Retirement delayed and broke anyway

From Harper’s Index:
https://harpers.org/archive/2019/09/harpers-index-september-2019/

Percentage of US workers over 50 who lose longtime jobs before they are prepared to retire: 56
Percentage of those workers who never recover their earning power: 90

I posted this on my Facebook wall back in 2019 and I just decided that for my Democratic Underground’s 8000th post, I would write something about this. You see, I’ve been a member of DU for a long time. I saw DU on Bill O’Reilly’s show on Fox Spews years and years ago. After reading for a week, I knew I had found “home” for my political views and never watched that channel again. I became a member later and I wanted to thank DU for everything you’ve taught me.

Back to the Harper’s Index…I took a risk and after finishing my degree in 2005 at age 45, I decided to leave my IT admin job and marry my spouse and move to Germany. We had had a long-distance relationship long enough and I was ready to take the challenge. I tried to get a transfer at the international company I worked at but there was a recession in Europe, so I sent out resumes, I went to temp agencies and tried to learn German while I lived there. We moved to the states in 09 so I thought, this is it, I’ll be able to work here.

Recruiters laughed at me. You haven’t worked since 2006. I can’t even send your resume for temp jobs because you haven’t worked in more than 2 years. I stopped and asked, what do mothers do that were raising their babies? She had no answer. I was just a middle-aged woman looking for a job, any job that would allow me to continue my career in IT or Tech or even something that didn’t require my Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management. I was qualified for many positions but nobody wanted to hire a 50-year-old woman.

So, I’ll be 64 years old next month and I haven’t worked since. Honestly, I gave up. My spouse thankfully earns enough to support us but if I wanted to divorce him or live in the states, I was going to have to live on my social security. But I’ve lost 18 years in earnings because I couldn’t find a position. I can’t work for Walmart; I won’t even shop there! I can’t stand on my feet for hours, I’m 64! I have a mind and it’s been terribly wasted. I can’t even imagine how women just 50 years ago felt that they were unwanted, unneeded and to please just disappear from society.

I just wanted to expose what some of us that have worked since 1976, a generation Jones baby, and we are not the enemy that Gen X or Y or Z make us out to be. Boomers were not always the ones that were making all of the rules but we sure had to live by them, even if it meant we made mistakes in our mid-40s and left our jobs and never worked again. Have mercy on us. My pension is based on the stock market and it lost 40% in 2008 and recovered and now, is losing again. They took away pensions and forced us to be stock market analysts now worrying about our 401k retirement balance. Thanks to Reagan, I can’t even get my full social security until I’m 66 years and 10 months old.

Reality check:

Percentage of US workers over 50 who lose longtime jobs before they are prepared to retire: 56
Percentage of those workers who never recover their earning power: 90

Stock markets should not determine our retirement worth. We worked for decades and should have a decent cost of living payment for all of those years that Congress stole our social security. Vote Blue!

Results from the Democrats Abroad Global Primary - Sanders 69% Hillary 31%

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - Donald Trump

Must see. The Truth about Donald Trump.

21:53 minutes

Reasons why I’m #FeelingTheBern

I’ve been on DU for years but I don’t say much and this is my first post (start). I try to just support the posts I read and give them recs and kicks when I can. I live in Europe and I’m watching from afar and this election is very important not only for me, but for my home country.

I want to share something I wrote to one of my Bernie supporters in the US last night.

Me: Democratic Socialist is not a dirty label here.

Are things better for the general public there, she asked?

My reply was:
#1, I see very few homeless people. I saw tent cities in Compton LA last year which was pathetic. Sad and disgusting to see people have to live like that. Honolulu Hawaii was the worst of them all. Europe has big dirty cities with homeless but most of Europe have small villages that don't allow that. They house their people. They give them healthcare if they can't afford it and I've never seen anyone use food stamps. Universal Healthcare is a right and there are many English speaking doctors available.

#2. Democratic Socialism is prevalent here. You can see it everywhere. The smooth pot hole free roads, the well-used but clean public transportation that runs every 7 minutes, the city workers that sweep the streets after each storm, the taxes we pay for roads (are higher) but at least I don’t have to worry about hitting a pot hole and damaging my vehicle or worry about a bridge falling down while I cross it. The roads and bridges are well marked and you have to be careful of not only other vehicles, but bicycle lanes, tram lanes, cross walks and pedestrians. I see children on the trams and not long lines of minivans dropping kids off at school. I see parks and recreation areas right outside my door so that I can walk everywhere safely, even at night.

#3. Education is good and in kindergarten, they teach the Swiss German kids French. Then in 5th grade, they start them in English and by the time they finish secondary school, most of them are multilingual. There are at least 3 schools within walking distance of our apartment and are well funded and staffed.

#4. I can see it in the form of employee rights, paid vacations, paid holidays and concrete block building practices so that I don’t have paper thin walls in my apartment. Unions are also not a dirty word here. Everything is shut down on Sundays and everyone spends time with their family. There’s a better work/life balance.

#5 Crime is low. I have never seen anyone but police carry guns and that is usually at the airport. I don’t see any police patrolling the highways like they do in the states. The police station in my village is closed on the weekends. I see borders that are open and sane. Living in Europe gives me the sense of security I never had in the states.

Over my 56 years, I lived in the Midwest, the south and the north east and lived in AZ before moving to Europe and I was always afraid of road rage, driving while brown or black and worried that some gun nut was going to start shooting at the grocery store. These fears seem irrational but they were there and I have none of that here. None of that. Life is better here and I believe a lot of that is because Democratic Socialism is normal here. It’s not a bad word. It’s not something to fear. I’ve seen the public good that this country has and most of the European countries that I’ve visited and lived in. I’ve been to the UK, France, Switzerland, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Denmark and will be visiting more this year. I’m not bragging, I’m just listing the countries I’ve visited the past decade and all of them are civilized. Sure we have crime, but nothing like the mass shootings that the US seems to have on a regular basis.

My facebook friend said, you should post that on facebook and I said, out of respect for my Mother, I promised I would not post political stuff there for her to see. She’s a liberal but she lives in a red state and I promised that I would keep my political opinions to myself because she knows, I’m a liberal too.

I am a Democratic Socialist American living abroad and I want America to vote for Bernie to make sure that none of the GOP monsters get into the White House. The world is watching and they are horrified by Trump, or Cruz or Bush. None of them would last a day here. Please keep us Americans abroad in mind as you canvas for Bernie (or Hillary). Please remember that the world is watching and we need to elect a liberal to keep us from being the laughing stock of the world again and bring some sanity back to our elections. Thanks for reading, I just had to get that off my chest.