Thank you Airbnb, for nothing

[johnmorgan]

Hi, I am new to AirBnB, I am going to use it for rent an apartments in other country and I hope everything will be ok.

[NordlingHouse]

@johnmorgan do you mean that you hope to be a guest?

If so, you should know that this is a forum for AirBnB HOSTS, not guests.

[Debthecat]

Or are you hoping to rent accommodation in other countries that you can host on Airbnb?

[Rolf]

@Jefferson

The govt is not here to provide a living for the people

As our last great ex-president Barack Obama reminded us so many times, “WE are the government”. Spending our tax money to make EVERYONE comfortable, either by providing a safe and fair environment OR helping those who cannot help themselves is what WE are about.

IMHO, someone who works for 8 hours moving rocks under a hot sun is deserving of MANY times the pay of someone who pushes paper around. Based on YOUR comment, those who work the hardest should get the most, right? But that is not what is happening now. And it our DUTY to make sure we ALL do well, not just those who gamed the system. When you can support a family on a wage (reminder that supposedly a ‘minimum’ wage is what can do this) then our economy is working correctly.

Standing over a fryer for 8 hours so you can eat well is an honorable job - and worthy of decent pay.

[muddy]

Guy just got arrested in Arizona, harrassing people standing in a food distribution line-up, yelling profanity at them in front of their kids, telling them they are lazy and should get a job.

This is the outcome of worshipping on the altar of unbridled capitalism- a total lack of compassion for those less fortunate than themselves. As if anyone wants to have to stand in line for some food to feed their family.

[Jefferson]

@Rolf

As Obama reminded us, “WE are the government”.

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LOL. That is a very philosophical view of “I wish” and a pure emotion play. We are not “the govt”. We are citizens.
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@Rolf

Spending our tax money to make EVERYONE comfortable, either by providing a safe and fair environment OR helping those who cannot help themselves is what WE are about.

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It sounds like you may wish for a system that is far more aligned with socialism? Well, you are entitled to your view and may work toward it.
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I would agree that some social services are necessary and desirable. We already have a “reasonably fair and safe environment” for us to act within and pursue our goals.
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Our system does not exist (your words) to “make everyone comfortable, or make sure we ALL do well”. Again, we have the “Right to Pursue Happiness”, NOT “right to contentment”.
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@Rolf

Based on YOUR comment, those who work the hardest should get the most, right?

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Nope. Clearly, our landscaper “works harder” than our accountant. You may wish to review what I wrote again. It was pretty clear.
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@Rolf

When you can support a family on a wage (reminder that supposedly a ‘minimum’ wage is what can do this) then our economy is working correctly.

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Our economy does work correctly. What we need is reduced government spending, reduced national debt, less corruption, cooperation of both parties, less special interests, and a lot more along those lines. We do not need socialism.
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You may wish to review the 1938 formation of min wage and its intent. Min wage was created during the Great Depression - to create a floor slightly better than subsistence, without regard to dependents.
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Let’s apply a real example. A busser makes $10 / hour, perhaps plus tips. They have no inherent right to support a wife and 2 kids. Not in any country on the planet, including all the bastions of socialism.
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[KKC]

@Jefferson

Our economy does work correctly.

Our economy works the way it’s designed to, most of the time. That is, it works to reward the well off and to continue taking advantage of the poor. Correctly is a matter of what one values in society and also one’s idea of what is ethical and what is not. It’s funny you use the creation of the the minimum wage in the depression since the Depression is the classic example of the economy not working correctly for any level of society. Ironic.

[HH_AZ]

@Jefferson

We are not peasants living on land owned by the nobility. Not everyone has equal opportunities. It is up to the individual to find, create and take advantage of them (hard work & time).

You sound more like the nobility (you reference) than you might have intended.

White privilege

[Jefferson]

@KKC

It’s funny you use the creation of the the minimum wage in the depression since the Depression is the classic example of the economy not working correctly for any level of society. Ironic.

Way to deflect and avoid a discussion of facts. Now, that is rather ironic. Read it again - this was a direct response to @Rolf and the incorrect notion that minimum wage should provide a living wage for a person to provide for a family, and the economy is only working correctly when such is the case.

That has never been the intent of min wage. Not in 1938. Not today. Not in the USA. Not in any country. Not one society has such a policy.

No one should be forced to pay far over market value for labor, because an individual chose to have 2 kids. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to strive to achieve our dreams and ambitions.

@HH_AZ. No need to be supercilious. Life is not fair. There will never be “equal opportunities for all”. Our society is not perfect. Yes, white privilege exists. We may work toward a better future for us and society as a whole. Things that would help our economy and create a more even playing field are not a big secret or rocket science (govt spending, etc, etc - see previous post).

With our vote, we chose to put “a better team in charge”. I hope they will do better for all, and for us personally.

[muddy]

@Jefferson

We are fortunate to have the opportunity to strive to achieve our dreams and ambitions.

White privilege talk. Tell that to the kid whose parents are meth heads, who’s hungry all the time and whose school is so busy dealing with violence that the kids are lucky to come out being even slightly literate.

[KKC]

@Jefferson

That has never been the intent of min wage . Not in 1938.

I don’t care what the intent was in 1938. I am one of many who believe the minimum wage should be a living wage in this country. What the minimum wage should be is not a factual question, it’s an opinion. What it should be raised to is an opinion question. A fact would be something like minimum wage hasn’t kept up with inflation. Or it hasn’t reflected increased average productivity.

