Survival Shouldn’t Be This Expensive

When Basic Needs Become Luxury Items

Something is deeply wrong when the cost of staying alive is out of reach for millions of people. We are not talking about lavish lifestyles or unnecessary comforts. We are talking about shelter. Food. Medication. Child care. Clean water. A phone bill. Gas money. A safe place to rest.

These are not extras. These are essentials. Yet for far too many people, they have become unaffordable.

Survival should not come with a price tag that forces families to choose between heat and groceries, or elders to choose between medication and rent. We are living in a country with abundant resources, yet scarcity is being manufactured through greed, neglect, and systemic failure.

Poverty Is Not a Personal Failure

People are doing everything they can. They are working full-time jobs. Some are working two or three. They are budgeting, stretching, sacrificing, and still coming up short. Wages have not kept up with inflation. Rent continues to rise. The cost of groceries, transportation, and utilities climbs while paychecks stay the same.

The system is not broken. It is functioning exactly as it was designed — to protect wealth, not people. We must stop pretending that financial hardship is the result of laziness or poor choices. It is the result of policies and priorities that devalue human life.

The Hidden Costs No One Talks About

Beyond bills and paychecks, there is an emotional cost to surviving in a system that does not care. There is the stress of constantly calculating what you can afford to skip. The humiliation of asking for help. The fear that one unexpected event, like a medical emergency, a broken-down car, or even a missed shift could push you over the edge.

There is the mental toll of navigating complicated systems that make assistance feel like punishment. The hours spent on hold. The stack of paperwork. The hoops. The silence.

People are not failing. They are exhausted.

Survival Should Be a Guarantee

In a just society, people should not have to fight this hard to stay alive. No one should have to beg to be housed, fed, or treated with dignity. Survival should be the floor, not the finish line.

We need policies that prioritize people over profits. We need wages that reflect the cost of living. We need affordable housing, universal health care, child care support, and accessible mental health services. We need a system that meets people where they are instead of making them prove they are worthy of help.

It is not radical to say that staying alive should not cost everything.

Final Thought: Survival Is a Right

This is not just about economics. It is about humanity. The cost of survival in this country is too high. And the people paying the price are the ones who are already carrying the heaviest burdens.

We must stop normalizing struggle. We must stop accepting that poverty is the natural result of progress. We must fight for a world where survival is not expensive but expected.

Because everyone deserves to live. Not barely. Not fearfully. But fully.