Calling all Activists - starting ACTING in ways that are Best for All by educating ourselves through STOPPING judgments of what is Here - taking SELF responsibility for what is Here - and CHANGING what is Here. We got the Tools - we got the System, Democracy. One Man = One Vote. So Let's create a Political Party that is Best for All - that is Here to Create an Equal Life for All.

See yourself as the System and you then Give yourself the Power to Change the System.

Investigate the Equal Life Party - wherein our first priority is implementing an Equal Money System. This is Real Change - Once and for ALL.