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John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

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Re: John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

#41
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you talking about? Which "force that run this country" shames anyone that is poor?

How about the faction of the Republican party that has the gall to call Social Security and Medicare "entitlement" programs and then act like people who rely on them (after paying a lifetime of taxes in) should feel like they are taking advantage of everyone else?

They are entitlement programs, because you're entitled to them. The problem isn't the word entitlement, it's that they think it's welfare.

Re: John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

#43
Being poor is watching your mother cry because there isn't enough money for food.

Being poor is being happy to get a single snickers candy bar for Christmas (well it was New Years for me).

Being poor is skipping school prom and class foto because you don't have money to pay for nice clothes.

Being poor is having to listen to asshole relative who gave you their old clothes or furniture how you "owe them" every family gathering.

Being poor is not going to any family gatherings to avoid asshole rich relatives who flaunt their wealth in your face.

Being poor is always being under constant stress and worry. A worry those who are not poor will never understand.

Re: John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

#44

Being poor must in part be not knowing how not to be poor or having felonies or depression holding you back. I failed out of college and barely scraped one month of rent for an apartment. I got a shit job working the dock in a light bulb warehouse. I made friends with the truck driver who picked up orders who told me about an opening on their better paying dock. After half a year my hard work caught the eye of HR who…

Your success touched a nerve. Lots of people making excuses for how lucky you are, and how lucky others aren't.

It's been known for millennia that "luck" is actually being ready for opportunity and then acting decisively when presented with opportunities. Preparation and action is what seperates winners from losers. You cant help losers win, you can only buy them time.

My parents were small farmers in the 80s when it was "get big or get out". I remember a lot of kids in my 20-person grade level had shoes that were falling apart, myself included. Grandpa died in 94 and my dad tried to keep the farm going by himself but could only last 2 years before the farm went broke. He left home and trained to be a truck driver. He drove over the road for 2 weeks at a time, when he was home he'd sleep, then go back out. My parents declared personal bankruptcy and the bank took their property and we were evicted in April 1999. We moved not far away, my parents needed a co-signer. My grandmother lived in the same house as us because they couldn't afford to move her double wide trailer. My parents slept on a pull-out couch for a year. Nobody gave them hand-outs. Life began slowly to turn around soon after.

You do what you have to do. And in the meantime you get ready for the next move. America is the land of opportunity, don't forget that.

Re: John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

#45

Being poor must in part be not knowing how not to be poor or having felonies or depression holding you back. I failed out of college and barely scraped one month of rent for an apartment. I got a shit job working the dock in a light bulb warehouse. I made friends with the truck driver who picked up orders who told me about an opening on their better paying dock. After half a year my hard work caught the eye of HR who…

After many decades of serious empirical analysis of poverty by tens of thousands of researchers in hundreds of research institutions in dozens of countries worldwide, I find it hard to believe people still trot out personal anecdotes as if they mean anything.

The roots of poverty are pretty well-known (and have nothing to do with self-chosen ignorance or indolence, regardless of the claims of these variants of Victorian-era propaganda). The effects of different political policies on poverty rates, from the most corrupt and least competent (the US) to the opposite pole (Nordic nations) have been understood for many years.

This anecdote is as relevant to poverty as war-stories of magical 'alternative' cancer therapies are to the effects of real medicine.

Re: John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

#46

Wow this cuts like a knife. I've never been poor, but this hurts to imagine, especially with two little kids at home that rely on me. What is the best way to help this, what charities/activities?

"Basic income" would go a long way.

People will try to work to make their lives better, whether they're "poor" and "rich". Not needing to worry about food and shelter would make life much easier.

And I mean "basic income" for everybody. Not just citizens. Even immigrants. "For the widow, the orphan, the foreigner." - Deuteronomy 10:18, Zechariah 7:10, Matthew 25:31-46

Re: John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

#47
post #31

Being poor is deciding that it’s all right to base a relationship on shelter. I sleep in a tent. I have turned down such offers. I am literally homeless, yet can't identify with a lot that is in this article. This likely explains 90% of my social friction.

[deleted]

Re: John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

#48

Wow this cuts like a knife. I've never been poor, but this hurts to imagine, especially with two little kids at home that rely on me. What is the best way to help this, what charities/activities?

"Basic income" would go a long way. People will try to work to make their lives better, whether they're "poor" and "rich". Not needing to worry about food and shelter would make life much easier. And I mean "basic income" for everybody. Not just citizens. Even immigrants. "For the widow, the orphan, the foreigner." - Deuteronomy 10:18, Zechariah 7:10, Matthew 25:31-46

I like how you turn a voluntary charitable contribution into forcing other people to pay. If you aren't poor, you should already be making contributions to the poor since you have such high moral standards.

Re: John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

#49
post #21

Being poor is very nearly a crime in this country. We could all be much, much happier if the forces that run this country stopped making people ashamed to be poor.

What are you talking about? Which "force that run this country" shames anyone that is poor?

Reagan gutted social services to keep entirely imaginary "welfare queens" from getting a free ride. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/09/welfare...

Jeb Bush, plausible presidential candidate, wrote a piece called "Restoration of Shame" arguing that the problem with America is that welfare recipients and single parents aren't ashamed enough. http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2015/06/12/jeb_bush_sha...

The current president doesn't want poor people in his Cabinet. http://us.blastingnews.com/news/2017/06/donald-trump-shames-...

America has some of the worst public healthcare in the western world, despite spending more per capita on healthcare than any other nation in the world. http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-healthcare-comparison-20...

And this is what all that does to poor people. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/12/food-s...

America would rather throw money away than see it go to anyone who doesn't "deserve" it.

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