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Not really, the Romans often assimilated or made allies of rivals (note the Social Wars, one of the few times in history where states fought to get deeper INTO an imperial system) and male war captives were as valuable as women and children; it took men to work the latifundia and male slaves were good around the household too. A large number of foreigners lived in Rome, both slaves and freemen. And freedmen too.
Most people in conquered states were neither slaughtered or enslaved, but simply went about their business paying their taxes to new overlords.
Obviously you can't sum up the Roman Empire in a few sentences, but I was referring specifically to how they controlled the masses in the sense of quelling rebellions in Rome proper.
You all must have seen Spartacus at some point, yes? There were no walled-in ghettos, that requires actual upkeep and expense, and doesn't provide the same kind of example that having people rotting up on crosses does.
Keep in the mind the entire evolution of the City-State was defined by walls. The walls weren't there to keep poor people trapped inside, they were to keep poor people on the outside. Wealthy people have always found a way to take care of each other.
Gentrification can be tough but by and large whatever you can do to increase the city's tax base will ultimately be good for it. Someone or something has to pay for all this sh*t.
Au contraire, the school was good enough to break her out of the cycle of poverty. That was one of the points of the article. I would have been there teaching while she was a student, I'd confirm that kids who want to make it, can. But it does require doing a lot of homework and taking school as seriously as you would a job.
Au contraire, the school was good enough to break her out of the cycle of poverty. That was one of the points of the article. I would have been there teaching while she was a student, I'd confirm that kids who want to make it, can. But it does require doing a lot of homework and taking school as seriously as you would a job.
I got the point of the article; it wasn't a particularly subtle point ("girl makes it outta da 'hood to become a doctor"). But I think the point is still relevant to that particular thread since the underlying theme of any qualitative discussion about schools is student outcomes.
I got the point of the article; it wasn't a particularly subtle point ("girl makes it outta da 'hood to become a doctor"). But I think the point is still relevant to that particular thread since the underlying theme of any qualitative discussion about schools is student outcomes.
Right, and that thread has talked a lot about the real with CPS, poverty and all the issues that come with it. 85% of CPS students are poor.
OK, but think this through. I got my first summer job when I wasn't even in high school. I was looking at minimum wage disappear in the mirror by the time I was 16, it was only the completely lopsided supply-demand curve that UIUC offers that dragged me down in college (supply of educated/easily trainable labor vastly dwarfs job opportunities).
So for the sake of argument, let's say you get your first job after high school, and are making minimum wage. There is something very, very wrong with your life choices if by your mid-twenties you are still making minimum wage.
And if in your 30s you are, there are far deeper problems still that are a factor.
What people growing up in Chicago need to understand is that the cost of living in our city is like a very strong current, and being able to simply stand still in the current - much less move against it - requires constant education and training.
The short-lived glory days of manufacturing jobs where you could go and rivet things together and support a family and own a house are long gone, and are never coming back.
And the jobs in the fast food sector aren't likely to ever pay much more than they do now. The profits those companies are making are artificially inflated by unsustainable agricultural subsidies, and that *** is coming up soon.
You keep on talking about the "minimum wage". But my post that you're replying to was about how if you make twice the minimum wage (like the guy who fixed your laptop), it's still pretty hard to live in Chicago. I find it hard to beleive you were making well above minimum wage in college, much less at age 16. If so, you are a rare case.
You were making well above the minimum wage at age 16? What place would possibly pay a 16 year old well above the minimum wage? What were you doing? I've heard of unskilled young people working in sales (like working for Verizon, Sprint or AT&T) making well above the minimum wage because of the commission they're making. But really, that's about it. I'm very very curious what you were doing at age 16 that allowed you to earn well above the minimum wage.
And anyway, here in the real world, most people don't get chance to do something with their degree fresh out of college. Many many people in their mid-twenties are working low wage jobs because of the lack of opportunities that exist. If you think it's simply someone having "very very wrong" life choices, you need to get your head out of your ass. Here in the real world, there are people in thier mid-twenties who are F**KIN HAPPY to be actually using their degree and barely pulling in ten bucks an hour...
But mostly I'm just curious what the hell you were doing at age as a minor with no high school diploma that enabled you to earn well above the minimum wage. The fact that you state this like this isn't something unusual says it all. Were you working in sales? At a factory? Or maybe a family member was grossly overpaying you?
It doesn't get much more annoying than a chronically unemployed college grad who REFUSES to take a low wage job because they think they're too good for it. But it sounds like you'd be the same way if you walked in their shoes. Approximately 1 in 10 Americans are out of work these days. But you know that many many of these out of work Americans ignore the Now Hiring sign at McDonalds. Do you think that's okay, Chi Town Native? It sounds like you're giving this mentality it a big old thumbs up to me. Yeah, make the right life choices! Don't take that low paying job!
You keep on talking about the "minimum wage". But my post that you're replying to was about how if you make twice the minimum wage (like the guy who fixed your laptop), it's still pretty hard to live in Chicago. I find it hard to beleive you were making well above minimum wage in college, much less at age 16. If so, you are a rare case.
