"When we talk about the kind of folks whose lives will be made better by raising the minimum wage, we're not talking about a couple teenagers earning extra spending money to supplement their allowance. We're talking about providers and breadwinners. Working Americans with bills to pay and mouths to feed." -- Thomas Perez How much money do we really need? I’m going to law school and according to all the statistics I’ve seen, lawyers can make a lot of money. My goal is to make as much money as I can and live as well as possible. But is it really fair to the poor working call to barely scrap by and make ends meet? I hope by the time I have a financially stable job I can look back and help others in need because minimum wage in my opinion is out of hand. It needs to be raised to a living wage for people to provide for their families without having to starve and live on food stamps. These are some reasons why I think the minimum wage should be raised. Obviously minimum wage has increased significantly since 1968 where it was at $1.60 but, how much has it really increased in connection with inflation and rising prices of things such as food, gas, land and etc? That is what's really lost in the whole conversation of increasing minimum wage to give people more money doesn't necessarily mean you can buy more. Senator Tom Harkin made a great statement regarding inflation senator Harkin said "today, tens of millions of hardworking Americans who are earning at or near the minimum wage can’t even aspire to live a middle-class life or achieve the American Dream. Instead, they are falling further and further behind" (Harkin). This is because of inflation, although minimum wage has increased from $1.60 in 1968 to $ 7.25 in 2013 we actually have less buying power. What that means is that $1.60 in 1968 would get us more food than $7.25 would in 2013. People are tricked into thinking that small incremental increases are good because we are making more, guess what we're actually making less. If we kept that $1.60 wage today and indexed it to account for inflation minimum wage should be at $10.56 in 2013.
Hip Hop started in the South Bronx, New York City in the 1970’s. Hip Hop as a music and culture started when block parties became popular, particular among African-American youths who reside in Bronx. Deejays would play popular songs on turntables at that time and start to break or “scratching” in between playing songs to create their own beats. Hip Hop served as a voice for the inner city youths were from a low-income families. The culture would reflect their way of life. As the years of Hip Hop progressed, a new form of Hip Hop was introduced that was called “gangster rap”, which rapped about the hyper-masculinity and violence. The biggest controversy in the Hip Hop world took place between The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur. Both artists took lyrical jabs at each other until their untimely death.
Hip hop originated from groups of Afro-Caribbean, and African Americans in Bronx. These musicians combined different kinds of music and used the traditions of their own culture to approach music. Hip hop in the beginning of its time was more of artis...
The area in which hip hop first became a popular music was the Bronx. The Bronx is often labeled as the birthplace of hip hop. In its early stages hip hop was mostly a black and hispanic thing. As hip hop has evolved over the past 20 some odd years its
At the same time in 1977, it was the United States during the abyss of the seventh financial crisis. The economy was seriously
"Bill Gates: Raising Minimum Wage Can Destroy Jobs." The Foundry Conservative Policy News from The Heritage Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
From the impoverished section of Bronx, New York arose a youth culture that spread throughout the community like wild fire. Within the gang-ridden, drug-infested streets, a depravation of creativity forced underprivileged African American youths onto the streets in search of an output for their imagination. It was within these streets that hip-hop appeared as the product of independence, self-realization, creativity, and pride.
Imagine a world where you are working overtime, seven days a week, yet your kids are starving. You can’t get the education you need because you don’t have the time and money to afford it, and you can’t change jobs because this is the only one you can get. Unfortunately, this is the reality for millions of Americans living today. The federal minimum wage is too low to help families, and actually mathematically speaking, too low to survive on. The quality of life for minimum wage families is terribly low, and that is unacceptable. As humans, we should be looking after others and helping the poverty come out of their continuous cycle. Raising the minimum wage would not only help families be able to afford a better quality of life, but help them to afford healthy food, get an adequate education, and invest in the necessary health care they need.
Minimum wage is the lowest wage an employer can pay their employees. There is a Federal minimum wage and in some cases a State Minimum wage. The current Federal minimum wage is $7.25. An employee who makes $7.25 an hour and works 40 hours a week, will earn about $14,000 per year. The Federal government deemed that the poverty line is anyone who makes less than $17,000 a year (“Federal Minimum”). Therefore anyone that makes minimum wage lives below the poverty line. As president Obama said in his state of address, "In the wealthiest nation on earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty” (“Federal Minimum”). This essay will examine the problem of low minimum wage and explore ways to resolve this issue.
