Talia, 1st thanks for being brave enough to write this. It took guts. I hope it pays off. 2nd to those who are quoting variations on “the free market will prevail” and “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” this is, and always has been nonsense. The most productive & profitable period of american history was the period just after the new deal (socialism, unions, minimum wage). See the graph below. The current system is broken.