My Daughter Called it Dropping Out

I call it doing something different than drowning in mainstream.

After reading an article, I sat down and did a bit of my own "cyphering" and to my utter dismay, there is no mathematically sound financial solution to the situation America has created. I've included the link to some very disheartening statistics that are all too real.

I am not suggesting these people do not need help, what I am saying is the math is impossible.

1 in 6 Americans are on food stamps. 1 in 6 Americans are on medicaid. 56 million Americans are on Social Security, so that means an even greater number is eligible for Medicare now or within two years. I say a greater number, because civil service, teachers and railroad retirement do utilize medicare but have a retirement plan that is ineligible for retirees to receive social security. Then there's the VA and Veteran's benefits . . .

As I sorted through these statistics, and they are staggering, another variable of this equation came into view. Perhaps the food stamp and medicaid stats overlap with the unemployment statistics, but unemployment is also another funded situation, with no end in sight, as far as job creation. I realize "job creation" has become a political blame game, but the bottom line is this. Jobs are created based upon making something or providing a service that is needed, and someone to buy that product or pay for that service . . . The same people hollering for job creation will go to the big box store and buy "made in another country" because it's cheap. There's a lot of lip service given about a "living wage" but the products most Americans choose to purchase were not made by anyone earning union wages or even a living wage . . .

Here is the literal mathematics of the situation. Not only do all of these figures really add up to nearly half of our population, that's right, nearly half. Many of the jobs that do exist are based upon managing these services. The agencies that process all of these programs are huge and have large administrative budgets. Then there is health care that is becoming more tied into providing services through these agencies. Much of the employment in this country is now based upon providing care and assistance for those who are unemployed, under employed, beyond the "working age," or deemed disabled.

Again, let me repeat, that I am not saying these people do not need some sort of help, what I'm saying is, what we're doing isn't really helping them and certainly isn't helping the next generation. I don't think the Other 1 Percent has dropped out, we've simply dug our heels in and said we can't help balance this equation and we don't want to cause any more imbalance. So, we've taken up a back to basics plan and I've found I'm able to share food, shelter, information, and encouragement without adding to the federal deficit!