The poor are demonized. They
are called lazy, useless and moochers. The poor, however, are some of the
hardest working of all Americans.
One of the typical arguments
by poor shamers is that the poor should get educations so they could get better
jobs, but the truth is that the jobs that are done by the poor are absolutely
vital to our country. Without them, there would be no country, and there would
certainly be no rich people.
2. They care for our
children. The average nanny is
paid less than $30,000 per year, usually without benefits.
3. They teach our children. The average teacher makes around $45,000 a year, which might
not sound poor, but for that salary, most positions require advanced degrees.
4. They make the world
beautiful. It
would be difficult to determine the average salary of an artist, but very few
of even the most talented artists achieve financial success.
5. They inform and entertain. Writers, actors and
filmmakers are just as likely to live in poverty as visual artists.
6. They create. Inventors are often
poorly paid for their inventions, if paid they are at all.
7. They are entrepreneurs. Two thirds of startup businesses fail. Many of them fail
because they were simply out financed (think the big coffee chain moving on to
the same corner as the independent coffee house).
8. They keep our world clean. People that do the
dirtiest jobs are notoriously some of the least paid, yet can you imagine a
world without people emptying our trash and cleaning our toilets?
9. They keep you alive. Without poor people,
produce would rot in the fields. There would be no goods on the shelves. There
would be no store clerks to sell them to you. Most Americans would most likely
starve.
10. They fight for our
country. The average starting salary of enlisted personnel is about $35,000
per year.
11. They save the world. Many of history’s most
selfless people live their lives in or near poverty. They join the Peace Corps.
They work for or start charitable organizations. For some very well educated
people, making a lot of money simply isn’t the priority.
12. They employ people. The majority of private
sector employees are employed by small and medium sized businesses. Many of the
employers take a very small income.
13. They pay their taxes. Much is made of the
statistic that between 40 and 50 percent of people don’t pay federal income
tax. That is typically because they are too poor. But even if they don’t pay
federal income tax, they pay taxes. They pay Social Security taxes. They pay
state taxes. They pay the identical sales tax on food and clothing as their
wealthy brethren. They pay identical gasoline taxes as their more fortunate
counterparts. Unlike the wealthy, taxes deeply impact the well being of the
poor, yet, unlike the wealthy, they are unable to take advantage of the loopholes
that were designed to specifically benefit the wealthy.
14. They buy things. Rather than hoard money
in off-shore bank accounts, the poor give every penny of their income, even
government subsidized income, back into the economy. In fact, every dollar in
SNAP benefits puts $1.84 back into the economy, in the form of jobs, taxes,
etc. That kind of return on investment would make most hedge fund managers
salivate, yet the poor are shamed for it. Without the poor, though, Walmart,
our largest private sector employer, wouldn’t exist. No wonder they don’t want
to pay people well.
Republicans love to tell us
that these jobs don’t deserve good pay. Perhaps it’s time instead to value
people for their actual contributions to society instead of shame them because
wealthy corporations choose to hoard the money at the top.
Author Wendy Gittleson is one of the
luckiest people on the planet. She actually gets to make a living out of two of
her greatest passions, writing and politics. When she's not writing, she's
hiking with her dogs, riding her bike or cooking a great meal with her friends
or loved one. Follow Wendy on Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus.