Quote from Cynic;709444:
I'm not trying to compare it to other countries (especially 3rd world), but for a country as developed as us? There's no reason we should have people suffering as much financially as we do. So with that in mind, it's still not worth it unless you're middle class or above.
Lord knows if we didn't have as kind neighbors as we do, we'd have to live on the street with how we live day to day. And we're one of the lucky families.
I think this is still "doing fairly well".
Now I dont claim to know much about foreign countries, but its not all about those "third world countires".
South Korea is not a third world country. The costs of living in Korea is now actually more expensive than it is in America, but the minimum wage is less than half. Also, there are over ten times the number of "under the table cash" jobs (unregistered jobs that usually pay far less than minimum wage). There are no social securities or 401k's. No disability cecks or food stamps. No support programs at all.
You will often see old people working on the streets. People in their 70's, 80's, or even oler, selling home grown vegetables, running their old kettle stands, peeling vegetables for 60 cents an hour, or pixking up recyclables all day long to cash in for 4 dollars.
The job market is discriminatory and strict. Young men work in gas stations, ladies in service such as customer desks or fast food. Men do construction or salary work, while women work in restaurants or in janitorial work. There is almost NEVER an exception to this rule, unless you went to college.
There are no "by the clock" employment. You're actually paid by days worked instead. That "day" can easily run 14 hours if your boss deems it necessary. In a competitive environment people will force themselves to work as much as they possibly can for the same wage in false hopes of a promotion in 10 years. Koreans work 6 days a week to pay for their lives. Only recently have the begun phasing out saturdays from elementary schools.
I understand why you are angry with the unjust world. I've been there too, and I'm still somewhat there. I've worked construction in both korea and america, and the pay difference is 4 times as much, with american construction being a third of the pace, twice as safe and sanitary.
South Korea is considered a developed country. It is still one of the most well to do countries on the planet despite its own economic troubles. But the difference is pretty colossal.
Americans, even those of the lower class, enjoy the benefits and convenience of an unfair distribution of wealth in a wider scale. If child labor was truly removed, minimum wages perfectly enforced, then those of us here in America would know the true terror of what it means to be "middle class" in the world as a whole.