Chris Murphy Instagram – You want to know how the economy is rigged against working people? Here’s Izzy’s story – I ran into him along my walk and he was nice enough to walk with me for a while this afternoon.
Izzy worked full time for Walmart for 17 years.
He never made enough to put any money away. He lived paycheck to paycheck. But he found honor in the work. He liked helping people.
But when he got to retirement age, after working full time his whole life, he had virtually nothing saved.
He gets $900 in social security income and a little help w food stamps. He shares a 3 bedroom with two strangers and his rent is $700 for a single room. He has $200 left over for everything else each month. For a guy who worked hard his whole life, it borders on dehumanizing.
He doesn’t complain, but he gets choked up talking about how this wasn’t how his life was supposed to go. His wife died young, he moved to Connecticut to start over, and now he’s stuck, after doing what he thought was expected of him.
That’s our economy today. All the rules are stacked against guys like Izzy. Wages are too low. Pensions have disappeared. Housing scarcity is a policy choice. Meanwhile trust fund kids live lives of luxury and many billionaires pay a lower tax rate than Izzy does. | Posted on 29/May/2024 02:31:11
