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    Once Indivisible, Now Divided
    Once Indivisible, Now Divided
    Once Indivisible, Now Divided
    Ebook128 pages2 hours

    Once Indivisible, Now Divided

    By Wendy Lee

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    About this ebook

    This book is dedicated to everyone who lost their job, lost their home, and cannot provide for themselves or their family; to those who do not have equal rights; those who can’t afford their medical expenses or health insurance; and those, like myself, who are angry about the way the government is allowing its people to be treated. Chapters include: Class War-1 vs. 99, Marijuana-Good vs. Evil, Education-Cheating The Children, Health Care, Gay Rights and Abortion, and The 2012 Presidential Candidates-Ideology. When you don't vote, the wealthy control which candidates get voted into office. The candidates are bought and paid for by the wealthy and they work for what the wealthy want, such as tax breaks and less benefits for the poor and elderly. I use facts, history, and humorous rhetoric to tell you what has happened to cause our current situation. Our future is at risk and it is up to the working class to save our nation by voting for candidates who want the things that we need to survive.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWendy Lee
    Release dateAug 8, 2011
    ISBN9781466158788
    Once Indivisible, Now Divided
    Author

    Wendy Lee

    Wendy Lee is the author of the novels Across a Green Ocean and Happy Family, which was named one of the top ten debuts of 2008 by Booklist and received an honorable mention from the Association of Asian American Studies. A graduate of New York University’s Creative Writing Program, she has worked as a book editor and an English teacher in China. She lives in Queens, New York.

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      Book preview

      Once Indivisible, Now Divided - Wendy Lee

      Once Indivisible, Now Divided

      By Wendy Lee

      Copyright 2011 Wendy Lee

      Smashwords Edition

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Introduction

      This book is dedicated to everyone who lost their job, lost their home, and cannot provide for themselves or their family; to those who do not have equal rights; those who can’t afford their medical expenses or health insurance; and those, like myself, who are angry about the way the government is allowing its people to be treated.

      At 43-years-old, the only material items I own are my clothes and my recent college degree--despite working since I was a senior in high school. I struggle from week to week to pay my bills—including my new tuition payment of $420/mo. With the new budget cuts, my goal of being a teacher is looking grim. Our nation is on the brink of a financial meltdown, and the proposed spending cuts mostly affect the lower classes. Politicians want to not only cut education spending, they also want to cut spending on entitlement programs* that assist the lower classes. Greed has caused those in power to use the lower classes to increase their bank accounts rather than take care of the needs of the nation. They have private jets and yachts and we can’t even pay our bills. I made more money per hour in 1987 than the minimum wage today in 2011. I wouldn’t want to be a young adult just starting out today. The minimum wage is $7.55/hr., which, after taxes, leaves about $250/wk or $1,000/mo. Try paying rent at $650/mo. for a one-bedroom apartment, utilities, a car payment and car insurance, and buying groceries and gas on that budget. Now take your average family and put them under the same budget, only with higher living expenses (rent is higher because you need more than one bedroom, utilities are higher, and the grocery bill is quadrupled). Most Americans are struggling to survive while people making $1 million or more yearly are complaining about paying higher taxes. It’s not right, it’s not fair, and it certainly is not equality and justice for all here in the land of the free.

      *Entitlement programs include: 529 or Coverdell, Home Mortgage Interest Deduction, Hope or Lifetime Learning Tax Credit, student Loans, Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, Social Security--Retirement & Survivors, Pell Grants, Unemployment Insurance, Veterans Benefits, G.I. Bill, Medicare, Head Start, Social Security Disability, SSI--Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, Welfare/Public Assistance, Government Subsidized Housing, Food Stamps.

      I grew up in a divorced family, my biological father had a problem with alcohol and gambling, and we didn’t have a lot of money. The first place I can remember living was on the 600 block of W. Princess Street with my mother and sister. We lived next door to the Mayor, and the only African American on our block was a doctor—today, this and surrounding blocks are full of white and African Americans just trying to survive the only way they can—selling drugs. When I was in fifth grade, my mother met her soul mate. It was like the Brady Bunch—my mother had two daughters and he had two sons the same ages as her girls. I went to city schools until I was thirteen and ready to start my first year in high school. They decided to move to the country—only 30 miles from the city, but out where there were few neighbors. I think their goal was to keep us out of trouble.

