politics for the 99%

Published on New Jersey nj, by Stephen Stirling, Jan 16, 2017.

Charlene O’Brien doesn’t want help. The 38-year-old single mother of two has built her life on being a strong, independent woman.

The Hardyston divorcee has a full-time job training educators, which she balances with raising her 7 and 10 year-old boys, the latter of which has special needs. In her spare time she runs and designs grueling obstacle courses, the kind that make even the biggest fitness buff think twice.

But O’Brien knows today she needs help. She just doesn’t know where to turn to get it … //

… Monthly survival budget for a family of 4 in New Jersey: … //

… Percent of households below ALICE threshold, by county … //:

… For O’Brien, there has been some solace in learning she isn’t alone. In 2015, she went to a United Way event where a woman shared her story of struggle. Sitting in the audience, she began to cry.

“The story she was telling was mine,” she said. “And I just said ‘wow, I’m not alone.’ So if this is an opportunity for me to stand up and put a voice to this, I want to do that, because this is happening too frequently to too many people.”

(full text, statistics).

Working Poor Related Links:

• Working More Than 39 Hours a Week Could Hurt Your Health, on Money Magazine, by Tessa Berenson, Feb 10, 2017: bad news for workaholics: A new study suggests you should only work a maximum of 39 hours a week or else risk your health …;
• US: Serial house sitters shed the shackles of a mortgage, on CNBC, by Kayleigh Kulp, Feb 10, 2017: David and Kathy Cutts traded their $2,800-a-month Lake Tahoe rental for serial house-sitting gigs when they retired a year ago, preferring instead to live rent-free around the world in exchange for caring for people’s pets …;
• US Statehouse Report tally sheet: bills to help the working poor, raise gas tax, fix pension system, on Statehouse Report, Feb 10, 2017;
• Australia: High phone and internet bills punishing South Australia’s working poor, welfare groups warn, on The Adviser, by Miles Kemp, Feb 7, 2017: HIGH phone and internet bills are an emerging problem for the working poor welfare groups say, as people are increasingly being forced by technology and government services to engage essential services online and via the telephone …;
• US: Mobile food pantry provides for working poor in Danbury area/CT, on NewsTimes, by Julia Perkins, Jan 31, 2017: … Senior citizens and parents with their young children move down the line, thanking the volunteers who help them put food in their bags …;
• US: People spend the biggest chunk of their income on housing in these towns [STATISTICS], on New Jersey nj, by Erin Petenko, Jan 16, 2017:  it’s expensive to be poor in New Jersey. People living in the Garden State — particularly low-income residents — are frequently spending a large chunk of their income on monthly housing costs, according to a new report from United Way …;
• US: Elon Musk vehemently rejects employee claims of poor working conditions at Tesla, on CNBC, by Sam Meredith, Jan 10, 2017;

Other Economic Links:

Economic Update: Solving Old Economic Problems, 55.58 min, uploaded by Democracy At Work, Feb 10, 2017 … with Richard D. Wolff;

Economic Update: Women’s Movement Economic, 55.57 min, uploaded by Democracy At Work, Feb 2, 2017 … with Richard D. Wolff;

Europe’s Dept, America’s Crisis – FULL, 56.50 min, uploaded by Free To Choose Network, Dec 29, 2015;

Political Theory – Karl Marx, 9.27 min, uploaded by The Scool Of Life, Dec 19, 2014;

Inequality Media.org:

• /Videos;
• /Resources (Podcasts, Movies, Articles, Books):
  Article: Wealth inequality has widened along racial, ethnic lines since end of Great Recession, by RAKESH KOCHHAR and RICHARD FRY, Dec 12, 2014;
  Article: Stagnation: The American Middle Class Hasn’t Gotten A Raise In 15 Years, by Ben Casselman, Sept 22, 2014;
  Book: The Working Poor, Invisible in America, by David K. Shipler, 352 p, Jan 4, 2005 (first Jan 4, 2004);

… and this:

• Kirmesmusikanten – Accordeon, uploaded by EuroDancePlanet: Mix 1, 15.27 min; Mix 2, 13.38 min.