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John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

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Re: John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

#71

Post by gragas »

Mz wrote: post #65
gragas wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obviously, I don't see people with genetic disorders and think "man, what an idiot". You can't just assume that every person you see is poor due to their life decisions. But if you do , you're right about 99% of the time. The vast majority of poor people I know make bad decision after bad decision.

You would have no way of knowing by looking at me that I have a genetic disorder. In addition to being homeless for more than five years, I have had a college class on homelessness and public policy. The poorest of the poor pretty uniformly have intractable personal problems, such as health issues, learning disabilities or mental health issues.

A very large portion of the population is poor without intractable personal problems.

If you're suggesting that ~30% of people in the US have such problems, and if you're right, then you got me; the world is screwed.

Re: John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

#72

Post by falcolas »

merpnderp wrote: post #9

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…

My wife works for a LTL trucking company; no drivers there make anywhere near $45,000 a year. Most of them make around 2/3 of that, even with overtime. So yeah, I too think you got damned lucky.

Congratulations, just don't think that everybody can bad as lucky as you.

Re: John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

#73

Post by jachee »

fixxer wrote: post #67
jachee wrote: post #23

I lived this. Being poor is growing up between the trailer park and the dump. Being poor is skipping homework to help repair the $600 car so dad can make it to work tomorrow. Being poor is your mother crying over a $100 invoice for the dental service you just received for the first time in living memory. Being poor is quitting junior college early, because your Pell Grant ran out, and a $12.15/hr opportunity is over…

> Being poor is 2 nights in jail because of a clerical error Tell us more

Speed trap as fund-raiser > clerical error lost paid ticket > license suspended > road block as fund-raiser > zero-tolerance "suspended license == go to jail" > impounded car, $1200 bond, and jail time "waiting on the judge to post bond."

Re: John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

#74

Post by Mz »

nickpeterson wrote: post #42

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?

(Assuming you are in the US) America could use a fix for our healthcare system and our lack of affordable housing. It would be better to work on such issues than donating to charity. "Charity case" is an insult for a reason. If you really care about poor people, you work towards building a society in which ordinary people can get their needs met without relying on charity. Having a modest income should not so totally exclude people from having a life.

Re: John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

#76

Post by gragas »

gruez wrote: post #52
gragas wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Being rich is risking losing your job in order to negotiate a better contract with your boss If you have a 9-to-5, you're probably not rich.

You obviously missed the point of the GP

Yeah, didn't read it. Came straight to the comments to see all the righteous, selfless technocrats on HN tonight.

Re: John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

#77

Post by Mz »

gragas wrote: post #71
Mz wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would have no way of knowing by looking at me that I have a genetic disorder. In addition to being homeless for more than five years, I have had a college class on homelessness and public policy. The poorest of the poor pretty uniformly have intractable personal problems, such as health issues, learning disabilities or mental health issues.

A very large portion of the population is poor without intractable personal problems. If you're suggesting that ~30% of people in the US have such problems, and if you're right, then you got me; the world is screwed.

If you are suggesting that 30% of people in the US are poor, you are talking about a systemic issue. However, I think you are in error. The figures I typically see are 12-14% and 2% or less are chronically poor.

Re: John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

#78

Post by [deleted] »

gragas wrote: post #71
Mz wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would have no way of knowing by looking at me that I have a genetic disorder. In addition to being homeless for more than five years, I have had a college class on homelessness and public policy. The poorest of the poor pretty uniformly have intractable personal problems, such as health issues, learning disabilities or mental health issues.

A very large portion of the population is poor without intractable personal problems. If you're suggesting that ~30% of people in the US have such problems, and if you're right, then you got me; the world is screwed.

[deleted]

Re: John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

#79

Post by saalweachter »

nickpeterson wrote: post #42

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?

I'm a fan of finding your local food pantry and helping out / donating there.

Most always need volunteers. Depending on the place, it can either be more effective to donate money or food. Some places have affiliations with larger collecting centers which just charge the individual pantry handling (usually something like $0.10 / lb) for food; if a place doesn't, they might prefer food donations because otherwise shopping is one more thing a volunteer needs to find time for, and they won't get a particularly better value than you.

If you want to shop for a food pantry, it's best if you ask them what they're currently short on, but in general it will be your proteins and fruits, because both tend to be more expensive than the vegetables and carbs, and a lot of people donating to food pantries are giving what little they can. You'll mostly end up giving a lot of a few good staples that are reasonably priced - tuna, canned chicken, apple sauce, peaches - but if you throw in a little variety every now and again (spam, blueberries) you'll really make someone's day, who's been eating the same damn thing for longer than they can remember.

Dried beans are cheap but not very popular, because they're a bit more time consuming to prepare. Don't donate cranberry sauce, every food pantry has a shelf full of it. Large packages of food (20 lb bags of rice) are tricky; they're usually cheaper, but then the pantry has to repackage it, which is more work, less appealing, and introduces more risk of food contamination. Buy generic canned vegetables, but name brand cereal. Being poor is no-name cereal from a plastic bag, and you'll make some kid's week if they get to eat actual Cheerios for breakfast, but no one cares what label is on their can of green beans.

If the food pantry near you is well stocked on food, you can load them up with personal hygiene supplies - toilet paper and toothbrushes, but also deodorant, laundry detergent, feminine products, and diapers. Most places will also give out pet food; that is usually safe to buy a 50 lb bag of, because people are happier to take a gallon ziploc of dog food.

Re: John Scalzi: Being Poor (2005)

#80

Post by DubiousPusher »

I grew up in poverty and am legally blind. It was incredibly difficult to find any way of making any money at all. Seriously, it was very difficult just to get a $5.15/hr minimum wage job in Montana.

The strongest emotion I have felt to this day is the feeling that I would never get out of being poor.

To this day my nightmares are about losing my job, blowing through my emergency fund and not being able to find another job.

To this day, I don't buy beef at the grocery store. I can't bring myself to do it outside a special occasion. (Not saying I spend my money entirely wisely but that has stuck with me for some reason.)

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