Food deserts - no close grocery stores. Using a corner or convenience store is expensive. Cost of living - Minimum wage is $7.25 an hour in 2025. There's a lot you can't afford. Everything is expensive. You cannot afford rent on less than $20 an hour. Cost of existing - It's expensive to live here. It's expensive to be poor. No insurance means one sickness, ER visit, car issue or housing costs skyrocket things are always on the brink of becoming a tragedy. Inflation - inflation is high and corporations are charging as much as they want as an offset. Corporate greed - to piggy back off the previous item, corporations exist to make money. How do you make more money? Innovate? Sometimes. The main way to make more is to charge more. Sometimes charge more for less. Legislative impotence - politicians don't give a fuck about poor and middle class Americans. They are securing their monies, financial relationships and working to keep their job. People feel overwhelmed - People are broke. Not saving or investing. They are barely surviving.