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What’s it like to live on less than $2 a day?

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Re: What’s it like to live on less than $2 a day?

#151

Post by pbhjpbhj »

jgtrosh wrote: post #107
11235813213455 wrote: post #102

I lived with $0 a day during 2 years (I lived in France, in a small student room, for about €140/month) It's sustainable and compatible with a 'normal' life, I found food from: - student university restaurants, I asked the permission to collect in the bread 'trash', most bread was in perfect state. I heard this food was used for chicken farms - end of markets, I was even helping merchants in exchange of their damaged…

I seem to remember there was a polemic about supermarkets locking their bins from scavengers. Did you have any problem at the time? Was it before or after there was a change of law? Just a few more questions out of curiosity from a fellow french student: How much time a day were you expending in exchange for free food? Did you also use extreme frugality for other commodities? What motivated you to to take up this lif…

In my UK city the supermarkets started locking their bins; describing it as a polemic seems a bit like burying your head in the sand.

The problem appeared to be injuries (of scavengers, and the potential for the supermarket to be liable) and extra work of cleaning bin areas.

High-street bakeries used to sell off all the food cheap at the end of the day. At some point in the last 15 years - Greggs took over all my local bakeries (or out-competed them). Greggs policy is now not to sell off stuff because then poor people will buy it instead of paying full price - they throw it away instead (according to staff at my Greggs).

Re: What’s it like to live on less than $2 a day?

#152

Post by pbhjpbhj »

bildung wrote: post #112
ninguem2 wrote: post #74

How can a country that has people living in such abject poverty justifies sending a probe to the Moon?

I think this is a legimite question! Personally I don't have a clear answer. Two arguments for a space program country with lots of poverty (like India or the USA): * Establishing a high tech industry with programs like this potentially leads to increasing tax revenue for the country, thereby making funds available for fighting poverty. * It could be used as a point of identification for the population in the country…

If there are reasonable answers doesn't that prove it _is_ a legitimate question?

Re: What’s it like to live on less than $2 a day?

#153

Post by TheCoelacanth »

ninguem2 wrote: post #74

How can a country that has people living in such abject poverty justifies sending a probe to the Moon?

India's space program is a potential money-maker for them. They get paid a lot for commercial launches and satellite communications. The moon landing could be viewed as a marketing expense.

Their space program is actually closer to profitability than a lot of the tech IPOs recently with ~$780 million in revenue on ~$1 billion in expenditures[1].

[1] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/isro-earns-rs-5600...

Re: What’s it like to live on less than $2 a day?

#154

Post by thatfrenchguy »

coldtea wrote: post #148

This is made to appear like an insight of the lives of those living on less than $2/day, but if you look closely, the videos have them talk about micro-loans they get and such, as a covert ad for [1]. Which is OK, I guess, but it's never explicitly mentioned, and the way 5 out of 6 people in the videos talk about those loans is entirely non-organic. Those are not some random people making [1] https://www.gatesfoundat…

Of course they are, those shark foundations and companies are really pushing micro-loans as both life changing and charity, when it’s been a long time since we’ve known it has really bad effects and is the new cool way to prey on the poor.

They would helicopter money at people if they really wanted to help them.

Re: What’s it like to live on less than $2 a day?

#155

Post by dymk »

thatfrenchguy wrote: post #154
coldtea wrote: post #148

This is made to appear like an insight of the lives of those living on less than $2/day, but if you look closely, the videos have them talk about micro-loans they get and such, as a covert ad for [1]. Which is OK, I guess, but it's never explicitly mentioned, and the way 5 out of 6 people in the videos talk about those loans is entirely non-organic. Those are not some random people making [1] https://www.gatesfoundat…

Of course they are, those shark foundations and companies are really pushing micro-loans as both life changing and charity, when it’s been a long time since we’ve known it has really bad effects and is the new cool way to prey on the poor. They would helicopter money at people if they really wanted to help them.

> shark foundations

Characterizing the Gates foundation as sharks? Interesting.

> when it’s been a long time since we’ve known it has really bad effects and is the new cool way to prey on the poor.

What? source for that claim please. It's far from an obvious or widespread idea that making access to small amounts of capital easier leads to more problems for poor people.

Re: What’s it like to live on less than $2 a day?

