Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why poor people make poor decisions

thecorrespondent.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 126 posts

Re: Why poor people make poor decisions

#21

Post by lazyjones »

umvi wrote: post #11

> Poverty is not a lack of character – it’s a lack of cash. No. Poverty is a lack of education and, more importantly, mentorship. I am battling this right now with my next door neighbors, who use HOC, a Maryland social service that basically puts poor people in middle class neighborhoods by subsidizing rent. My neighbors have money. They spend it extremely poorly. It's a single mom with 2 kids. Both kids have iPhones…

> These kids need mentors more than they need cash. They need adults they can emulate who can help them break free from the viscious cycle.

A father, perhaps?

Re: Why poor people make poor decisions

#22

Post by daenz »

umvi wrote: post #11

> Poverty is not a lack of character – it’s a lack of cash. No. Poverty is a lack of education and, more importantly, mentorship. I am battling this right now with my next door neighbors, who use HOC, a Maryland social service that basically puts poor people in middle class neighborhoods by subsidizing rent. My neighbors have money. They spend it extremely poorly. It's a single mom with 2 kids. Both kids have iPhones…

Let's not forget how advertising plays into this mentality. Advertising's sole purpose is to make you feel inferior/incomplete/inadequate without shiny new X. It's blasting at us constantly from every direction. Who is the most susceptible to it, those who are not struggling, or those who are? So they buy shiny new X, which is a bad financial decision.

Re: Why poor people make poor decisions

#23

Post by Reedx »

umvi wrote: post #11

> Poverty is not a lack of character – it’s a lack of cash. No. Poverty is a lack of education and, more importantly, mentorship. I am battling this right now with my next door neighbors, who use HOC, a Maryland social service that basically puts poor people in middle class neighborhoods by subsidizing rent. My neighbors have money. They spend it extremely poorly. It's a single mom with 2 kids. Both kids have iPhones…

Even if it was an insane amount of cash, it'd quickly disappear and end up in the same position or worse. Look at the outcomes of lottery winners and others who come into a sudden windfall. Even when it's not sudden, you have clogs to clogs in 3 generations.

I think one of the biggest impacts we could make is to teach financial literacy in school, to everyone. Form and reinforce good habits early on. Demonstrate the danger of credit card interest. Demonstrate the power of compounding all throughout 1st to 12th grade. Taken seriously, it could have a huge effect on outcomes. It'd also make something like the Freedom Dividend (UBI) more effective when/if it happens.

Re: Why poor people make poor decisions

#24

Post by pbhjpbhj »

umvi wrote: post #11

> Poverty is not a lack of character – it’s a lack of cash. No. Poverty is a lack of education and, more importantly, mentorship. I am battling this right now with my next door neighbors, who use HOC, a Maryland social service that basically puts poor people in middle class neighborhoods by subsidizing rent. My neighbors have money. They spend it extremely poorly. It's a single mom with 2 kids. Both kids have iPhones…

What you're describing isn't poverty though. It's a bad financial situation, but not poverty. There doesn't seem to be any accountability for such spending - why is that?

I don't know your neighbours situation, but in general you can learn to be a good parent without having had one yourself.

Re: Why poor people make poor decisions

#25

Post by metalliqaz »

lazyjones wrote: post #21
umvi wrote: post #11

> Poverty is not a lack of character – it’s a lack of cash. No. Poverty is a lack of education and, more importantly, mentorship. I am battling this right now with my next door neighbors, who use HOC, a Maryland social service that basically puts poor people in middle class neighborhoods by subsidizing rent. My neighbors have money. They spend it extremely poorly. It's a single mom with 2 kids. Both kids have iPhones…

> These kids need mentors more than they need cash. They need adults they can emulate who can help them break free from the viscious cycle. A father, perhaps?

those kids should have had the good sense to be born of a father that sticks around /s

Re: Why poor people make poor decisions

#26

Post by imesh »

umvi wrote: post #11

> Poverty is not a lack of character – it’s a lack of cash. No. Poverty is a lack of education and, more importantly, mentorship. I am battling this right now with my next door neighbors, who use HOC, a Maryland social service that basically puts poor people in middle class neighborhoods by subsidizing rent. My neighbors have money. They spend it extremely poorly. It's a single mom with 2 kids. Both kids have iPhones…

Agreed. I grew up in a poor neighborhood. The reason I'm not poor while most of my childhood friends still are is my parents gave better advice.

