A penny for my thoughts? What’s a million thoughts per second worth?
Dear Minimum wage advocates,
I’ve kept my tongue still in the Minimum wage increase debate, mostly because I don’t want to come across as insensitive. However, I must say, for once I’m not with the Democrats on this one. It sounds ethical to increase minimum wage and afford minimum wage workers a better standard of living. Problem is; in a capitalist market, ethics and economics don’t exactly go together. We could sit here and argue that CEOs, CMOs, and CFOs can easily take a pay cut from their fat bonus checks, then redirect the extra cash to higher payroll cost, but who are we kidding? This is democracy not socialism. Big execs are entitled to their own free will and large paychecks! Now the real issue is what happens to the little guys like me who employ minimum wage workers? There’s no huge bonus check to take a pay cut from!
I’ve been ethical in the past. I did pay a little above minimum wage to my minimum wage employees, and what I couldn’t make up for in cash, I made up for in the added value benefits I gave my employees. If payroll cost goes up for folks like me, I have no choice but to break-even by increasing pricing, cutting expense somewhere else, working 15million extra hours to raise sales levels and spread the cost somehow, or just cut jobs to make sure I don’t go under. Again, we could sit and say, better pay means more disposable income and better standards in society, so everyone will start spending money and there’ll be plenty to go around. As beautiful as that hypothetical scenario sounds, the free market doesn’t really regulate itself. Entrepreneurs make decisions on profit projections, and accounting says higher payroll cost equals reduced profit projections if you don’t tweak something else!
In the end, a society with higher wages does look like a thriving economy, but we all live as we earn. We earn higher wages so we can afford the rising cost of living. Ask England and Denmark, they’ll tell you higher payroll is not without its cost. I would know, cos I did give up an English life with higher wages and a stronger currency for the big roads, big cars and big houses America offers. The bigger question is; have we done anything tangible by raising minimum wage to a specific dollar amount, when the kickback effect means we end up distributing the cost of that hike to society at large? Or are we just playing politics and shifting numbers around to make things look like “We truly care about the little guys”. Yes a society with better wages does seem like a thriving economy, but a consequential rising cost of living is called INFLATION. Maybe they’ll call ours Hyperinflation. We could always ask Germany what hyperinflation feels like. Then again, maybe that’s what we want. I mean inflation allows for the Feds to intervene in the market, right?
Now just incase you’re wondering how does this really affect me? I don’t have any minimum wage employees. Well think about it this way; the average cost of living for an American per year according to the bureau of labor statistics, is $20,194. You’re 35yrs old, you have 30yrs to go till you retire, and you think maybe if I saved up $1million I could retire comfortably, right? Well inflation is currently edging on 4%. Fast forward 30years, and 4% inflation rate means average living cost is now $65,429. Which means the $1million dollars you thought would be enough would only last for an average of 10yrs if you lived on bare basics. Which again means you’re 75, broke as fuck, your hip hurts and you need to get a job!
Hey, these are just my opinions, I’m a numbers person and I like evaluating my options carefully. I could be wrong, I could be right. But the laws of economics and accounting unfortunately weren’t built to be flexible. We can play the numbers game all we want, but I don’t have the money to pay extra payroll cost. I may have it someday, but I don’t want to be forced to do it when I can’t afford it.
I’ve heard people say; “Communication is key”
But I’ve had a hard time communicating.
Sometimes, it’s like white noise when I speak
People can barely understand.
The perplexed glare on their faces
Like “what is she going on about?”
Language! Language is key to communication
The ability to enthrall an audience with language so sophisticated it’s like getting intoxicated with fine wine.
Language! Language can be weapon
Able to control the mind of another
Then again, there’s Words! – The codes to cracking the power of language. The very fabric of society’s ability to communicate. But words aren’t always what they seem.
Always delusive!
If I could be a word-smith
Maybe I could master the power of language and be the master communicator.
But then, along comes phonetics and its ability to twist the hearer’s perception of words
“Communication is key” they say!
But I’m left wondering; whatever happened to connection?
Telepathic connection!
What if we could communicate without the delusion of words
What if I could connect with you without communication?
