(06-01-2018 10:44 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote: Can I flip the question around?
I'm a gay, recent college grad millennial who doesn't own guns who works two jobs to cover my living expenses and pay off my loans:
My degree job: a civil engineer who designs steel structures at entry level pay. (President Trump just imposed tariffs on steel imports which will hurt my business)
My side job: a server at a restaurant on weekends. I don't have to worry about making credit card payments, student loan payments, and car loan payments to help maintain my credit and I can build my savings.
My wages were not increased despite the tax break my company got.
I commute to work every day of the week (those gas prices though).
I get a basic level of healthcare through my degree job, but would absolutely have to pay out of pocket if I went to a hospital for whatever accident or surgery.
The contractors that my company works with sometimes exploit illegal immigrants for cheap labor. It's wrong, and illegal immigration is a problem, but my bonuses stay high because of it.
I also work closely with environmental agencies and plan to pursue that career path one day.
Taking the above into consideration, here's what I'm interested in:
-student loan forgiveness/affordable education
-replacing my healthcare premiums with a tax that everyone pays
-being able to marry and start a family with whomever I want
-protecting the environment for my job and my future children
Things that don't matter to me:
-illegal immigration
-abortion
-people on welfare
-"the race war"
-Christian values
So what does Conservative Christiandom and Trickle-Down Economics have to offer me?
Your post raises more questions than answers from me, but I'm going to try and be as honest as possible.
You state your sexual orientation, your station in life (recent college grad and entry level job), you don't own fire arms (and I commend you that you choose not to own, but I also don't see where you want to confiscate, which makes you a good egg in my book), and you work two jobs to cover living expenses.
Your work ethic is to be commended. Being a young person and working two jobs, especially as an engineer during the day, can be exhausting.
Here's where my first question comes in-- You state you're a Civil Engineer doing structural design. I'm assuming you got your Civil degree but didn't specialize in Structural Engineering, which means you're possibly being trained to do this job, possibly working as a detailer or drafter instead of what you went to school for, again that's tough and that field is tough, and possibly making less than what you would at a different type of firm. My first suggestion would be to look for the path you want instead of the path you have. You state you want to go environmental, which leads me to believe that you are a true Civil person, and you know a lot about topography, drainage, etc., I would definitely be looking for other gainful employment. Again this is not your fault, it's tough being fresh out of school and finding a job. Wasn't that long ago, I was that guy. Get a good year's experience (unsure of your time of employment) and start looking.
You speak of the tax break, I was fortunate enough to actually get benefits from the tax break. I'm not sure how it worked for single people, but most people I've talked with (married and/or single parents) got the break, and I vaguely remember the breaks were for working families, I could be wrong. Also if you started work in January (recent grad) the breaks may have already been included on your first check so you wouldn't had noticed them. Several companies did it as soon as it was signed. The company I work for waited until February to adjust our taxes.
You speak of the firm you work for, you design metal buildings, and you work with a contractor that uses illegals, and their rate is cheap and your bonuses stay high. Dude you get bonuses, that's a plus right there. However my train of thought is, that since you went to GS, you possibly live in Atlanta, coupled with working for a small company that does pre-fab metal buildings, your cost of living is way higher than it should be. Coupled in with the cost of student loans for GS (about $24k for 4-5 years), living in the ATL metro area, and working for a small company, you're getting hosed. That's not the current administration's fault. This is learning experience. I was fortunate the first year I was out of school, I worked for a company that sent me all over the country and paid for my lodging and gave me per diem. When that job was over, I went to work for a different company, took a little bit higher salary than entry level, and struck out looking for a place. I didn't live in luxury, I lived in a shabby apartment, alone, and survived off of PBJs. In my haste of making good money without bills, I bought a huge diesel truck. The payments and the fuel bill were enough to put anyone in the poor house if they weren't careful. I eventually wised up, sold the truck, got something cheaper and better on fuel.
Your insurance sounds like it sucks as well. Again assuming you work for a small outfit, you won't have the luxury of excellent benefits. Remember to check into that prior to accepting a job next time.
So now I'm done making my assumptions, here's my thoughts on your questions:
Taking the above into consideration, here's what I'm interested in:
-student loan forgiveness/affordable education- I'm all for that, but again I don't want to be burdened with paying for Jimmy's Master's degree at NYU in Latin Poetry. Maybe if it was for STEM or even Vocational Technical, I'd be for it.
-replacing my healthcare premiums with a tax that everyone pays- This falls under personal responsibility, your company has crappy insurance, deal with it, find supplemental, or when you take a new job find out the benefits. Any time I interview and they ask if I have questions, my first is about benefits. I have a wife that's a nurse that's on my insurance and a 2 year old. I want to make sure we got all our bases covered, especially since I have bad eyesight and I was foolish when it came to dental care in my youth.
-being able to marry and start a family with whomever I want- I don't think that's an issue anywhere. I've been all over this country, went to 4 county fairs, 3 state fairs, and a goat roping, nobody really bats an eye anymore unless they're about a generation or two behind, then who cares what they think, as long as you're happy.
-protecting the environment for my job and my future children- Well when you say protect the environment, what do you think needs protecting. Again been all over the place, I've done environmental work in my 13 year career. I know the ins and outs on several things. I'm an avid outdoorsman and I practice conservation (meaning I try to leave our ecosystem in balance by not taking from the land anything I won't use as food) I also don't litter. There will always be things that damage the environment that you won't be able to control and no amount of regulations will change that. Sometimes the regulations are worse than what the potential damage to the environment.
Things that don't matter to me:
-illegal immigration- Should bother you. If your company does business with a contractor that uses illegals, and they turn a blind eye, what happens when they can find a Civil Engineer that's illegal to replace you for less money and less benefits?
-abortion- This one I'm still in a gray area on myself.
-people on welfare- As a working class person with two jobs, this should bug you, meaning you'd make more money if your taxes were not paying for someone to slack off. That's my opinion. And by slack off I mean do the bare minimum and expect someone else to pick up the load. If the person is handicap or elderly, I have no issue. My issue is the able bodied people who refuse to work or will work the bare minimum at Burger King to stay on it. To quote Gunnery Sgt. Hartmen: There is no bigotry in my eyes, they're all equally worthless.
-"the race war"-- I'm not sure about a "race war", I think it's a few idiots keeping stuff stirred up.
-Christian values-- We all have to have something to live by. Being a Christian doesn't mean you're perfect or you're morally superior, just means you should strive to live a good life. I've met more morally bankrupt Christians than atheists. You strive to be a good person and do the right things, that's all anyone can ask of you.
Just from your post, I don't understand why you're "liberal". Besides wanting free healthcare and education at the college level, you sound pretty conservative or even Libertarian. You see there's an issue with your station in life and you've done all you can to improve it. That's personal responsibility and to me that's a conservative attribute. I vote Republican a lot, but it doesn't mean all my values line up with theirs, however, my values line up a lot more with theirs than some Democrats. It's a touch and go game.
Hope I wasn't too harsh and hope I didn't confuse you any.
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[serious] What does voting Democrat do for me?