Re: Why poor people make poor decisions

#27

Post by axaxs »

umvi wrote: post #11

> Poverty is not a lack of character – it’s a lack of cash. No. Poverty is a lack of education and, more importantly, mentorship. I am battling this right now with my next door neighbors, who use HOC, a Maryland social service that basically puts poor people in middle class neighborhoods by subsidizing rent. My neighbors have money. They spend it extremely poorly. It's a single mom with 2 kids. Both kids have iPhones…

This pretty much mirrors my experience.

The following may seem coldhearted, evil, or misguided, but it's the truth. After high school I wasn't making a ton of money, so moved back to near where I grew up, which was a very cheap place to live. After 2 years, I'd had it. I told my wife "I...I just hate poor people, I can't take it anymore." Maybe hate is too strong a word, but it was a feeling of constant frustration. People constantly fighting, littering, driving drunk into mailboxes, etc. When I first moved in, I felt sorry for a few of the folks, including my neighbors. But for the squalor they lived in, they made sure to sit outside blasting shitty music off their new model iphones. By the time I moved out, I had a very different view of the world, and a 'you reap what you sow' attitude.

Re: Why poor people make poor decisions

#28

Post by lazyjones »

wufufufu wrote: post #18
umvi wrote: post #11

> Poverty is not a lack of character – it’s a lack of cash. No. Poverty is a lack of education and, more importantly, mentorship. I am battling this right now with my next door neighbors, who use HOC, a Maryland social service that basically puts poor people in middle class neighborhoods by subsidizing rent. My neighbors have money. They spend it extremely poorly. It's a single mom with 2 kids. Both kids have iPhones…

I agree, but I also think there's social cost to not spending your money on status symbols. You will be ostracized by the rich and educated groups for not fitting in, and then how will you acclimate to a higher social sphere? Example[1] [1] https://gizmodo.com/im-buying-an-iphone-because-im-ashamed-o... edit: Ok this obviously isn't black and white, but I'm saying this should be considered among other things.

> You will be ostracized by the rich and educated groups for not fitting in, and then how will you acclimate to a higher social sphere?

What's so interesting in the rich (and supposedly educated, I'll take your word for it...) groups that you have to buy into them with expensive junk?

Do you have any idea how many uneducated rich fools there are nowadays and how they spend their wealth in just as stupid ways as the poor, the only difference being that their capital income often actually sustains that foolishness? LVMH's success is a good hint.

Re: Why poor people make poor decisions

#29

Post by permatech »

lazyjones wrote: post #21
umvi wrote: post #11

> Poverty is not a lack of character – it’s a lack of cash. No. Poverty is a lack of education and, more importantly, mentorship. I am battling this right now with my next door neighbors, who use HOC, a Maryland social service that basically puts poor people in middle class neighborhoods by subsidizing rent. My neighbors have money. They spend it extremely poorly. It's a single mom with 2 kids. Both kids have iPhones…

> These kids need mentors more than they need cash. They need adults they can emulate who can help them break free from the viscious cycle. A father, perhaps?

If the father is as misguided as the Mom it might not be a big help, a teacher or coach could be a great mentor.

Re: Why poor people make poor decisions

#30

Post by daenz »

metalliqaz wrote: post #25
lazyjones wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> These kids need mentors more than they need cash. They need adults they can emulate who can help them break free from the viscious cycle. A father, perhaps?

those kids should have had the good sense to be born of a father that sticks around /s

Future mothers and fathers should exercise common sense to have a child only with a good partner. That's who that message is for, not the child.
Post reply on HN