#157

Post by 11235813213455 »

jgtrosh wrote: post #107
11235813213455 wrote: post #102

I lived with $0 a day during 2 years (I lived in France, in a small student room, for about €140/month) It's sustainable and compatible with a 'normal' life, I found food from: - student university restaurants, I asked the permission to collect in the bread 'trash', most bread was in perfect state. I heard this food was used for chicken farms - end of markets, I was even helping merchants in exchange of their damaged…

I seem to remember there was a polemic about supermarkets locking their bins from scavengers. Did you have any problem at the time? Was it before or after there was a change of law? Just a few more questions out of curiosity from a fellow french student: How much time a day were you expending in exchange for free food? Did you also use extreme frugality for other commodities? What motivated you to to take up this lif…

it was about 8 years ago, some supermarkets used bleach, but I never encountered it, I just went at one place, every now and then, sneaking in other friendly students and people doing the same

Going at resto-u, it'd take 30mn/1h (I was using a bike), end of markets the Sunday morning, between 11h and 14h, so about 2-3h. Extreme frugality yes, I literally paid for nothing else than accommodation

Motivation: I was quite alone, and I suddenly wanted to stop eating all the junk food I was eating since years (american sandwich, mcdo, pizzas, kebabs, biscuits, chocolate bars, saucy recipes, I started being disgusted by oily or buttery things), and at the same time I saw the opportunity to consume all the wasted food around me, saving money was also a challenge. Obviously it's not compatible with raising a young child :p

A better alternative would have been to spend a bit of money for food, because I probably had some deficiencies. Nowadays I'm still frugal, spend around 400-450€/month for food for myself, on the same kind of diet with some good extra like honey, and still choose damaged fruits and legumes at the supermarket, as a reflex, and to try to lower their wastage

Re: What’s it like to live on less than $2 a day?

#158

Post by joe_the_user »

thatfrenchguy wrote: post #154
coldtea wrote: post #148

This is made to appear like an insight of the lives of those living on less than $2/day, but if you look closely, the videos have them talk about micro-loans they get and such, as a covert ad for [1]. Which is OK, I guess, but it's never explicitly mentioned, and the way 5 out of 6 people in the videos talk about those loans is entirely non-organic. Those are not some random people making [1] https://www.gatesfoundat…

Of course they are, those shark foundations and companies are really pushing micro-loans as both life changing and charity, when it’s been a long time since we’ve known it has really bad effects and is the new cool way to prey on the poor. They would helicopter money at people if they really wanted to help them.

The parent more or less correct, if speaking a bit loosely. Microfinance has been a disaster pushed by indeed horrible loan sharks, though the Gates Foundation isn't by itself such a thing.

"Hundreds Of Suicides In India Linked To Microfinance Organizations": https://www.businessinsider.com/hundreds-of-suicides-in-indi...

Counter point from the Guardian on the whole Gates approach (also linked on another thread here): "Bill Gates says poverty is decreasing. He couldn’t be more wrong" https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/29/bill-g...

Re: What’s it like to live on less than $2 a day?

#159

Post by nabla9 »

AdrianB1 wrote: post #142
nabla9 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You made simple and understandable mistake. Gates talks explicitly about World Bank’s international poverty line measured in PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) dollars. It accounts for differences in the cost of living across countries (the PPP exchange rates). example: PPP for India is 18.128. In India the international poverty line ($1.9 PPP) is $0.10 per day in USD. --- Gates writes: > Still, the number of people livin…

"income of about 1500 Rwandan francs per day (about USD $1.73)" That is a direct conversion there is no purchasing power conversion. Not my mistake.

Well those numbers are errors, because it's not the international powerty line.

Re: What’s it like to live on less than $2 a day?

#160

Post by coldtea »

dymk wrote: post #155
thatfrenchguy wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course they are, those shark foundations and companies are really pushing micro-loans as both life changing and charity, when it’s been a long time since we’ve known it has really bad effects and is the new cool way to prey on the poor. They would helicopter money at people if they really wanted to help them.

> shark foundations Characterizing the Gates foundation as sharks? Interesting. > when it’s been a long time since we’ve known it has really bad effects and is the new cool way to prey on the poor. What? source for that claim please. It's far from an obvious or widespread idea that making access to small amounts of capital easier leads to more problems for poor people.

>Characterizing the Gates foundation as sharks? Interesting.

Don't know for the parent, but as a European, where we have seen all kinds of things in the political and economic sphere, we tend to be less gullible and more cynical.

Many charitable funds are basically ways to take huge tax breaks and still have control of your money.

Others are based on you giving an insignificant amount of your fortune (which can still be huge percentage wise, but it's insignificant in its consequences to you: if you have 100 billions, even giving away 99 of them leaves you with enough money to sustain a lavish lifestyle for several generations) and trade it for a say in global politics and power. In other words, you use your funds to 'play god' and help manage the world the way you like it...

>What? source for that claim please. It's far from an obvious or widespread idea that making access to small amounts of capital easier leads to more problems for poor people.

https://www.businessinsider.com/hundreds-of-suicides-in-indi...

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