It is not unusual for people steeped in insensitivity and cruel
disregard for others to masquerade their callousness as benevolence
toward those they hold in contempt. For thirty years repugicans have
feigned concern for the American people’s economic well-being with
policies they claimed would help them succeed and prosper if they would
only persevere and work harder, but all the while the repugican cabal helped kill
jobs and kept wages at poverty levels to enrich big business.
Apparently, big business saw the gullibility of the voters buying into
the repugicans’ faux concern for the people and over the past few
months one of the largest fast food retail chains in the nation has
attempted to conceal their heartlessness with concern for their
employees’ economic plight, but the people are not buying it. McDonalds’
employees are some of the most underpaid workers in the nation, and to
persuade their workers the company has their best interests at heart are
once again offering advice on how to survive working part-time for
poverty wages.
A few months ago McDonald’s joined with credit card giant Visa to give their underpaid employees a
sample budget replete with advice to take on a second job,
forego expenses like heating, and feed themselves on $27 a month. The “
budget journal”
for McDonalds’ employees painted a wholly inaccurate view of what it is
like to budget on a minimum wage job, and instead of illustrating that
McDonalds workers could live comfortably and build a savings account on
poverty-level wages, it only underscored exactly how difficult it is for
an underpaid fast food worker to survive. This week, McDonalds sought
to help their employees again under the ruse of concern for their health
and psychological well-being heading into the holiday season. And, once
again they displayed the heartless disregard for their workers’
intelligence and quality of life repugicans have demonstrated for the
past five years.
Because McDonalds’ “
sample budget” only left $27 a month for food, the company
advised hungry employees to “
break food into pieces”
to feel full as if crumbling a piece of bread into smaller pieces would
better fill the void in their empty stomachs. Of course, when “
breaking of bread” failed to satisfy their employees hunger, the company graciously offered their workers
valuable assistance to apply for food stamps. Interestingly, McDonalds is an avid repugican supporter and in 2010
intimidated employees to support repugican candidates who are attempting to slash food stamp funding to Draconian levels.
Where the fast food giant exposed that they fully comprehend the
psychological pressure their low-wages have on their hungry employees
were suggestions to combat the stress and high blood pressure inherent
with wondering how to eat on $27 a month. The company encouraged their
employees to reduce their blood pressure by “
singing along to your favorite songs,” and reminded them that “
people who attend more church services tend to have lower blood pressure.” It is “
jesus saves”
advice and surprising they did not combine the two suggestions and
suggest singing their favorite cult songs to reduce their stress level
and blood pressure.
This week, Republican Paul Ryan revealed that he is on the same page
with McDonalds’ advice for more church and unveiled his new and improved
anti-poverty agenda founded on more jesus. Ryan
told a Heritage forum that the key to curing poverty is going “
eye to eye, soul to soul. Spiritual redemption: that’s what saves people.”
However, those underpaid McDonalds workers trying to feed themselves on
$27 a month will still leave cult meetings several times a week hungry and jesus or no, they will still have to break food into smaller pieces in a
futile attempt to fill their empty stomachs.
McDonalds’ underpaid, hungry, and stressed-out employees are not
stupid, and they know full well the absurd advice to seek jesus, break
food into pieces, or singing their favorite cult song is not going to
help them survive and they finally started
protesting and complaining about poverty-level wages McDonalds “
graciously”
affords them. McDonalds, always ready to appear benevolent about their
employees stress levels at barely surviving had sage advice to relieve
stress; stop bitching. The company suggested workers start focusing on
the positive and told them that their “
stress hormone levels rise by 15% after ten minutes of complaining.” They then gave them some “
helpful holiday tips” to make it through the Yule Tide season and recommended “
selling some of your unwanted possessions on eBay or Craigslist to bring in some quick cash.”
McDonalds is a money-making machine that is refusing to consider
raising their employees’ wages despite protests around the country.
The company claims raising workers’ wages is a deal-breaker they can
hardly afford because it would raise the price to the consumer as well
as adversely affect the retail giants’ profit margins; it is a
bald-faced lie. In Europe where the minimum wage for a McDonalds’
employee is $12 an hour, customers pay a
few pennies
more than their counterparts in America for the exact same menu items
and European stores typically bring in higher profit margins than
McDonalds’ stores in America.
McDonalds’ employees, and all Americans for that matter, can take away a valuable lesson from first, the McDonalds-Visa “
sample budget,”
and second, advice on how to cope physically and mentally while working
at a highly profitable fast food giant that pays poverty-level wages.
The company, like the Walton family (Walmart), knows its employees can
hardly survive on minimum wages and they comprehend that low wages are
placing undue stress on workers expected to go without heat in winter
and live on $27 a month for food, clothing, and dog-forbid, personal
hygiene products. That both Walmart and McDonalds offer to help their
underpaid and underfed employees apply for food stamps, welfare, and
Medicaid while they support repugicans who covet cutting those
low-income assistance programs into oblivion is an affront to their
workers and should enrage all Americans.
What the McDonalds and Walmart corporations are discovering is that
after thirty years of repugican callousness disguised as benevolent
concern for American workers is that the people are not gullible and see
through their faux regard for their well-being. It does not take a
genius to figure out that a company offering stress reduction strategies
because their employees are expected to eat on $27 a month, or offers
assistance to apply for government assistance, doesn’t know its low
wages are barely enough to survive on and place unnecessary stress on
their employees. More than being outraged, McDonalds’ workers should
feel insulted that a giant corporation has the temerity to believe their
employees are stupid or naïve enough to think that breaking food into
little pieces, singing, or going to cult meetings more frequently is going to
improve their economic situation or relieve the stress of barely
surviving. After thirty years of repugicans raping the economic life
out of the American people under the guise of benevolent concern,
McDonalds is going to have to come up with a new strategy because their
workers, like most Americans, have lived this charade for too long.
Today is - Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day
