I don’t need to know exact companies, no need to unnecessarily expose yourself or anything, but as we are a workers rights instance of Lemmy, I safely assume we are all proletarians. I for example work at a unionized grocery and I work outside. I have many complaints but I try my best to work as little as possible while getting my paycheck. Customers are usually fine but occasionally just dumb af to the point where it’s annoying(I have millions of stories) managers are very kind, only ones who were dicks left(unfortunately they probably got promoted if I remember correctly) and my coworkers are eh. Some are great to confide in and joke with, while others are rude or annoying, some are very nice but have garbage politics (libertarians who don’t understand their benefits from being in a union/don’t care enough about the differences to advocate for it). I plan on becoming a firefighter, not only for the pay, job security and union benefits, but it’s also an essential job that doesn’t exist just to create capital (no judgement to those who work in corporate environments, I’ve never done it and can’t judge it). I like my job overall but Goddamn the weather. Edit: Kinda cool to see so many people who are in tech.
I guide people with their debt. It is an unending, frustrating job and it gives you a real look into how poverty and debt changes you as a person. Many people I come in contact with only think about money and what they need to pay. So much potential wasted because some instance needs money with their added fines as well. Though it must be said I also get quite a lot of people who are really bad at budgeting as well. I see 10+ cases on the daily that make enough money to be able to live comfortably, but somehow can’t find a way to pay off 3k in debt. Also, multiple people who get in debt who recently bought a new Mercedes or BMW but can’t pay off 700 euro. The vast majority is in poverty, though.
I wanted to switch so I applied to a job at the Union. After two interviews I made it to the final round but it will take place somewhere in the next week or two.
Debt is such a crazy thing in capitalist society. The fact that debt isn’t inherently visible (you can actively see a person experiencing life without a home, struggling through life without food), you can’t see how much someone is struggling financially and scraping to survive, I feel that it warps our idea of how other people get by. The answer is that they kind of don’t in a lot of scenarios, plenty of people die in debt.
1 in 5 Belgian people is in active debt and 1 in 6 Belgian people says they would be in major trouble were they to miss one paycheck.
1 in every 5 people I see in the street is having some form of financial problems. No one openly talks about their debt, payment plans or how many agencies are after their ass. It’s like a silent epidemic in this country. I sometimes wonder what would happen if everyone just stopped acting as if they are fine and have everyone showing how problematic this situation is.
That’s extremely sad. Those numbers are already horrifying and it just gets worse and worse across the imperial core. That number sits at almost 77% of Americans being in active debt and 55-64% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck and unable to afford a 500 dollar emergency expense.
Only made worse by there being no financial literacy, no teaching of budgeting, what credit is, how to navigate loans and credit, how to save, how to open/find good bank accounts. It’s a purposeful trap.
I think this is further evidence that we shouldn’t live in an individualistic society.