Angst about Corporate America

[Big Time]

Always being overcharged and overtaxed and underpaid my whole life fills me with so much dread and anguish.  Rich and powerful people basically want us subservient to them and there is no way to avoid them without also suffering homelessness or hunger or whatever.

What do I pray for?  What do I ask God for to overcome these negative, cynical thoughts and emotions?

I've started to tech myself web coding like HTML and CSS and am going to eventually move on to Wordpress and Java and Ruby on Rails, etc.  God helps those who helps themselves, I always thought.  That's all I can figure out to do.

Christians want the American dream so they can buy a house and have a family like most other Americans.  Chalking my failure up to Gods plan for me seems like a coping mechanism.  Are we really doomed to be miserable our whole lives for being believers?

 

[wingnut-]

I think the biggest issue I see today amongst Christians is the focus is on the wrong things.  Instead of dwelling on the negatives we should be looking at the blessings in our lives.  I could tell you my personal tale, and most find it a tragedy, but the truth is, I have never been happier.  If you have a roof over your head and food in your belly, you have much to be thankful for.  Live in the day you are in, and do not worry about tomorrow, this life is never going to be easy.

God bless

 

Philippians 4: 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

[Guest Butero]

If not for rich and powerful people, most wouldn't have a job.  You need to consider getting trained in a line of work that will allow you to have the American dream.  Worrying about what others have will get you nowhere.  

[secretopossumcabal]

As is written in Ecclesiastes 5:

Quote

 

The Folly of Riches

      He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity. When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the advantage to their owners except to look on? The sleep of the working man is pleasant, whether he eats little or much; but the full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep.

      There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt. When those riches were lost through a bad investment and he had fathered a son, then there was nothing to support him. As he had come naked from his mother’s womb, so will he return as he came. He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand. This also is a grievous evil—exactly as a man is born, thus will he die. So what is the advantage to him who toils for the wind? Throughout his life he also eats in darkness with great vexation, sickness and anger.

      Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward. Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God. For he will not often consider the years of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the gladness of his heart.

 

 

Comfort in physical things is a very brief and fleeting joy, one that will only make you feel empty in the end. Also keep in mind that it's too much comfort that tends to destroy people... Good times create weak men, weak men create hard times, hard times create strong men, strong men create good times.

Take each day as an opporunity to strengthen your skills and harden your resolve, this is concerning physical things, but these physical things will one day go the way of the world, as Ecclesiastes warns, our focus needs to be on God and not on the nice things of the world.  

Be it in comfort, or be it in pain, you will have some form of discomfort, be it spiritual or physical. Which is why we need to deny ourselves and take up our crosses as he instructed us...this is your cross, and we all have it in some form or another. 

 

[The_Patriot21]

Our treasure is in heaven...not this world. Draw your peace and contenment from Him, and not from how much money your neighbor makes.

[frienduff thaylorde]

8 hours ago, Big Time said:

Always being overcharged and overtaxed and underpaid my whole life fills me with so much dread and anguish.  Rich and powerful people basically want us subservient to them and there is no way to avoid them without also suffering homelessness or hunger or whatever.

What do I pray for?  What do I ask God for to overcome these negative, cynical thoughts and emotions?

I've started to tech myself web coding like HTML and CSS and am going to eventually move on to Wordpress and Java and Ruby on Rails, etc.  God helps those who helps themselves, I always thought.  That's all I can figure out to do.

Christians want the American dream so they can buy a house and have a family like most other Americans.  Chalking my failure up to Gods plan for me seems like a coping mechanism.  Are we really doomed to be miserable our whole lives for being believers?

 

Christians want the American dream so they can buy a house and have a family like most other Americans

Not THIS ONE .   I could give a care less if I lose it all,  according to most preachers and this AMERICAN DREAM

paul would have been seen as one of the biggest losers , as would many of the apostels.

FORGET the America dream.    IF YOU TRULY HAVE CHRIST.............................men can sing even in prison , on the run IF their desires are truly above on HIM.

MAN I hope that encouraged you and reminded you it aint got nothing to do with this world or its things..........the simple fact one as wicked as i

once was , was by grace saved and changed ,    That alone gives us all the rejoicing we need , even if we lose all.    HEARTS ABOVE .   

[The_Patriot21]

What most people dont understand though, is the current "American dream" is not what the founding fathers had in mind. The dream was never "everyone will be rich" or even "financially stable middle class citizens living in a house with a white picket fence and 2 cars"

No, all the founding fathers intended was that everyone had the same opportunity to achieve that if they worked hard enough. Thats it. The opportunity, not the garentee. They wanted freedom, which is how capitalism works. And its not totally gone today...college wont deny you just because you come from a poor family or the color of your skin. No, if you can give them the money they want, and show that your smart enough and can work hard enough to not waste their time, tbey will accept you. Your opportunities are not limited by the government, but rather by life itself-your current situation, home life, finances, and how much drive you have.

[Neighbor]

17 hours ago, Big Time said:

Always being overcharged and overtaxed and underpaid my whole life fills me with so much dread and anguish.  Rich and powerful people basically want us subservient to them and there is no way to avoid them without also suffering homelessness or hunger or whatever.

