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How poverty changes your mindset

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Re: How poverty changes your mindset

#61

Post by gutnor »

tamrix wrote: post #49
redm wrote: post #15

I'm sure how people deal with stress and difficult situations varies from person to person. My personal story and 2-cents: When I was 17 I went through a period of near destitute. I was living on my own, my father had passed away, and I had dropped out of school. Yet, I found myself with some very good jobs, such as GE Capital, a big Oil and Gas companies IT department, etc. Regardless of the opportunity, my arroganc…

I think comments like these are more likely propaganda than real experiences. They keep feeding you the lie that you're going to be successful if you keep believing in the system. When we all know statistically America is worse than ever before. You read the parent comment and think the poor and just lazy and all your have to do is work yourself a slave and suck corporate dick. But it's never a top comment adding tha…

I'm not so sure, it is just that this is HN and that is the one place you will find people for which the "American Dream" did actually work or it is actually looking good.

Survival bias is always going to be strong here.

Re: How poverty changes your mindset

#62

Post by bojackstorkman »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #45
bojackstorkman wrote: post #30

I love how when this comes up, it's people either saying "Here was my experience when I was poor in the past." or "Here is what I think about economics or the wording of this article." Don't get me wrong, I know what website I'm on. But in all seriousness, is there room for currently poor people in this discussion?

I was homeless for nearly 6 years. I got off the street last September. I am still quite poor. In fact, my bank account currently has zero in it and I don't get paid again until the 1st. I fairly frequently give my opinions on HN about poverty, homelessness, housing, women's issues and the negative impact being female has on my earned income. I try to be judicious and not do it too often. Testifying from firsthand ex…

This is a wonderfully thoughtful response, and thank you for sharing it. While I'm not sure I agree with your final point, I share your feelings.

Re: How poverty changes your mindset

#63

Post by redm »

tamrix wrote: post #49
redm wrote: post #15

I'm sure how people deal with stress and difficult situations varies from person to person. My personal story and 2-cents: When I was 17 I went through a period of near destitute. I was living on my own, my father had passed away, and I had dropped out of school. Yet, I found myself with some very good jobs, such as GE Capital, a big Oil and Gas companies IT department, etc. Regardless of the opportunity, my arroganc…

I think comments like these are more likely propaganda than real experiences. They keep feeding you the lie that you're going to be successful if you keep believing in the system. When we all know statistically America is worse than ever before. You read the parent comment and think the poor and just lazy and all your have to do is work yourself a slave and suck corporate dick. But it's never a top comment adding tha…

"I think comments like these are more likely propaganda than real experiences."

You would be incorrect. I'm right here, a real person, with real experiences.

"You read the parent comment and think the poor and just lazy and all your have to do is work yourself a slave and suck corporate dick."

I assume your trying to say "the poor `are` just lazy" and that wasn't what I said or was trying to say.

To the contrary, I think it's much harder to dig yourself out of a hole once your in it. In my case, during that period, I went from working in a high-rise to applying at Jack-in-the-Box because it was the only thing within walking distance and I couldn't even get that job.

I for one got lucky and found some opportunity, but that wasn't my point. My point was that, for me, hitting rock bottom, having a minimal safety net (i.e. not sleeping outdoors), was just enough for me to change my life perspective.

If you want to talk about your experiences or opinions, go for it, but don't dismiss mine as "propaganda".

Re: How poverty changes your mindset

#64

Post by [deleted] »

tamrix wrote: post #49
redm wrote: post #15

I'm sure how people deal with stress and difficult situations varies from person to person. My personal story and 2-cents: When I was 17 I went through a period of near destitute. I was living on my own, my father had passed away, and I had dropped out of school. Yet, I found myself with some very good jobs, such as GE Capital, a big Oil and Gas companies IT department, etc. Regardless of the opportunity, my arroganc…

I think comments like these are more likely propaganda than real experiences. They keep feeding you the lie that you're going to be successful if you keep believing in the system. When we all know statistically America is worse than ever before. You read the parent comment and think the poor and just lazy and all your have to do is work yourself a slave and suck corporate dick. But it's never a top comment adding tha…

[deleted]

Re: How poverty changes your mindset

#65

Post by ams6110 »

tamrix wrote: post #49
redm wrote: post #15

I'm sure how people deal with stress and difficult situations varies from person to person. My personal story and 2-cents: When I was 17 I went through a period of near destitute. I was living on my own, my father had passed away, and I had dropped out of school. Yet, I found myself with some very good jobs, such as GE Capital, a big Oil and Gas companies IT department, etc. Regardless of the opportunity, my arroganc…

I think comments like these are more likely propaganda than real experiences. They keep feeding you the lie that you're going to be successful if you keep believing in the system. When we all know statistically America is worse than ever before. You read the parent comment and think the poor and just lazy and all your have to do is work yourself a slave and suck corporate dick. But it's never a top comment adding tha…

We've been helping the poor for a long long time and we still have them. Either we are doing the wrong things (though we keep doing them, and asking for more of the same) or it's evidence that kind of help actually incentivizes what it's ostensibly trying to eradicate.