You were making well above the minimum wage at age 16? What place would possibly pay a 16 year old well above the minimum wage? What were you doing? I've heard of unskilled young people working in sales (like working for Verizon, Sprint or AT&T) making well above the minimum wage because of the commission they're making. But really, that's about it. I'm very very curious what you were doing at age 16 that allowed you to earn well above the minimum wage.
And anyway, here in the real world, most people don't get chance to do something with their degree fresh out of college. Many many people in their mid-twenties are working low wage jobs because of the lack of opportunities that exist. If you think it's simply someone having "very very wrong" life choices, you need to get your head out of your ass. Here in the real world, there are people in thier mid-twenties who are F**KIN HAPPY to be actually using their degree and barely pulling in ten bucks an hour...
But mostly I'm just curious what the hell you were doing at age as a minor with no high school diploma that enabled you to earn well above the minimum wage. The fact that you state this like this isn't something unusual says it all. Were you working in sales? At a factory? Or maybe a family member was grossly overpaying you?
It doesn't get much more annoying than a chronically unemployed college grad who REFUSES to take a low wage job because they think they're too good for it. But it sounds like you'd be the same way if you walked in their shoes. Approximately 1 in 10 Americans are out of work these days. But you know that many many of these out of work Americans ignore the Now Hiring sign at McDonalds. Do you think that's okay, Chi Town Native? It sounds like you're giving this mentality it a big old thumbs up to me. Yeah, make the right life choices! Don't take that low paying job!
Good post. There's a fundamental change taking place in the workplace today, and old assumptions about work and security and upward mobility are being thrown out the window..
You keep on talking about the "minimum wage". But my post that you're replying to was about how if you make twice the minimum wage (like the guy who fixed your laptop), it's still pretty hard to live in Chicago. I find it hard to beleive you were making well above minimum wage in college, much less at age 16. If so, you are a rare case.
You were making well above the minimum wage at age 16? What place would possibly pay a 16 year old well above the minimum wage? What were you doing? I've heard of unskilled young people working in sales (like working for Verizon, Sprint or AT&T) making well above the minimum wage because of the commission they're making. But really, that's about it. I'm very very curious what you were doing at age 16 that allowed you to earn well above the minimum wage.
And anyway, here in the real world, most people don't get chance to do something with their degree fresh out of college. Many many people in their mid-twenties are working low wage jobs because of the lack of opportunities that exist. If you think it's simply someone having "very very wrong" life choices, you need to get your head out of your ass. Here in the real world, there are people in thier mid-twenties who are F**KIN HAPPY to be actually using their degree and barely pulling in ten bucks an hour...
But mostly I'm just curious what the hell you were doing at age as a minor with no high school diploma that enabled you to earn well above the minimum wage. The fact that you state this like this isn't something unusual says it all. Were you working in sales? At a factory? Or maybe a family member was grossly overpaying you?
It doesn't get much more annoying than a chronically unemployed college grad who REFUSES to take a low wage job because they think they're too good for it. But it sounds like you'd be the same way if you walked in their shoes. Approximately 1 in 10 Americans are out of work these days. But you know that many many of these out of work Americans ignore the Now Hiring sign at McDonalds. Do you think that's okay, Chi Town Native? It sounds like you're giving this mentality it a big old thumbs up to me. Yeah, make the right life choices! Don't take that low paying job!
I was working stock in a pre-Bed, Bath & Beyond store on Diversey and Clark. Yep, I was hired at $5 an hour in 1988, was up to $6.50 or so after a year, plus we got profit sharing checks.
In 1990 I was making $9 an hour working for the Census. We were hiring using ads taped to telephone poles, this wasn't some insider gig.
I do understand the difference between 1989 and now - that difference is called NAFTA, the repeal of Glass-Steagal, the rise of China (and their lack of regulations and labor laws), etc. Flooding the labor market drives down wages.
But most of that is beyond any individual's control.
What is in your control is your education. And if you screwed around until you were 18 in public schools, you are going to have to work twice as hard in your twenties just to get level with the playing field.
If the local economy is still only paying you minimum wage in your mid-twenties, you are - and have been - doing something wrong.
You can complain about it until the cows come home, you can be like the west side preachers who demand that jobs magically arrive gift wrapped at their doorstep, or, you can remember that the reason there are 2.5 million people in Chicago is that the vast majority of our ancestors all got off their butts and came here with nothing, just to have the opportunity to work, to vote, and to have basic rights guaranteed under the Constitution (fortunately, revised numerous times to include non-landowners, women and the freed slaves).
I'd be less cranky about all this if it wasn't for the pitiful 15% electoral turnout last Tuesday. Voting is the bare minimum of one's civic responsibilities, people around the world (especially in the Arab world) are getting tortured and are dying for the right to vote, and Chicagoans can't even be bothered. Much less to do anything between election cycles!
People as often as not get exactly what they deserve in a democracy. You want a better world? Work for it. You can start right here:
movetoamend.org
Once you understand the big picture, the littler pieces will become clear.
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