      After graduation from high school in 1985, I attended business school while I worked part time to pay for my books. Upon receiving an Associate Degree, I was offered a job as a medical transcriptionist at the hospital where I interned. Life was great. I was making $8.65/hr to start and I had great benefits (in 1987 that was a lot for a 19 year old). But then the castle crumbled— at age 20 I thought I was in love and got married. Let’s just say that my first husband was not inspired to work, was an alcoholic, a drug addict, and was in and out of jail—so much for falling for the ‘bad boy’ image. We had no food and relied on my biological father to bring us leftovers from the restaurant where he worked. Bill collectors called and harassed me at work several times a week. After working there for five years, the hospital decided to send its transcriptionists home to work—they could pay per word or line rather than hourly and they didn’t have to pay benefits. This was the beginning of companies not wanting to pay for employee benefits. And it was around this same time that companies started shutting down—one of the biggest that I can remember was the Caterpillar plant in Pennsylvania.

      After two children and mounting debt, I finally left him and, though it took two years, I got out of debt and repaired my credit. I worked different jobs in order to survive and take care of my two sons. It’s sad to say but the best paying job I ever had was the year or two that I worked as a bartender —the job that I didn’t need a college education to do, but still had college tuition to pay. I started having back problems and sharp, shooting pain down my leg—to the point that I had to crawl. I had no health insurance, but I had to do something. My mother told me about her chiropractor and I made an appointment—that appointment changed my life. No more back and leg pain, as well as no more migraines or even slight headaches. I ended up working at that very same office. I took a huge cut in pay from my bartending job. My tips were my pay as a bartender and my paycheck was just a bonus—though I worked my butt off, some nights I made $140 in tips. But I wanted to get back into the profession for which I went to business school. I worked my way up from receptionist to x-ray tech and even office manager. I worked there for ten years; however, I still felt that I was supposed to help more people than just the patients at the office.

      Though my second husband and I were together for fifteen years, we grew apart due to opposite work schedules. So, another divorce and a loss of everything we built together. I couldn’t afford the house and bills that go along with it, so I moved into a townhouse with the boys. Even at $16/hr, I struggled every week to provide food and pay the bills and I couldn’t afford a good divorce attorney. The only support I received from my ex was child support for our youngest son who was 17. At 18, even that payment stopped. I worked full time and we were still barely surviving. I never would have made it if not for the help of Joe. Exactly a year after we met, I moved into his house. I started college in July of 2008. He supported me in every way while I earned my degree. I had to cut back to part time hours at work so that I could focus on school. Joe was my angel—he gave me the courage and support I needed to continue with my education. As the economy started to go downhill, business slowed down. I had to be laid off in order to cut back on office overhead. It made sense because I was part time, they knew I was planning a new career, and I made the most money per hour out of all the staff. I had to collect unemployment for the first time in my life. The problem with unemployment is that the benefits are determined by the highest paid quarter in the previous year. I worked at the office full time for ten years and yet my benefits were based only on the last year when I worked part time.

      I graduated college in October 2010, with a BA in Social Science with an Education Concentration. I thought I wanted to teach—until recently when education and teachers have been on the cutting block. I graduated with a 3.83 GPA and a $36,000 tuition debt. I now find myself having to study for and take multiple tests to get licensed to teach and then wait another month for the results. The new school year is about to start and I still don’t have a teaching job or a license to teach. And there may not be any teaching jobs available due to budget cuts on education. Even if I find a teaching job, I am not sure I will be able to pay my bills and survive on the pay offered to first-year teachers. The economy isn’t any better and we, like so many others, already lost our home to foreclosure.

      I know I am not alone and many of you have had similar or worse experiences than I have. I am angry with our government for allowing this to happen to a large percentage of the population. The people elect the United States government officials and the government is supposed to work for the people—that’s you and me; however, it caters to only a small portion of the populations’ wants and needs. It’s been said that the wealthiest 1 percent have all the power; but, it’s one vote per person, so we have 99 percent of the vote—we just choose not to get involved in politics. I know that individual votes don’t actually elect the President; our votes are for electors who then vote, on our behalf, for the next President. But by saying that your vote doesn’t count, you are allowing the wealthy to make all the decisions about where your tax money goes.

      This book was written to explain why and how to take back control of the very issues that affect our daily lives and the future of our children. I didn’t write this book to smear anyone’s name or career; I just want you, the people, to understand why we are living in poverty and why our nation is the way it is today. The problems today stem from past political decisions and from greed. It

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