Economic Inequality

                    Economic Inequality

                          Year : 2021                             

On a first-hand experience scaling from one income class to another, barely making it, to being right above the poverty level or right below the median 60% of the population I can definitely say that I have learned a lot in a short amount of time about the U.S. Government and American economic system. I am currently studying investing and financial literacy.

From my experience I have come to take note of some things in the U.S. economy:

- the poor and below poverty level individuals/families are systematically supported to stay at the income level they currently are at.

.... Why do I say this? 

1) someone having a real job working full-time and even many times overtime hours, neglecting their mental, emotional, and physical health during this process,  receiving somewhere between 24k and 30k per year to pay for rent and utilities will be considered to have "too much income" to qualify for state food or medical benefits which are the most important and expensive costs especially amidst inflation.

2) Therefore ... someone working twice as hard to pay the bills will not qualify for government benefits despite needing them to grow financially and stay healthy.... and someone forced to not work at all or barely work at all, live on public housing and be at the complete mercy of the government assistance systems, such as food stamps and Medicaid, will be limited to their options for financial freedom.

3) Individuals/Families who are solely  dependent on government benefits are stuck with the "rules" the benefit programs imply upon them. They cannot have more than 2k in their bank accounts. They are not supported to work, or else their benefits are taken away immediately upon verification of payment from work and not to mention if they are dependent on Medicaid to pay for their medications or doctor visits, they will most likely have those benefits taken away as well. 

They are not able to be investors in the economy such as owning stocks, bonds, index funds, or real estate... or else their benefits are revoked. Even degrees and certificates from years of schooling free or paid for is not a guarantee of securing a good paying job these days, so even school is not a sure investment for those in poverty level of society.

Do you see the point I am getting to?

U.S. government systems are aimed at keeping the poor, poor. Supporting them to stay where they are at, any growth beyond poverty is case for revocation of benefits,  whether the individual or family is prepared or not.

The stage I am at right now: 

working class...  

in between poverty and middle-class

Notes: How am I supposed to get health care?

How am I supposed to go to school and secure a well paying job where my skills will be valued?

How to achieve a work-life balance for mental, emotional, and physical health?

How to fight inflation of the economy?

How to maximize investments?

How to not live "paycheck to paycheck"?

How to maximize savings?

How to budget effectively?

How to save up for and buy a car?

Thank you for reading my blog, 

I hope this discussion has been useful to expand our consciousness of the current reality

Until next time!

Assumptions : a lesson to learn

It is amazing how in the smallest most mundane encounters so much can be learned.

About this same time last year, I was at work that day as a cashier in the morning. We were holding an annual fundraiser for a charitable organization for kids with cancer, with options to donate $1 or $5 towards the children's treatments. 

I would ask the customer if they are interested in donating which felt so strange because it felt like begging or the same feeling I've had doing door-to-door sales. 

It felt to me like I was going to get 95% no and only about 5% yes... however surprisingly beginning at 7am shortly after the first customer, I had began receiving a lot of customers interested in donating. 

So much so, I sort of got tired of even bothering asking some customers. 

I got away with taking some rest until I served a hispanic lady buying her groceries asked her and she donated, then the next customers were middle aged men buying beer. 

I had not asked them during the entire transaction if they would've liked to donate, so one of them spoke up to me and said "Hey, aren't you going to ask us if we would like to donate? We would like to donate too."

That was a moment of breakthrough for me right there. I realized how narrow minded I had been to think they would care less just because they were buying beer. 

I had realized the essence of the saying "don't judge a book by it's cover." 

Now when given the opportunity to share an opportunity with others, I keep this teaching in mind not to limit who may also wish to benefit or give, or who I share beneficial information with. 

Of course be reasonable, but not on terms set by pure assumptions.

Out of my Shell

Out of my Shell: 

A personal journey to developing interpersonal skills 

No one is born skilled in a certain practice or way of life, we grow into it. 

Now I want to share my journey to how I developed my interpersonal skills. 

I wasn't always so outgoing, clear, and direct in my interactions with others. I was the kind of toddler who would have a mental breakdown and go into a fit of tears begging my mom not to leave me with strangers at school or daycare.

 I remember when at about 5 years old I would beg my mom, crying, to take me with her to school and then receive a candy from the college staff and sit right next to her for a day while she worked on her schoolwork.

 I absolutely feared what I considered others to be just all "strangers". The thought of the unknown caused me great anxiety. 

As the years went by finishing elementary, going on to middle school and finally high school - not much had changed.

