kaliawai512

I’ve seen parents of all different financial situations be completely unprepared for kids: kids that they planned to have. Yes, it’s obviously easier to be financially prepared if you have more money, but even many wealthier people are ... not good with money, and most people vastly underestimate the financial commitment a child requires. If you decide to have a kid and don’t make any attempt to prepare to financially support that child (be that bulking up a savings account or making sure you’re on welfare so they’re fed), then yeah, I think that’s abuse. Reproduction is a human right, but please consider that unlike many human rights, having children involves another human being, who will be completely dependent on you for survival.

But as said above, it isn’t just about finances. I’ve also seen many parents who have plenty of money for the kid, but didn’t seem to think they’d have to make sacrifices in their personal lives, or didn’t realize that hey, kids are inconvenient. They expect their kids to fit themselves around their lives, and get upset when they realize that kids are people with their own thoughts. If you choose to have a kid, you may sacrifice some or all of your alone time, social life, pastimes, travel, choosing the music on car rides, a full night’s sleep, privacy, silence, and so on.

If you are prepared to make these sacrifices and believe the joy of having a child will be worth it (and are willing to make these sacrifices even when parenthood causes you more stress than joy), then great!

But it’s fine if you don’t. Not everyone wants to or should have kids. If you aren’t prepared to sacrifice and provide for a child - financially, mentally, socially, etc. - then that is okay. Don’t have kids. Have a great life that doesn’t happen to involve a child of your own.

If you do want a child, though, remember that this is no longer just about you. This is no longer just about your desire to have kids. Your life won’t be slightly shifted: it will be turned on its head, and it will never be the same. You are creating new life. A new, full human being with thoughts, feelings, and wishes independent from your own. Your job will never be over, even once they turn eighteen. As said beautifully in Interstellar, “Once you’re a parent, you’re the ghost of your children’s future.”

You see, I want to tell you that this is all a bunch of BS made to troll non-Americans, but 1) I don’t know all Americans, maybe this is common in some states, and 2) this made me laugh so hard and this post has so many notes that I don’t want the joke to end.

Last week, train fares in Santiago (Chile’s capital) were increased, even though it was already too expensive (taking into consideration the average minimum wage). Students and a few other citizens decided to use the Santiago train system without paying under the motto “evading, not paying, is another way of fighting”. The train fare raise is just the tip of the iceberg and people from all over of the country and of various parties finally got fed up (here, we’ve been using the phrase “Chile woke up”). Here are some of the issues we’ve been facing for almost 30 years:

- Inequality. The minimum wage is about 400 USD per month while some people (including politicians) earn ten times that (and some even more). On top of that, the rich pay the lowest amount of taxes. In fact, the president himself was revealed to have not paid home-related taxes for 30 years and he was recently allowed to pay the equivalent of only three years and move on with his life (seriously?).

- Pension system. When a member of the military/police retires, the state gives them over 2500 USD per month, while retired citizens are forced to live with around 137 USD per month. I don’t have the estimates for politicians and business people, but it’s in line with the ridiculous and excessive salary they earn.

- Public health. It’s been known for a while now that public hospitals do not have the infrastructure, capacity, staff, and resources to take care of the amount of patients that arrive daily. The usual waiting time to get attention varies from 2 to 12 hours. Many people have died waiting for emergency attention, exams, surgeries, and medicine (sadly, any form of private health care is stupidly expensive). What’s more, M.D students and the entire medical community have reported that many public hospitals don’t even have paper towels and gloves. In response to this, the Minister of Health has denied this over and over, even when there’s actual proof.

- Natural resources, like minerals (Chile is rich in copper and lithium), forests, and even WATER, are private. Some areas of the country are under a harsh drought, which has led to the inhabitants not being able to sustain themselves and their animals. However, business people (which in some cases are related to senators and deputies and other politicians) are using water in or near those same areas to sustain their agricultural exports (like avocados. Don’t buy Chilean avocados, please). What’s funny now, is that after the riots began, some rivers that were completely dry, MIRACULOUSLY began to flow again.

And there are so many other things.

