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The Silicon Valley paradox: one in four people are at risk of hunger

theguardian.com

21–30 of 249 posts

Re: The Silicon Valley paradox: one in four people are at risk of hunger

#21
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see why race is a factor. There is a whole host of things that could affect a place's desirability to live. It does not matter what you look like, if you're poor you gotta eat some shit once in a while.

That might be because you don't value family or other people like you around you. Personally I've lived in a bunch of countries and it's always been a lot easier for me with a support network. I suppose in the context of the article we are talking about people already struggling, and I'm not suggesting at all that it's not a welcoming place. I'm just saying that it's gonna be out of comfort zone or "mental availabili…

Maybe you didn't read my comment. If you're poor, you don't have resources.

If you don't have resources, you have to deal with suboptimal conditions.

A support network is great, just like pleasant weather or a good job market. What is the premium you're willing to pay for being around people like you or family? Because you're going to have to pay.

Re: The Silicon Valley paradox: one in four people are at risk of hunger

#22
post #19
post #3

Why pay $2000 a month when you have the whole country you could live in for much less? Why should I have to pay increased taxes for your ignorance/provincialism? Is living in San Francisco a fundamental right? I grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. I'd suggest that these people move there, for the low cost of living combined with the vibrant-enough economy. Unemployment was at 5% through the great recession . However, I fin…

Well, lack of jobs, or lack of a hiring pool. Take your pick.

Unemployment is at 2.3%. That's one of the lowest in the country If you do not have a job you will be snatched off the street.

Re: The Silicon Valley paradox: one in four people are at risk of hunger

#24
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That might be because you don't value family or other people like you around you. Personally I've lived in a bunch of countries and it's always been a lot easier for me with a support network. I suppose in the context of the article we are talking about people already struggling, and I'm not suggesting at all that it's not a welcoming place. I'm just saying that it's gonna be out of comfort zone or "mental availabili…

Maybe you didn't read my comment. If you're poor, you don't have resources. If you don't have resources, you have to deal with suboptimal conditions. A support network is great, just like pleasant weather or a good job market. What is the premium you're willing to pay for being around people like you or family? Because you're going to have to pay.

Absolutely the opposite. I've been poor and absolutely I valued connections and networks over the fundamentals, much as rich people do.

Frankly I think this is the rational decision under the circumstances, factoring in uncertainty and decision costs.

You think I'm SJWing here while I'm just trying to explain how people actually make decisions, which is typically not with reference to abstract tables, but based on proximate lived experience.

Re: The Silicon Valley paradox: one in four people are at risk of hunger

#25
post #22
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, lack of jobs, or lack of a hiring pool. Take your pick.

Unemployment is at 2.3%. That's one of the lowest in the country If you do not have a job you will be snatched off the street.

I suppose. That doesn’t speak very much to the healthy of the economy, however, much less to whether it can serve me well—how many of those jobs will be there in 20 years? Will I regret it if I buy a house there? Will I be stuck doing some job I hate because it’s the only job that pays well enough in the area?

Re: The Silicon Valley paradox: one in four people are at risk of hunger

#26
post #3

Why pay $2000 a month when you have the whole country you could live in for much less? Why should I have to pay increased taxes for your ignorance/provincialism? Is living in San Francisco a fundamental right? I grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. I'd suggest that these people move there, for the low cost of living combined with the vibrant-enough economy. Unemployment was at 5% through the great recession . However, I fin…

There is a solution. At the moment successful EU countries such as Germany, Sweden, Finland, Denmark are struggling with aging population and not enough people to fill blue colar jobs.

I think EU should make it easier for US citizens who get any job here to move over. Americans in general are super hard working. Europe needs hard working people, while we can provide them with free universal healthcare, free university education, and way more upward mobility than they could ever dream of.

The deal could be so that you can move to Europe for any job, and if you work for 5 years then you are eligible for permanent residence. If you loose your work, and become unemployed for more than 6 months you have to move back to US.

Yes, there would be risks, but at the same time, it could also be a win win - hard working folk from USA would get a chance to raise their kids in a society that would allow them to put their kids through college without selling a kidney.

Re: The Silicon Valley paradox: one in four people are at risk of hunger

#27
post #3

Why pay $2000 a month when you have the whole country you could live in for much less? Why should I have to pay increased taxes for your ignorance/provincialism? Is living in San Francisco a fundamental right? I grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. I'd suggest that these people move there, for the low cost of living combined with the vibrant-enough economy. Unemployment was at 5% through the great recession . However, I fin…

"You're more likely to die of boredom, but isn't that better than food stamps, and isn't boredom good if you want to raise a family?"

That's pretty much it. The Bay Area gives you the chance to be on the cutting edge of change, which - for a certain personality type that tends to be overrepresented in the Bay Area - is often reason enough to live there. Most of the people who want a stable & boring environment to raise a family have already left. Most of the rest are from regions where boring != stable. (Seriously: I'm expecting a kid in the near future, and in the childbirth classes, there are literally no white people - the only people having babies in Silicon Valley are seemingly Indian and Chinese, along with a smattering of Mexicans and other immigrants. I have a bunch of white friends here, and of the ones who have had kids or are planning to in the near future, they fit into two groups: 50% have moved back to their hometown already, and 50% are planning to.)

There's also the issue where history has basically never been kind to groups of people who felt they could live a stable, boring existence while clinging to old ways and enjoying a high standard of living. Makes me a little scared for America, but that reckoning is probably decades out.

Re: The Silicon Valley paradox: one in four people are at risk of hunger

#28
post #18
post #3

Why pay $2000 a month when you have the whole country you could live in for much less? Why should I have to pay increased taxes for your ignorance/provincialism? Is living in San Francisco a fundamental right? I grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. I'd suggest that these people move there, for the low cost of living combined with the vibrant-enough economy. Unemployment was at 5% through the great recession . However, I fin…

How? How do you move to Nebraska when you have $100/week for food? How do you find a job, when you have literally 0-day you can spend without working? Are there really than many jobs for people who flip burgers in Lincoln, Nebraska? And are people who flip burgers in Nebraska so much better?

I have a friend who makes due on a customer service job for Comcast, pays about $300/month in rent, and still has time to be in a death metal band, travel (to other places in midwest). He's definitely not happy, but he's not starving either. 0% chance of a life like this in San Francisco.

Re: The Silicon Valley paradox: one in four people are at risk of hunger

#29
post #20
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because about 90% of people are white, in Lincoln, Nebraska. I think your evaluation is probably right, if you're white.

this is the "lynching" argument. You pay for your bigotry.

... but is it bigotry if it's based on actual lived experience?

I mean, you're probably reading a bit too much into the guy's post. He's probably not talking about lynching, more likely about way smaller stuff.

Re: The Silicon Valley paradox: one in four people are at risk of hunger

#30
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes that rent trap is to high. You pay three quarters of your paycheck to just living (even house hunting you still need a place to live). You then have one quarter to spend on food (for 2 people) & electricity, water, and heat (if your rent doesn't cover utilities)& maybe some extra things like hygiene products, bills such as car payments, etc... You have almost no left over to put in for moving. So I don't di…

I don't believe it. Say you find a place in Lincoln for $500-$600 (which is possible in Lincoln), just by using the difference between old rent and new to cover debt from moving expenses, a mover could pay off $15,000 of debt within one year.

Again this comes down to circumstances. I don't personally know Karla Peralta's money situation, however, there is the possibility of having poor credit due to the food stamps and things like that.

I, again, don't disagree with you but to be so matter of fact is in my opinion incorrect.

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