(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Yo! Rich Folks! You’re squeezing too hard!!! [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-21 Being about to be squeezed out of the middle class and cast into the well of despair and poverty, I figure I’d better write my story and share it so it is not lost. I am angry. I am disgusted. I am articulate so I write rather than buy a gun and snap. I write in the spirit of Martin Luther (not King, but the first dude who broke the Catholic Church and forced the reformation with his theses of corruption pounded on the Church doors!) Here’s the tale M-Fer’s… Do you wonder why USA society is so frayed? Do you wonder why mass shootings are escalating as more people snap? I’ll share the reasons – the pressure has grown too great on the middle and lower class. The rich are sucking up all resources in a psychotic competition to see who can get the biggest bank account number. The morbid rich fund political extremists (the entire GOP and many corporate democrats) so the population cannot focus on things that matter and are simply consumed with rage. Culture war distractions do NOT solve problems. Yo – shadow-master leaders – you are F-ing the world. You are failing us. The squeeze is too hard!!! Here's the snapshot of my life – it used to be better but now is not. I was born in 1961 so I’ve lived during amazing shared prosperity and hopeful times. Before spreadsheet reality. Before “greed is good” philosophy. Before the dismantling of the FDR new deal tax structure by “trickle-down” economics. I was raised by a single income father and stay-at-home mom circa 1950’s style. I never felt fiscal worry in my childhood. Well, that’s over. Life now? Here it is… My Job – Teacher/Librarian I’ve been a teacher/librarian since 1985 (first job as substitute teacher right out of college) – close to 40 years (woah!). My current position is as a college librarian and I have a decent salary – good but not great. I’ve been blessed to have a supportive family that has helped me along the way but that is over as my parents have both passed and the inheritance I received is now exhausted. The crusher about my job is that I work for a “for-profit” school – rewards are flowing to shareholders rather than stake holders. I’ve had a few raises in my 13 years here but they have not really come for me – they were absorbed by health-care increases so my money flowed to wealthy executives / shareholders and my salary has remained stagnant. Should I just get a new job with a better salary? Oh, I’m in my 60’s so the likelihood is slim to non-existent. Yo – “for profit” company overlords – you are squeezing too hard! Wife – married in1998 You know that phrase in the marriage vows “in sickness & in health” – yeah, I got “in sickness” – my wife has both physical and mental issues and has not held a full time job for the duration of our marriage. She bore four wonderful children and did the role of stay-at-home mom while the kids were young (a blessing) – the lack of income however has not made life easy. Should I drop her like a bad habit? Or be a good soul and honor the vow and struggle on with good spirits? I’ve chosen the later as you may surmise. It is just crushing now though as other factors exert pressure on me. Yo – “legislators who control the rules” you’ve made it impossible for a single income “family” to survive without severe stress as money always funnels upwards! The squeeze is too hard! Kids – 4, yeah, family of 6 Speaking of family, I fathered 4 children and am the supportive “dad” for all. I count my blessings that in addition to my own income, I had a supportive family that fiscally helped along the way (not my wife; other story & no resources to share/pass along). Well, child #1 (eldest daughter) stumbled out of the gate – went to college but did not graduate (changed majors along way) – is now working but at clerical / managerial assistant jobs, enough to get by but not thrive. But then, the student loans came due. Yeah, neither my daughter or myself can afford an additional $2,000/month payment. Credit scores for both of us heading into the toilet & sure, all possible fiscal tools (using home equity, etc.; banks say “sorry, you can’t do it because your “score” is too low. F-YOU!!!! This “system” is designed to break people NOT support them. Child #2 (elder son), finished 2 years of college; going to try “career” now but the looming student loans (if he doesn’t catch a good break) will loom and begin the crushing… Child #3 (younger son) is senior in high school – if no scholarship can pay for his education (he is a gymnast, quite skilled too) he won’t be able to attend. The credit crushing I am in precludes options. Child #4 (trans youth, talented artist) is sophomore in high school. Has no plan to attend college and this is a blessing. Observing systemic crushing going on, a smart child. Yo – “student loan” overlords (bankers & legislators) you are squeezing too hard!!! House – bad breaks I bought my first home in 2001. Small starter house, good mortgage, good start. Growing family (2 chidldren born, one more on way) we moved in 2004 to a bigger house, same town so school changes for kids did not need to happen Sucked into bad loan (ARM) and house was almost levered out from under us; however, lost job and filed for bankruptcy – a blessing in disguise as legal representation FINALLY ended ARM (all efforts at negotiating with banks were thwarted with “lost paperwork” – continually – it was a scam from the start!!!) – landed new job with better pay and it all worked out. Lived in that house 2004-2022 – stable, middle-class life and good home to raise children. Well, values & bills rose without salary doing same, so down-sized as elder children left for college. In new home now, lower mortgage and bills for a smaller place (a good thing) but the revenue from selling previous home? Didn’t happen. Used up-front offer to buy new home (Orchard, buys new home before selling old one) but any profit possibility ended with interest rate rising – the Fed controlling inflation – hurting those who need a break and rewarding the rich & banker community not sure how long I can hold out – maybe until my son finishes HS… Yo – real estate overlords – you are squeezing too hard!!! Transportation You know the drill by now. I need a car to get to work. Had two cars (one for me, one for wife) – one car (mine) broke; snapped timing belt on highway & fried engine. Could not afford $10K repair so down to one car. Insurance rises, maintenance rises, fuel cost rises & yeah, salary is NOT rising. I’m barely making it anymore. My children also cannot get licenses to drive because IT COSTS TOO MUCH!!! Yo - Petro-chemical / insurance overlords, you are squeezing too hard!!! Food Yeah, I do all the grocery shopping so I notice. Prices rising and portions diminishing (the idiot who decided to make can goods 14.5 ounces instead of 15 as ALL cookbook recipes usually ask for deserves a special place in hell!!!) I see package size reducing (chips, cereals, baking goods) but price remains same. Other goods have rising prices and the squeeze of families like mine has gone over the top. Yo - Agra-business overlords, you are squeezing too hard!!! Conclusion You know, if it was just one or two things adding to fiscal stress it might be nearable for the poor and middle class. But it is not. It is EVERYTHING! Every “owner” of companies running the world is squeezing “just a little bit” thinking the consumer class can take it & we can get away with it. The cumulative effect of the rich class “squeezing” just a bit makes the current situation. THE SQUEEZE IS TOO HARD!!!! Before I get crushed entirely, I want out. I want to be debt free for the remainder of my time on Earth and make sure my children can start their lives with peace of mind that no debt brings. I want $500K to pay off everything. I have 3 targets for this ½ million dollar request: 50K takes care of all my immediate credit debt for running daily life. An additional 200K pays off the current student loans for my son and daughter. The final $250K pays off my mortgage so I own my house and am NOT beholden to banks. I don’t need to end my employment or stop living the live of education/service I have chosen but I want the decks cleared and I want some rich folks with a conscience to throw the cash at me. If you are rich and want to change 6 lives for the better, send me an email with the subject line “I can help you” to cololibdude@gmail.com – I’ll reply with my bank account # and routing number so you can transfer funds directly. I’ll publish more diaries here on KOS to let you know what happens… [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/21/2154218/-Yo-Rich-Folks-You-re-squeezing-too-hard Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/