How can hard working Americans live better lives in the United States? Wanting to earn a decent pay can lead Americans to work two or three jobs to make ends meet. If the United States were to raise the minimum wage, then millions of Americans would not be living at or below the poverty line. I researched this topic because I have worked in the industry making minimum wage and only getting less than part-time hours at my first job. At the time, I stayed with my parents and found it difficult to afford items that were everyday necessities. I felt as if I could not survive on my own making minimum wage, receiving less than full-time hours, consequently, I would need two jobs. I presumed that the minimum wage rose each time the cost of living went up. I contemplated the minimum wage would be at a rate that people could live off. I also thought that everywhere in the United States should have mandatory laws in place to raise the minimum wage in order to get struggling Americans out of poverty.
Cross country and track have taught me more about the essence of dedication, perseverance, and support than any other high school activity. Being a runner has shaped me into an independent individual who pushes through hardships and stops at nothing to achieve ambitions. Having been a part of a close knit distance running team all of high school, I have learned how to cheer on my teammates and how important support is to myself and others while on the pursuit of success. With all the knowledge and positive qualities that running has equipped me with, I feel more than ready to keep pushing myself to my limits and to face new milestones that I have yet to
Hip-Hop started in the early 1970's by Clive Campbell, known as DJ Kool Herc, in Bronx, New York. He was born in Jamaica and moved to New York at the age of 12. His style had a lot of influence on reggae because of his Jamaican heritage. “Hip-Hop started when my father bought a PA system and didn't know how to hook it up. I was messing around with music and I started out by buying a few records to play at my house” (DJ Kool Herc). Kool Herc started playing his records at parties and would “call your name on the mic” ,a style used by Jamaican deejays called toasting, which is a shout out that he would do to all his friends .This lead to emceeing which is what we call rap today. Kool Herc is known as the Father of Hip-Hop because he started this movement. Afrika Bambaataa known as the Godfather of Hip Hop, also known for naming the culture Hip-Hop, carried on the legacy of Herc along with another deejay known Grandmaster Flash. Bambaataa and Flash were rivals because they were from different crews. Back then they called crews gangs, today people say crew when they talk of a group of friends or a group of ...
There will always be a hunger for religion, to add a meaningful purpose to life. “And that much never can be obsolete, Since someone will forever be surprising A hunger in himself to be more serious” (Larkin 868). The desire for something with meaning in this world will always attract people to the church, not just the physical side, but to its tenets of belief and hope. The church is a place someone can learn and expand their education, not just in verses, but in life as well. “And gravitating with it to this ground, Which, he once heard, was proper to grow wise in, If only that so many dead lie round” (Larkin 868).
I believe that running has been a gift to me. I sacrifice my body’s comfortability to the activity, and the merciful torture presents me with so much more. It provides me with a lucid state of mind. When some people run, they focus solely on the discomfort and fail to acknowledge the numerous benefits that running offers. If the world truly embraced the sublime activity, then it would be a much happier and healthier place. Every step that I have taken with every stride has molded me into the man that I am today.
Many Christians today use church size, wealth, number of attendees to measure church success. Some mega-churches promote prosperity theology to attract thousands of people to attend and offer. Sunday worship with contemporary music becomes the main stream. Many people come to church because they feel good in the worship, want their kids to be in a healthy environment, and can meet with their friends. Church people enjoy communal gathering in every Sunday but rarely attend prayer meeting, Sunday school, or Bible study. These reflect strong individualism and problematic attitude to see church and worship. In fact, it is what Jesus condemned in Matt. 21.13 or what Isaiah wrote on Isa. 29.13. We need to
“Of course, nothing helps families make ends meet like higher wages. … And to everyone in this Congress who still refuses to raise the minimum wage, I say this: If you truly believe you could work full-time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, go try it. If not, vote to give millions of the hardest-working people in America a raise.”