Employers are fully aware that their workers are struggling to afford rent, food, healthcare, and basic stability. This isn’t a mystery. The reality is that:
- They’re betting you’ll stay anyway. Because people need jobs to survive, employers often assume you’ll accept low pay if the alternative is no income. It’s not about fairness – it’s about leverage.
- They externalize the cost of poverty. When workers rely on public assistance to survive, many companies effectively offload their responsibility onto taxpayers while continuing to post profits.
- They just don’t care. In large corporations especially, decision-makers are often several layers removed from their lowest-paid workers. If it’s not affecting their bonus or stock price, it’s not a priority.
- Exploitation has been normalized. In many industries, paying poverty wages is simply “how it’s done.” It’s embedded in the business model – breaking that mold takes either legislation, consumer pressure, or mass worker action.
You’re not imagining it, and you’re not wrong to be angry. On top of this, they usually vote Republican to cut social safety nets and their taxes. Trump is slashing public assistance right now:
- Medicaid
- Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- USDA food assistance
- Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rental assistance
- Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funding
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
- Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
Fuck these people.
