I've been so desperate to get out of poverty and fighting so hard for years to do so. Although I attempt to understand what it's like to not live in these circumstances, I generally don't know. I've always wondered what the comfort is like to not have this constant weight on every decision you make. Buy food at a restaurant once, and an immediate feeling of guilt—budgeting for a pair of shoes when your last one runs out. The anxiety of not being able to make rent, and you have to speak with your landlord about an unexpected bill, or that costs this month for the most basic necessities didn't leave enough. Stable housing. A house. A home you can paint, grow a garden, and you are growing some kind of stability for your children. To work hard. Two to three jobs at a time. College, even though affordability is a problem, just to get that degree because maybe THAT is the "bootstrap." Pick up extra contracting work or odds and ends anywhere you can. Pray you can keep the lights on and, God forbid, you get sick. Being exploited by employers when you are lucky enough to get a job, because they KNOW you are one of the ones who are going to stick around because you don't have alternatives at the moment. If your car has an issue, you can be out of work. No credit cards to help you. No loans. No savings. Retirement. Benefits. Stock options. Long-term healthcare. All the things that the middle class think about are luxuries to people like me, who are faced with employment options where half your pay covers rent. I haven't even had a bed in 3 years, and somehow, I'm STILL grateful for the couch I sleep on, because at least I have a couch. Yet, I'm told Medicare for All is "too costly." That the bullshit credit system is necessary to "protect bank capital." That the stock market "poses great opporunities for those who know how to work it." That meritocracy exists and that people like me just "aren't working hard enough." By those who had tremendous hands up and their path laid out for them. More and more Americans are in this boat as me, and the upper-middle class and ownership class better wake the fuck up, because people are tired of this shit.

This article won't be surprising to many, but has some very interesting data points in it. share.google/jJ7LwCMveZ3Uuwm…

I'm so excited to be joining Leila and Pat on @PunchUpPod tonight at 5:00 PT / 8:00 ET. Come chat with us!

If I was stuck in the Backrooms, and came across this, I'd run toward the monster