Anyway, I’ve said my bit for now.

[NordlingHouse]

Well, if you want an economically unregulated paradise with minimal government, Texas is a great example right now. What happens when the foxes are in charge of the monopoly henhouse.

[dpfromva]

The U.S. has market sectors that are far from the economic definition of a free market – large numbers of highly competitive businesses, free flow of information, and low barriers to entry. Fair market value for labor is constrained in oligopolistic and monopolistic markets, where economic power, and the wealth that can influence legislation, are concentrated.
Reconfiguration of the market to service and technology has also made it difficult for workers to organize as they could when concentrated in factory industries. Thus the underemployed fabricator is now at the same disadvantage as the restaurant worker.
When the “floor” allows a significant number of workers, in spite of working multiple jobs, to lack medical care, decent housing, nutritional food, and the ability to live reasonably within the loving mutual support of a family, there is no ability to pursue happiness, therefore there is no right to the pursuit of happiness as it cannot be exercised.
It is human nature to confuse privilege and good fortune with personal merit. This seems to be carried to an even greater extreme in the segment of the U.S. population that conflates Christian worship and material success in the U.S.
Denmark, for example, has free college, a paid student stipend, years of unemployment benefits, year-long parental leave, 5 weeks annual vacation, and free health care, all paid for with heavy taxation on a population that consistently ranks as one of the happiest in the world, currently with lower unemployment and higher life expectancy than the U.S.

[Jefferson]

LOL. Ironic from a Canadian “retired in Tropical Mexico”.

Since you brought up all that out of left field then please suggest “the solution” for it. And, how much will it cost? Who should pay for it? Why should any of us care about it? Why should society be responsible for fixing choices that those adults made?

[Jefferson]

@dpfromva

Denmark, for example, has free college, a paid student stipend, years of unemployment benefits, year-long parental leave, 5 weeks annual vacation, and free health care, all paid for with heavy taxation on a population that consistently ranks as one of the happiest in the world, currently with lower unemployment and higher life expectancy than the U.S.

Denmark has no official min. Currently, “most minimum wages in Denmark hover around 110 DKK per hour”. Or - USD $ 16 .60, Not a living wage for a family, especially with their high cost of living.

I agree that we should have affordable heath care for all citizens and legal immigrants. A separate issue.

[JohnF]

@dpfromva

Denmark, for example, has free college, a paid student stipend, years of unemployment benefits, year-long parental leave, 5 weeks annual vacation, and free health care, all paid for with heavy taxation on a population that consistently ranks as one of the happiest in the world, currently with lower unemployment and higher life expectancy than the U.S.

They also make excellent smoked bacon and beer. Don’t you just love the Danes

JF

[dpfromva]

I don’t think the minimum wage comparison is valid, when minimum wage is accompanied by the constant anxiety of not having access to medications, childcare, decent housing, etc. in one country – and not in the other.

It seems a cruel perspective to me that a minimum wage worker who cannot “afford” to have a spouse and children shouldn’t have them.

The consequences extend to young people in the U.S. who are not even considered “poor,” and yet must delay marriage and pregnancy for economic reasons. Resulting in longer-term demographic consequences of an aging population in the U.S. and its support requirements.

[muddy]

Where do you get “retired”? I work for a living, I run an upholstery business. I’m not sipping margueritas on the beach.

And what does where I Iive have to do with anything? Everyone lives somewhere.

[Jefferson]

@dpfromva

I don’t think the minimum wage comparison is valid, when minimum wage is accompanied by the constant anxiety of not having access to medications, childcare, decent housing, etc. in one country – and not in the other.

Ok, and I do not think it is valid to compare the economy and operations of a tiny (5.9 M) socialistic welfare state, and homogenous country with the US (330 M).

Regardless, they are not a utopia: t.ly/q6xS, t.ly/RDKX. If they can not make it work perfectly, we would fail miserably.

Yes - we have issues. It is terribly naïve to think the answer is “raise min wage to X and all is solved”. There is no “one thing” that fixes it, I assure you.

A good start is forcing corporations to pay taxes not defer them forever, with smaller govt and reduced govt spending. Plus other things I outlined earlier. Those things benefit the many and we support them.

@dpfromva

It seems a cruel perspective to me that a minimum wage worker who cannot “afford” to have a spouse and children shouldn’t have them.

Ok. well that is just a heartstrings view, or “Oh isn’t it just so sad that …”.

I would love to see a tear-jerker philosophy turned into a logical argument. Like: Why should a 22 year old restaurant busser working 35-40 hours be able to afford to “get married and support a number of children”?

If you really feel that way, you do have the choice to tip more, and pay double to get your grass cut. Such ideologies rarely meet an open wallet.

[dpfromva]

I tip 30%. I did a stint as waitstaff in my time.

I am fortunate to be in comfortable circumstances at this stage in my life. I’m surely no saint and in truth could be doing more for others. So in a way the previous posts have been inspiring, though perhaps not as intended.

A restaurant worker can’t always get 40 hours a week in shifts if they want to, particularly during a pandemic. And it’s not just 22 year olds who are unable to make more than minimum wage or low gig economy income.

I am blessed to have had tailwinds – in the form of loving parents, good health care, a fine education and, not to be minimized, “white” skin – that have helped me navigate the headwinds of life. Others are not so blessed. I don’t feel ashamed of or guilty about my advantages, but I am aware of them.