What do I pray for?  What do I ask God for to overcome these negative, cynical thoughts and emotions?

I've started to tech myself web coding like HTML and CSS and am going to eventually move on to Wordpress and Java and Ruby on Rails, etc.  God helps those who helps themselves, I always thought.  That's all I can figure out to do.

Christians want the American dream so they can buy a house and have a family like most other Americans.  Chalking my failure up to Gods plan for me seems like a coping mechanism.  Are we really doomed to be miserable our whole lives for being believers?

 

Hi, May  God bless you in your study. May it aso be that you will find deep fulfilment in it and opportunity to give thanks to God in it's use.

[GreyDestiny]

This is true. You sweat and toil away, getting lashed by your higher-ups, all the while receiving little pay for the workload. Cost of living is up, prices on the incline even though they're making everything smaller, and far too much reliance on credit/loans. It is a sick practice; you either have money or you don't, and if you do have money, everyone else wants it.

However, if one is willing to take on a lower standard of living, it's not so bad. All a man really needs is a roof and a bed. Everyone wants their big house with their big car and their big family, but where does that come from? Lo, the poor feed that mortgage, deceit and manipulation fuel that hummer, the wife is only there for the money as are the children, a home who's foundation is wickedness. Remember; their life is in this life, not this one. Let them be stingy about their money, use and abuse people like they do; they reap what they sow.

Think of the world like a raging sea and yourself like a boat. The world pushes and hurls, doing all that it can to topple you, drag you down and make you become one with it. You just simply have to keep afloat and maintain your course. You are due for land some day, after all; the water won't be an issue then. Keep your wits about you; letting yourself go solves nothing.

[Sower]

17 hours ago, Big Time said:

Always being overcharged and overtaxed and underpaid my whole life fills me with so much dread and anguish.  Rich and powerful people basically want us subservient to them and there is no way to avoid them without also suffering homelessness or hunger or whatever.

What do I pray for?  What do I ask God for to overcome these negative, cynical thoughts and emotions?

I've started to tech myself web coding like HTML and CSS and am going to eventually move on to Wordpress and Java and Ruby on Rails, etc.  God helps those who helps themselves, I always thought.  That's all I can figure out to do.

Christians want the American dream so they can buy a house and have a family like most other Americans.  Chalking my failure up to Gods plan for me seems like a coping mechanism.  Are we really doomed to be miserable our whole lives for being believers?

 

 

"Are we really doomed to be miserable our whole lives for being believers?"     What does being a Christian have to do with that?
"Always being overcharged and overtaxed and underpaid".       Buy an airplane ticket and visit a third world country. When you get back, I bet you you will come off the plane and kiss the asphalt. Those people would love to have a job and an ability to pay taxes.
"Rich and powerful people basically want us subservient to them" Only if you think so, because as a believer, you are rich beyond measure, seated in the heavenly! I thank God for people who make money and spend it, as they help feed my family, and the economy. (Through work, and not welfare)
 

The average annual wages worldwide income by OECD places the USA  second from the top, at sixty thousand. Their 35 country survey places Mexico at the bottom, of developed countries, at nine thousand, eight hundred. Annual income from wages.
Working construction sites most of my life, I met a Hispanic gentleman, a contractor,  one day on the patio of a very affluent client, eating lunch, and as I was also waiting for the home owner, decided to eat lunch while we waited. He offered fresh hot food, as he had a hot plate with home made tortillas, fajitas, beans and chilies. Put away my baloney and mustard sandwich, and built myself several tacos, while we talked. He told me he crossed the Rio Grand many years back, and hired a man with a boat to bring him from Mexico to Texas, so he was not a wet back. After much laughter, he told me he was the window washer, home clean up  and make ready, for the builder.  When he crossed into the US, he drifted north looking for any type of work, and saw men working on houses and inquired for work, and not having a trade,  started cleaning up the homes when finished. Saved money and purchased a van, where he slept. The builder liked his work and dependability, gave him more work, so he hired some other men. Bought another van, hired more men, and eventually bought a tiny house for his crew. As we talked, he told me he owned many houses that he rented, and had a fleet of vans, quiet a few employees. He built his business, became a citizen, paid taxes, and contributed to the economy. His biggest complaint, was the other men crossing the river, who were mad about not making enough money. Told me there was no reason why someone, coming to this country, could live like a king, as compared to Mexico, IF, they were willing to work.  This gentleman was the owner of his company, and the home we were working on was the builder who has given him the most work, and he wanted to personally make sure it was done right. He realized, like myself, we wouldn't have any work if it wasn't for the wealthy spending their money. Capitalism. The American dream
The list above had a second list , of those under developed  countries at the bottom. Albania was last, with an annual wage income of $379.00. A little more than a dollar a day. You evidently do not realize the privilege you have to live in America.

"Chalking my failure up to Gods plan for me seems like a coping mechanism."  
I really wouldn't think you should  blame God for your so called "failure".   My family was "trailer trash" for thirty years, and I had built homes for a living. God's best blessings in our family were during our leanest years. We are a family of believers, kids and grand kids. And I'm the richest man I know.