[Dearth]

There is another facet to the conversation of cost of living and that is jobs I've been on both ends of the spectrum living below poverty lvl on minimum wage and now I have a good paying job with retirement benefits and unless the mill I work at shuts down I will be a lifer.

We all want a better life for ourselves and our kids yet we are also our own worst enemies because we want the good things in life but need to big money for it. I actually had more money when I worked minimum wage which was a whooping $3.25 when I started to now where I make over $30 an hr. More wages means more bills, more bills means more toys, more toys means more wants and it never ends.

Then now kids of today want what we worked our way to earn I learned working minimum wage to respect money it doesn't mean I'm money smart but I respect it. Most kids I see won't even answer the phone for a job unless it is paying well above current minimum wage then most of us complain that foreigners are taking over our jobs but when you walk into fast food joints, corner stores and convenience stores your hard pressed to find kids working there and older foreign workers doing the jobs because they are willing to work for that minimum wage whereas we as a society have not taught our kids the value of money and grow up not respecting it therefore not respecting the work that they do.

I may be wrong but I also have been on both ends of the pay scale as well