Too poor to live here

I hate it when apartments insist that you make three to four times the rent in monthly income. That's as stupid as it is impossible for 90 percent of renters.  Especially when rent is so outrageous.

Think about what they're asking.  The average rent for a one bedroom where I live is $700.  That means I have to earn $2100 to $2800 a month to qualify.  Unless you're making  $20 an hour, odds are you aren't getting that a month.  Pretty much ALL jobs don't go higher than $15 (usually because they're being forced to pay a "living wage") but most jobs don't pay more than $12.  What does that mean?  People can't afford a place to live.

It's a system designed to keep poor people poor by making sure they're housebroke and keeping them out of sight by making sure they can only live in certain areas.

But I bank $1300 a month.  It's not a lot, but I can pay $800 in rent with $500 to spare.  I CAN afford the apartment.  I'm still not rich enough per their standards though.

It's not that much cheaper to buy a house than to rent.  That's a myth especially if you don't have perfect credit.  Plus you have to have A LOT of money to put down on a house and if you had that kind of money, you wouldn't be poor in the first place.  And renting a house costs more than an apartment plus you're often responsible for your own maintenance issues.  That means it takes money to rent or buy a house too.

So what does that leave us?  The ghetto.  The hood.  The barrio.  A trailer park.  Out of sight where the rich don't have to take responsibility for what they've done to us.

Poverty doesn't know race or immigration status.  It's equal opportunity.  The hood is actually the most diverse place in the country because everyone who is poor ends up there.  Black people, white people, Mexicans, immigrants, legal ones and illegal ones, all get shunted into the only place they can afford.  There is no white privilege when it comes to poverty.  You're just as screwed as everyone else.

If you make enough to pay the rent in full, that's all that should matter.  You shouldn't be denied a home because you're poor.  We as a nation should be ashamed of ourselves for the way we treat the working class.

Everyone deserves a home.