Thousands (if not millions) of people have participated in protests that continue to this day, and these have mostly consisted of marches and cacerolazos (banging pans/pots to make some noise), but the government has not listened. Four days ago, the government announced State of Emergency and declared curfew in almost every region of the country (in mine, it starts at 18:00 and public transportation stops way earlier. It’s ridiculous). People are being hurt, tortured, kidnapped, and killed by the military (there are hundreds of videos and statements) and the government has not made an official statement that represents reality. They and the Chilean mainstream media have the NERVE to say that people have “passed away” in protests, lootings, and (possibly staged) fires.

ALL OF THIS IS HAPPENING IN A DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM. This government is acting with the same repression and violence as the dictatorship that took place during the 70s and 80s (our elders are suffering from PTSD) IN FUCKING 2019.

We are enraged and we want justice.

scented candles are comforting and nice, sweet coffee drinks and black coffee drinks are both valid, romcoms are called “feel good” for a reason and you can watch them to feel happy it’s not a crime, decorate your room with fairy lights, drink hot cocoa with marshmallows, listen to that cd that everyone talks about and that you hear playing in the Starbucks all the time, popular things become popular because a lot of people like them and it’s ok to also like those popular things it doesn’t make you boring. I could go on but you know what I mean.

your interests and simple pleasures are meant to entertain you, not meant to make you look entertaining to others.

It’s taken me a long, long time to not only be okay with the things I like that are unpopular, but also the things I like that are popular. I’m still working on it. It’s a long and difficult process, but it’s totally worth it.

theres a convo on reddit going on rn abt how europeans see americans working conditions and a bunch of americans are like "its really not bad unless you work an entry level job, i have a medium wage job i got with my degree and i get about 15 days of paid vacation a year and i even get some sick days and can accrue more, the people complaining are low wage workers who should get something better"

like. you realize that for a fulltime job 20 paid vacation days are mandatory here right? and that even entry level job offer more paid vacation days? and that any ot you work gets paid more AND counts as more vacation time right? like if your work week is 38 hours and you work 40 hours a week you get paid overtime AND an extra paid 12 vacation days a year right? and that sick days are mandatory to be paid by your employer right? that theres no limit on sick days, right?

How have I never heard of this.

I’m pretty happy at my current job. I work full-time as a web developer at a decently-established startup. I work 40 hours a week and get 15 PTO days a year (which includes sick days). This is apparently considered good.

I’m salaried and my hours aren’t really kept track of, though my boss obviously sees when I get to and leave the office (or when I sign on or off of Slack - I work from home two days a week) - I don’t work a lot of overtime, but I have jumped on some bugfixes on evenings and weekends, as have my coworkers. I was informed that this would be expected during the interview and I agreed to it.

I’m not complaining. Seriously, I’m not. Compared to many of my coworkers, who work in sales and are paid by the hour, I’ve got it good. They also work 40 hours a week and get 15 PTO days a year. They also only get a 30min lunch and two 15min breaks (except on Mondays, when they have to skip their morning break to make time for the weekly staff meeting, and therefore have to make cold calls nonstop for 3.5hrs.) They have to request any days off two weeks in advance and have to provide doctor’s notes to confirm sick days.

And my company keeps going on about how great our benefits are.

Again, not complaining (for myself). My last job was hourly, and I had no PTO days. None. I wasn’t even paid for my lunch break. My boss would give me any time off I asked for, granted, but none of it was paid. I also had no health benefits. Now, my company pays 100% of the premiums for my health and dental insurance and offers a 401(k) with matching. For me, things are good, and I know how lucky I am compared to many, many Americans.

But ... yeah. This really puts things in perspective.

Americans, reblogging to give all of us a better world perspective, and to remind us all what to fight for in the future.

EDIT: Okay, now I want to know when was the first time we called each other “friend.” I know our AO3 comment threads and FF.net chats and Tumblr chats are probably ... impossible to navigate at this point, but I REALLY WANT TO KNOW.

VOTE YOUR WHOLE BALLOT.

A Democratic President does nothing if Congress is controlled by Republicans. Your local elections are important, too. (It took us 20 years, but you notice we don’t have issues with our sheriff out here in Phoenix now we’ve voted out Joe Arpaio.)