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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by James K on September 5, 2006, at 16:01:12
This post is somewhat political, but it also involves my personal depression, so I'm going to put it here.
Last night I was watching last weeks episode of "the contender" a reality show about professional boxers. the losing boxer this episode was an older fighter (mid-thirties?) with four kids and a wife. He used to be a contender and was trying a comeback. He made some allusion to emotional problems in the past. I guess that triggered me.
He said one of the reasons he was still fighting was to buy his kids a house because they were all living in a 2 bedroom apartment. I started thinking about the amazing physical skill and stamina he had and the dedication to train and take care of his family. He was articulate, seemed decent and honest. It is very hard to be a boxer. I started to think "If he can't earn a decent living, with his strength and dedication, how can I ever?"
A guy like that should be the employee of the year in any warehouse in the nation. But employee of the year in a warehouse doesn't cut it anymore. We reward work so randomly in this country these days.
So I guess all that is to say I don't think we have realistic living wages in America anymore, and it is an issue that affects me in an emotional and real life way. Hard work isn't enough to "make it", and it used to be.
I've been scared to start over the last two years, and fearing that no matter how much I give, it won't be enough makes me more scared. But I have depression and I'm not so young anymore.
To sum up --- I'm in favor of better compensation, and I need to get past my fears, because we can still rise above on an individual level, I just wish more of us could rise above.
James K
Posted by zazenducky on September 5, 2006, at 18:11:12
In reply to Economic realities and depression in usa, posted by James K on September 5, 2006, at 16:01:12
there was a show on public tv about working people in poverty and one woman opened it by saying i wish god payed better. then she explained that she was working for a nursing home at near minimum wage and they kept telling her that she was doing god's work.
i wish god payed better too
Posted by finelinebob on September 5, 2006, at 20:38:49
In reply to Re: Economic realities and depression in usa, posted by zazenducky on September 5, 2006, at 18:11:12
> there was a show on public tv about working people in poverty and one woman opened it by saying i wish god payed better. then she explained that she was working for a nursing home at near minimum wage and they kept telling her that she was doing god's work.
>
> i wish god payed better tooI work for a multi-faith organization. You'd think that ONE of them would pay better....
Posted by Dunder on September 6, 2006, at 5:55:02
In reply to Economic realities and depression in usa, posted by James K on September 5, 2006, at 16:01:12
Hi James,
I live on the UK but I share your discontent with the injustice of our modern capitalist societies, where the winner takes all and people at the bottom are left to rot. It seems that greed is the only "attribute" worthy of reward. Why is it that the nurse or teacher or street cleaner for that matter, who work hard for the good of society get a tiny fraction of the rewards of, for example, the banker or the property developer? Don't get me wrong I am not a communist but maybe I am an idealist because I believe in a fairer society where people are rewarded and respected in proportion to how much they give back to society not how much they take. Our societies have become so individualistic and competitive that they engender a feeling of hopelessness, despair and in many, depression. A feeling of "I am not good enough" is commonplace.
All this injustice contibutes to my depression too. Just finding something worth working for that pays a livable wage is an ongoing struggle.
All the best
Dunder
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