Re: How poverty changes your mindset

#66

Post by bojackstorkman »

haberman wrote: post #53
bojackstorkman wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry if I gave that impression. I have no problem with lots of perspectives. I specifically asked if anybody had made room for, uh, the poor people. Considering my response has already gotten one "Well you're obviously not poor if you read this", and another asking for clarification of my opinions on non-poor people, I guess this wasn't the place to make that point. Sorry.

> I specifically asked if anybody had made room for, uh, the poor people. But what does this mean? Unless someone is specifically arguing that poor people should not comment, how is anyone not "making room for" the perspectives of poor people?

I am poor and volunteered my voice on the subject of how poverty affects people. I specifically asked (as a question, not a substantive statement) whether or not my input was welcome. I have also made a point of saying that I have no issue with other perspectives. I can not speak to how you experience my intentions in my writing, but I will try to keep clarifying.

Re: How poverty changes your mindset

#67

Post by adrr »

redm wrote: post #15

I'm sure how people deal with stress and difficult situations varies from person to person. My personal story and 2-cents: When I was 17 I went through a period of near destitute. I was living on my own, my father had passed away, and I had dropped out of school. Yet, I found myself with some very good jobs, such as GE Capital, a big Oil and Gas companies IT department, etc. Regardless of the opportunity, my arroganc…

100% of society can't be brought out of poverty. Here's an example: If we motivated everyone to get a college education, we would have people flipping burgers who are college educated making min wage and living in poverty while struggling to put food on the table.

Re: How poverty changes your mindset

#68

Post by NotQuantum »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #45
bojackstorkman wrote: post #30

I love how when this comes up, it's people either saying "Here was my experience when I was poor in the past." or "Here is what I think about economics or the wording of this article." Don't get me wrong, I know what website I'm on. But in all seriousness, is there room for currently poor people in this discussion?

I was homeless for nearly 6 years. I got off the street last September. I am still quite poor. In fact, my bank account currently has zero in it and I don't get paid again until the 1st. I fairly frequently give my opinions on HN about poverty, homelessness, housing, women's issues and the negative impact being female has on my earned income. I try to be judicious and not do it too often. Testifying from firsthand ex…

Thank you for sharing your views on poverty. While HN is primarily about programming / tech, there is room for talk about society, etc. I don't agree with your points about being rate limited / banned, all views are valued here if they're inherently non-inflamatory.

Edit: Your Karma given your account is only 3 days old is quite contradicting of your views of HN

Re: How poverty changes your mindset

#69

Post by kraig911 »

I hate seeing people's comments on stories around this topic. I grew up in poverty and food stamps from time to time. My dad was a roughneck and when the oil bust happened in the 80's there was a time we lived out of our car -- my whole family. here was literally nothing to do in the oil patch during that bust. There was literally no work. But people don't understand true hopelessness. My dad did everything he could to find a job during that time... for three months time we hardly had any food I guess because it wasn't easy to get on the program fast back then. Those that come out of a dire situation think everyone else can.

The ramifications of that happening to my dad will probably last multiple generations. He went from a loving father to a loathsome troll of a creature working nights in a oil refinery (I thought at the time) finally. From that my mom and dad divorced. My wife doesn't understand why I have severe dentals problems now in life, or other health issues that doctors told me are from stress. She doesn't understand why I stress so much about money and stay up at night.

I don't know why I'm saying all this the solution is simple but the problem is hard to acknowledge. The poor and destitute simply need help. We live in a society though that thinks someone else is going to take care of the problems. When we do finally give help it's so conditional and shamed that the hole of guilt someone fell in is practically inescapable.

Re: How poverty changes your mindset

#70

Post by monktastic1 »

bojackstorkman wrote: post #41
bojackstorkman wrote: post #30

I love how when this comes up, it's people either saying "Here was my experience when I was poor in the past." or "Here is what I think about economics or the wording of this article." Don't get me wrong, I know what website I'm on. But in all seriousness, is there room for currently poor people in this discussion?

As a followup, I am a Real Poor! I am self taught, underemployed (I make less than $200 per month in the USA), and have pretty much been the poorest person in the room for my whole life. I eat exclusively off of foodstamps. I am uninsured and partially disabled. I have been able to pay rent for the past few months by working off the books for a couple places, and cashing in on a very limited amount of goodwill that I…

If you could use a few dollars, please email me.
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