 I still had anxiety in most social situations and looking back now I really overthought pretty much everything. 

I was a pure perfectionist, especially in high school and took many things personally that I see now didn't have much to do with anything really important.

 I didn't cry and throw fits anymore at that point obviously, but this time especially around middle and high school years the anxiety became inverted, I displayed a somewhat happy and content outside yet simmering with self-damaging anxiety and over-exaggerated worry on the inside. 

This little monster of anxiety and worry became something a little bigger during the pressures of high school. 

I rarely stayed in the cafeteria and always found a way to sneak out into the school library. There I would work on schoolwork, listen to music in my earphones, and then with any free time I would study astrology intensively. 

Interesting enough, and sort of surprising actually - the study of astrology at that point in high school really helped me reach out and relate to others in a way I haven't been able to before. 

Studying the patterns I found in common with certain groups of individuals in regards to the date that they were born, I was able to sort of predict what to expect from others and therefore have much higher levels of tolerance, understanding, and patience; not only for others but also for myself as well. 

After studying astrology I was able to see the strong points and less perfected points in others and myself, including the little habits that contribute to an individual's most likely behavior and where that could possibly be coming from. 

However, in no way am I saying that others should also study astrology, for me at the time astrology served as a necessary crutch to facilitate a more open mind and positively tolerant perspective of life. 

Shortly after this time of studying astrology and graduating high school ahead of my class I had begun breaking out of my chrysalis, shortly one year after as a catalyst I began work in the customer service area, from then has just been another level of experience over the other, sort of like the layers of bark on a tree stump. 

Immediately after begininning my work with the public I had sort of began to feel as a co-city mayor or something of the sort, not in authority but in my every day interactions with so many individuals and lending every single one of them an ear and free space for self-expression. 

In this way being exposed to so many cultures, families of endless backgrounds I have adopted a general tolerance and gratefulness for the inherent individuality of the citizens of this earth. 

I don't see us anymore as an end to ourselves, but more as part of the grand scheme of a very powerful life-giving Creator. 

Now after about 3 years of working in the customer service industry, I confidently say that I could approach just about anyone and know in which way would be best.

Thank you for reading my blog ❣️ I hope the information and topics I've covered have helped you in some way, if you have any ideas you would like me to cover here, questions, or comments you may email me at luciannanicole10@gmail.com

Essence of Life

 Amidst all of the anxiety and excitement at this time in the world and in our local communities, 

for every individual and every family, the would if's and the ever more present pressures that we are all facing at the time of this pandemic,

What comes to mind during these times is that as we are each given the gift of life, we are also forced to accept the other side of the coin of death and failure, fears and anxiety. 

The would if's and could be's, like the monster hiding under our bed when we were toddlers.

 

Like the existential crisis I went through growing up at about 5 years old, 

not being able to fully comprehend that I am a living breathing human being with a heart pumping about 5 liters of blood per minute, veins and arteries all over, lungs that can't stop inhaling and exhaling, a heart that can't stop it's unique rhythm of beating, or else the other side of the coin greets me, the other side that is universally known as death. I struggled to understand how fragile each and every part of my body is, not to mention the time when I completely forgot how to chew food and how I used to hope to get sick to stay home from school, be served hot soup in bed, and not have to do any chores around the house.

 Later regretting that being sick meant limited use of my body, of course a lot of discomfort and every so often accompanied by pain.

Pain and discomfort that I wished so much at that moment that I could be healthy again, and only then grateful for the healthy body I had had before wishing to stay home sick.

The interesting thing though, is at that moment that I was sick, at the weakest moment of my body, I had also felt closest to God. I felt like all I could do is surrender to life even if that meant leaving, I felt free of blame, free of obligations, free of life's pressures and just accepting the process, like I've done my best and whatever happens happens. Of course, don't get me wrong, we should fight with all of our strength and might to preserve life, what I went through while being sick I wish upon no one else and we should never in no way cause any harm to ourselves. 

However, this world is an illusion and God creates miracles every moment, however small or big we may judge it to be from our perspective - everything counts. 

See, what we call death is not actually death, it is the detachment of our soul from the body, where the body goes back to the earth in the form of decomposition and the soul goes back to its purely eternal life state because there is no longer any intermediary to contain it in the body (i.e. blood).

This world is an illusion because our body is a "vehicle" for our soul, a vehicle without a soul cannot be driven and a soul without a "vehicle" is not in a body. So, the body is basically useless without the soul. 

A person can seem different from the outside but feel very much different in themselves, in their own soul. 

