6091: Re: 6046: working in factory jobs, Dorce to Lyall

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: LAKAT47@aol.com

"J. David Lyall" <david@lyalls.net> writes:

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I don't wish to be disrespectful either but it always bothers me when
people compare poverty in the United States to poverty in Haiti.  First.
the minimum wages are not the same, obviously.  And even though, as you
say, some people (I'm not sure I would say millions, unless you want to 
include young people with temporary or part time jobs to help with school
expenses) work for minimum wage but if they are the breadwinner, they
have multiple jobs or are on welfare.  In other words, somehow, some way
they can make enough to eat and live.  In Haiti it is a much harsher life
that they face when they are poor.  They work more than eight hours a day in 
these factories, for much less and do not have televisions or cars (almost 
everyone here has a TV...).  There is no second or third job because there 
are none to have and there are only 24 hours in a day.  Welfare is not an 
option.  In the old days when the serfs let the overlords run the country, 
at least foodstuffs were cheap and one could eat on pennies a day.  But
now that the elites are furious that the poor have had the audacity to vote
for Aristide and against them, the prices are so inflated that it is very 
difficult to even think about eating daily.  In the US there are options,
in Haiti, there are very few if any.  And the majority of people in the US
are middle class and living comfortably, if not opulently.  In Haiti the 
majority are living under conditions that in this country would mean arrest 
for anyone treating their animals in the same fashion.  I am not against 
people working hard for money to feed, clothe and educate their families.
I am against paying less than that and using people like machines so that
the quality of their lives is such that the pursuit of happiness is 
impossible.
I find it interesting that I am getting argument on this...;)

Dorce~