Now that would be the day I become a master communicator!
I haven’t written any poems in a while, cos I’ve been too busy being a working mum. 😦
I wrote this one for the little old lady down the road. For NancyLee
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A smile in time
That’s what she gave
The little lady that’s more of an angel than a little lady
She’s everyone’s favorite
Even mine
For like magic she captured me with her smile and almost quirky sense of humor
First impression wasn’t much to go by
But second impressions! Well that’s her specialty
She’ll wow your heart when you do meet her twice
Twice I say, cos no one really gets away with the best first impressions
Even then, a smile in time is what she gave me
It had been a lonesome week
Burdened with nothing but disappointments & uncertain anxieties
With a smile, she took most of it away
We never know what we could give
With a smile in time
Perhaps, just enough to save a life!
~ GE
It’s easy for the world to break you
It’s easy to get swept away
It’s easy to become invisible
Sometimes, it’s easy to stop believing
Where did you go wrong when you had it all right
The right opportunities
The right timing
The right energy
But soon enough you realize
The right everything isn’t enough
Something is still missing
Is it the attitude?
Is it some ethereal force
Is it the right person/people
What’s missing?
Every choice leads you a step closer to tomorrow
Perhaps tomorrow is your destiny
Then again tomorrow isn’t guaranteed
Still you push forward
Wishing you could fast forward
Everyday is another roller coaster
Waiting for that big break
Hoping to stop being invisible
Hoping those who don’t think much of you finally see what you see
Hoping you haven’t spent a lifetime deceiving yourself
Yet, to deceive oneself for a lifetime isn’t all too bad
To live in fantasy land hoping for that big break isn’t all too bad either
Cos you might just make it to that silly fun land if you run fast enough
And if there’s enough time to complete this race.
I pray you make it
I pray those who looked down on you get to say they were wrong
I hope you make it
I hope your tears dry up
And I hope you find happiness in this miserable world
I hope you shine brighter than any star
And your history be that of a happy ending
I hope your tale be the story of God
I hope you make it in time
I hope you find happily ever after
I hope your wishes come through
I hope you find that big break
There’s never enough time
Time to be grateful
Time to say thank you
Or time to be appreciative
Perhaps it’s time to say sorry
Sorry I never took time to appreciate what I got
Time to say; sorry I forgot to meditate in the moment
Sorry I should have been thankful
There’s never enough time because time flies by
Or is it us who fly by?
Chasing after time, when time is right behind us
Looking back in time is always melancholic
There’s no room for us there anymore
And the future seems somewhat of a mysterious creature
Never showing it’s face in time to keep our fears at bay
But I’m grateful I’ve got this moment in time
To appreciate and say thank you.
It started with a thought
A simple but fervent prayer
A longing for you
Faith in the one thing I knew for sure
Hope in the ONE I’ve known all my life
I knew one day you did be mine
It was only a matter of time
On the 3rd floor, Room 7 wasn’t a coincidence
You’re my dream come true
My answered prayer
My completion
My very own blessing
A son to love for eternity.
Always and forever
It’s team 5
& our love surpasses the mistakes in this world
Now all I can say is, Thank you Lord!
I was seven when I first heard his story.
I still hear the voices of his people screaming and chanting “Free Mandela”
And the voice of a female singing “Winnie Mandela”
It was the story of hope in the face of persecution
Strength and Will in the face of oppression
A woman standing as a soldier beside her husband
Laying their lives for the lives of the weak
A humble man giving up everything for an idea he believed in.
The idea of freedom and equity
He was broken in body but not in spirit
His pain would draw the light back to a generation riddled with darkness
His tears would be between him and his GOD
But his sacrifice was for all men
The sages say; in every generation, there are 36 Tzadiks (righteous hearts) on the earth
Sent to justify mankind’s continued existence before GOD
I believe Mandiba was one of them
A light in a dark society
A beacon of hope for generations to come
A seed of yesterday for a new breed of humanity
He came, he saw, he conquered!
Heaven has gained its angel back
A Star’s been lit up in the galaxies
And men will tell his story over and over again
RIP Mandiba!
~ GE
