1) Calculate the lowest cost of living feasible while meeting all basic needs, including food, shelter, and reasonable security. I think you’ll find that the “suits upstairs” have made this nearly impossible. But there’s a “living wage” calculator at MIT that’s better than nothing. Other than that, the US government censors basically anything except cost of living indexes, which are relative.
2) Subtract your lowest cost of living, which I’ll refer to as “minimum living expenses,” from your after-tax income. Let the result be called real income, since slaves would presumably have those expenses covered for them. If the value is negative, you are earning less than a slave would. Congratulations, chattel slaves make more money than you do. The positive value is the money you can spend on free choices, including more expensive substitutes (like a residence bigger than an inexpensive studio.)
3) Trace the positive quantity to ensure that it’s not going to expenses such as interest or protection fees. In order to be free, you must be able to decide what to do with your own after expense income.
Your real income, as long as it can be freely spent, is the measure of the financial freedom you have. A slave has none. A wage-slave often has less financial freedom than a chattel slave. At least, if freed, a chattel slave would have no outstanding debt.
I tried to avoid standard economic and statistical jargon, as these are largely exploitative mysticism. I hope you enjoyed my analysis. Now watch as exactly no one reads this. Vote for me.
I’ll add that unpaid internships are actually a good deal, since entirely every good job on the market requires previous work experience, which most people don’t have for the job in question. In all honesty, that means that these aren’t new jobs but merely invitations to transfer from one department in the military industrial complex to another compartment. A job transfer is not a new job on the market. For simplicity sake, ONLY entry level jobs are new jobs and if and only if they:
1) require no experience 2) are reasonably likely to hire you as an anonymous individual with related academics or other basic demonstrated interest.
Look carefully, and you’ll find that there are basically no jobs like that at all in the economy except minimum wage jobs or unpaid internships.
If your dad isn’t Ron Paul or you aren’t part of some favored political identity, good luck landing that sweet job without doing it for free for awhile.
I think you’ll find that the “suits upstairs” have made this nearly impossible. But there’s a “living wage” calculator at MIT that’s
better than nothing. Other than that, the US government censors basically anything except cost of living indexes, which are relative.
If the value is negative, you are earning less than a slave would. Congratulations, chattel slaves make more money than you do. The positive value is the money you can spend on free choices, including more expensive substitutes (like a residence bigger than an inexpensive studio.)
2) are reasonably likely to hire you as an anonymous individual with related academics or other basic demonstrated interest.