Confession: I'm annoyed.

...but I have seen some stuff lately that has really irritated me, and thus merited a post of some sort. And apparently, if I do it #confessions style with Kathy, nobody can judge me. Or judge all you want, whatever. I'm too pissed off about nonsense and the abject, ignorant stupidity and bandwagon mentality of so many people to care.

Real quick disclaimer: let me preface this by saying that these rants are not directed at any people in particular, unless specifically mentioned. People who believe differently than I do are completely and totally entitled to their beliefs, and I am in no way insinuating that I am smarter/cooler/better/whatever than anyone else, regardless of whether we agree or disagree. I would encourage people from both sides to comment (if you're interested), because I like the conversation, but I'm not trying to start an argument or put anyone down by what I'm about to say. 

Commencing.. 

I confess // There is an article on Buzzfeed right now wherein 22 female employees answer why they take birth control. FIRST of all...WHO THE HELL CARES? No one, that's who. SECONDLY... I am sick and tired TO DEATH of hearing people bitch and moan about how birth control is their own business, and people do it for themselves blah blah blah, and "hey government/employer/everybody who doesn't agree with me, stay out of my business!" while simultaneously DEMANDING that government/employee/taxpayers actually get all up in their business and PAY for their birth control. Seriously?! Seriously. Shut up, you're contradicting yourself and making absolutely no sense. 

And for the record (pay attention here, folks, because this is the biggest thing everyone is ignoring here): Hobby Lobby is NOT saying, nor have they ever said, that they refuse to pay for birth control because of their religious beliefs (which, by the way, is their RIGHT, as guaranteed by the First Amendment). They simply did not want to have to pay for the IUD or the morning-after bill. There are a lot of other kinds of birth control that they are very happy to cover with their insurance plans. 

And also...if you so desperately want to be in control of your own reproductive health and rights, then take control of all aspects of it yourself, including paying for it. Freedom of religion is freedom of religion, even if you don't agree with it.

I confess // all this nonsense about raising the federal minimum wage is stupid. As someone who has spent a pretty significant portion of their working life working at minimum wage, do I think it would be easier if it were higher? Well of course I do... But where is the money supposed to come from? 

If a company has 8 employees who work 40 hours a week, and are paid $7.25/hour, that means the company is spending $2320.00/per week on their compensation. That doesn't even take into account the additional cost of potential benefits like vacation time, retirement savings or profit sharing, sick leave, health insurance (the cost of which is skyrocketing, by the way, thanks to the president and his dumb plan), etc. Nor does that take into account the overhead costs of running a business - building space, liability insurance, utilities, equipment, cleaning costs...and the list goes on and on. 

If the minimum wage gets raised the 39.3% up to $10.10 that has been proposed, that means that compensation costs alone for the aforementioned hypothetical company will go up $911.76/week, or $47,411.52/year. Where, exactly, is that extra $50k supposed to come from? All that will happen is that companies will be forced to lay off or otherwise let go of employees because they simply can't afford to keep them anymore, thus reducing the amount of service they could provide, which in turn will most likely result in a decrease of customers since the service and/or product has suffered, leading the company to make even less money, meaning they have to let more people go.....and the cycle continues. How in the world is it that people don't see this? 

The beauty of capitalism is that it allows people to work hard and do whatever they can to better themselves, rather than reducing people who are successful down to a lower level, so that other people can benefit from their success. It's not a perfect system, but historically speaking, it does tend to be the most fair, and sustainable system. 

I confess // the fact that people actually believe that Obama's healthcare plan is a positive thing because it reverses "job lock" kind of blows my mind. That fact that people can't see that it's a blatant call for people to just not bother having jobs so they can instead just depend on the government for everything blows my mind even more. Since when is having a job and supporting yourself as best you can ever a bad thing, even if the job isn't all that enjoyable? I personally would much rather work and know that I'm supporting myself, even if it's not fun for me, than be dependent on the government for my needs. But hey...maybe that's just me. 

I confess // I cannot stand Jay-Z and Beyonce. Like, at all. Jay-Z has always irritated me, but I used to like Beyonce, back when her music was fun, and showcased her talent, instead of her ability to dress in next to nothing and shake her ass. I find it so sad when people who are so ridiculously talented sell out just to stay in the headlines. Like really, what's the point? 

I confess // my blood pressure has gone up while I've been writing this post. I can feel it. Whoops. I'm going to go walk around the block a few times to get it back where it's supposed to be. 

Peace out. 

Also linking up with Liz, because it's Wednesday.