A person looking only from the outside may judge them as they should be sad, stressed, giving up, etc... but the soul in that individual's body may see and feel things from a very different perspective.

A mother who seems to be falling apart from the outside may give birth to a very healthy baby, 

individuals involved in an ugly car crash could come out with little to no injuries, 

A person fired from a job may actually be grateful later on and find other opportunities that before wouldn't had been possible had they stayed in that same job, 

Someone that had happened to have gone through a misfortune may be able to connect to others in a more genuine way than before and help in ways that they would had never thought of before the "misfortune", 

there are sicknesses that we may have caught early on in life which could have strengthened our immune system later on in life for handling more serious illnesses more efficiently,  

there are individuals that go to school and even graduate but then later have a student loan that completely outweighs the annual income gained from their profession, 

there are individuals that are grown up with all of the basic necessities and luxuries this life can offer and still find themselves in depression, a feeling of lack inside of themselves, and insecurities, 

there are couples that look "perfect" on the outside but their relationship is truly anemic, and they only come to realize this most of the time when they finally really spend some genuine one on one time with each other

and vice-versa there are couples that look like their life is crazy but are the happiest and most grateful to be together. 

So this is the essence of the life, 

the ever present miracle of life, 

acceptance of the process 

and blessing of every moment.

Technology Pros & Cons

Technology pros & cons

I decided to write about the pros and cons of technology after an occurrence today....

Being born in the year 1998, generation Z, 

I have so many experiences with technology from an early age as I can remember - 

such as in my second grade class being taught to use a desktop computer - as well as using the desktop at home. Plus, all the other technology around the house, 

Pros ☑️

* Saves lives

- used in hospitals, care facilities

*routine life ( refrigerators, blender, can opener, blow dryer, washer, dryer, A/C, etc..), 

medical appliances (heating pad, etc...)

* Keep Family & close friend  communication from wherever they may be

* Contact law enforcement or state help line (911, 211 etc..)

* Remote work

* Play/record Music!

* Online learning/Classes

* Online business

* Wealth of information on the internet

- learn a new language, discuss/fix an issue (Youtube/WikiHow, ...), latest news, etc...

- book traveling, buy/rent a car online, online shopping, etc...

* keep up to date with email, 

notifications, calendar, etc ...

*Blogging / Venting Creativity

(Example : this blog! 😊)

* Government is using Internet platforms and going "Paperless"

- E-File Taxes - SSA online - USPS

etc....

* Paying Bills online

* COVID-19 SOCIAL DISTANCING YEAR 2019/2020 .......

* Technological Breakthroughs revolutionize society

Cons ❎

* inappropriate & unhealthy content online

- violent video games, pornography, tutorials on how to do something criminal/against the law/dangerous, human trafficking, scammers, etc.

...

* Social media

- illusive & empty, lots of strangers, few real "friends"

- scammers

- creates unhealthy habits, 

upsets circadian rhythm

- comparing oneself to others , slave to ego (external image)

* PUTTING SMARTPHONE IN POCKET ( HAPPENED AGAIN TODAY! 😰)

- Randomly sending/preparing messages I never meant to write!!!

- ACCEPTING FRIENDS ON SOCIAL MEDIA I never meant to accept!!!

- Randomly calling people on my contact list...... all the time my phone is in my pocket I'm completely unaware 😰

(absolute nightmare)

* Online / long - distance/ virtual dating

- every man for himself!!! 😰 (read the technical difficulties above⬆️)

- Either talk too much or too little

- Never know what is happening on the other side

- Stranger danger

- "Dating" for a long or even short period of time only to figure out the person on the other side wants your money/personal information (scammer situation)

* DIGITAL WALLET

The newest of them all! 

and the most dangerous!!

careful not to accidentally tap and pay what you didn't mean to tap & pay! 

- information even more accessible to scammers/hackers due to availability on a technological, internet-connected platform

*Stealing sleep, 

upsetting circadian rhythm

( Phones, videogames, T.V., etc...)

* Light emitted from electronic devices damage vision over time, especially if used in a low light setting

* TEXTING/TALKING/Changing Radio Station, Music WHILE DRIVING 😰 

Please, mercy on us for this one! 🙏 

In a distracted circumstance can be outright deadly! 😰

* Extreme dependence on technology ("Cell phone Hospital" etc...)

- constantly connected 

- phone/Internet is a necessity in today's society

* Possiblity of negligence or error in factory production causing an electricity induced fire!

Ok, so I have summarized my view of the Pros and Cons of technology in the best of my knowledge, I'm sure there may be more to add, I might update this post later.