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Why Do People Stay Poor? [pdf]

sticerd.lse.ac.uk

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Re: Why Do People Stay Poor? [pdf]

#101

Post by rorykoehler »

q845712 wrote: post #91
rorykoehler wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OT Graeme Obree biked 60 miles round trip for work. Due to the fitness gained he was able to come out of nowhere to break the hour record in cycling on a bike he built himself out of miscellaneous parts from things like washing machines.

that's super badass, but my recollection of having a commute slightly over 30 miles roundtrip is that it was thoroughly exhausting. Or in other words, the same difficult circumstances that inspire one person to remarkable success will still grind many other people down. We can all aspire to be great, be by definition most of us will hew pretty close to average for our circumstances. I think this thread is pointing ou…

It’s why I prepended off topic on the post. There is no way I could do that day in day out and I’m faster than average on a bike.

Re: Why Do People Stay Poor? [pdf]

#102

Post by refurb »

hprotagonist wrote: post #77

The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes thought, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots…

I'm not trying to generalize, because I know poor people who are poor through no fault of their own (and we should provide public support for them), but I also know a larger number of people who contributed to their own dire financial situation and it wasn't because they couldn't afford quality boots, it was because they over-extended themselves with new cars, a way too big house, the big screen TVs and expensive trips and meals.

Re: Why Do People Stay Poor? [pdf]

#103

Post by imtringued »

q845712 wrote: post #91
rorykoehler wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OT Graeme Obree biked 60 miles round trip for work. Due to the fitness gained he was able to come out of nowhere to break the hour record in cycling on a bike he built himself out of miscellaneous parts from things like washing machines.

that's super badass, but my recollection of having a commute slightly over 30 miles roundtrip is that it was thoroughly exhausting. Or in other words, the same difficult circumstances that inspire one person to remarkable success will still grind many other people down. We can all aspire to be great, be by definition most of us will hew pretty close to average for our circumstances. I think this thread is pointing ou…

Would an electric bike close the gap? It's not as expensive as a car. It's also better for the environment and your body. A $3k car might sound like a better deal than a $3k bike but then you'd have to pay for fuel and maintenance.

Re: Why Do People Stay Poor? [pdf]

#104

Post by refurb »

corpMaverick wrote: post #93
TrackerFF wrote: post #46

This is something I enjoy about our jobs up in Scandinavia - the salaries are very compressed around the mean. Engineers, Lawyers, and other similar professions tend to earn 2x-3x of what the absolute minimum wage jobs earn. That's quite the difference compared to other countries, where Engineers can earn 5x-20x. People here are still motivated to seek higher education and better paid jobs, even though they could liv…

As fortunate as I am, being a software engineer in the US. I rather live in place with a good safety net. I feel we all are one sickness away from being broke. In any case, you can't really enjoy life when everybody else living day by day.

Have you applied for jobs in those countries? Looked into immigrating?

Re: Why Do People Stay Poor? [pdf]

#105

Post by woodandsteel »

drbojingle wrote: post #83

off the top of my head I think it depends on the type of poor you are. Some people are poor because of their situation and some situations are more difficult to escape than others. Some people are poor because of their habits and inclinations and they just don't change those habits (for one reason or another), so they stay poor.

>Some people are poor because of their habits and inclinations and they just don't change those habits (for one reason or another), so they stay poor.

That's true. But often the reason they have those bad habits is they were taught them by the environment that, through no choice of their own, they were born in.

Re: Why Do People Stay Poor? [pdf]

#106

Post by jcun4128 »

rorykoehler wrote: post #44
jcun4128 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I didn't have a car for a while, I didn't get a job back in 2015 or so for PHP because of that ha. First in office web developer job after restaurant, I had to bike 30 miles a day lol [1] round trip, that was brutal. On the plus side, 3 hrs of podcasts. I listened to the book Eccentric Orbits then that was good. Uber was like $60/day so yeah... although I only made it 4 days straight, never 5 days of bike riding…

OT Graeme Obree biked 60 miles round trip for work. Due to the fitness gained he was able to come out of nowhere to break the hour record in cycling on a bike he built himself out of miscellaneous parts from things like washing machines.

I did read this when it was first posted, I've been working on/off since then ha(wrecked sleep pattern). Was trying not to flood/chain responses.

There are many examples of people overcoming crazy challenges, makes for a nice story but also having a regular/"painless" life is also nice. I did not enjoy riding the Walmart bike that far/many hours. It was nice though the nature aspect.

I still think I am being lazy, not trying hard enough, about being an entrepreneur like did I really try... not drop shipping but building some service. I keep thinking is what I do worth it if it doesn't make money since that's my primary concern right now is getting out. (not be worried if I lose my job) I gotta stop responding haha, wish I could condense my previous posts.

edit: clarification, the car was a bad buy(not a car guy) it was just under $2K so I had a buffer but it was partially broken... so I had to drop money on it.

Re: Why Do People Stay Poor? [pdf]

#107

Post by woodandsteel »

globular-toast wrote: post #40

This seems to be "Why do people stay in poverty?" "Poor" has a different meaning depending on who you ask. For example, students are popularly considered "poor". Some people would consider themselves "poor" if they can't afford a car. Some people consider themselves "poor" because they are not millionaires.

I have not read the article, but assume that their use of the term "poor" was carefully defined.

Re: Why Do People Stay Poor? [pdf]

#108

Post by veddox »

drbojingle wrote: post #83

off the top of my head I think it depends on the type of poor you are. Some people are poor because of their situation and some situations are more difficult to escape than others. Some people are poor because of their habits and inclinations and they just don't change those habits (for one reason or another), so they stay poor.

Although the two are often conflated. If you grow up in a poor area, it‘s easy to become fatalistic and drop into a victim mentality, even though you might actually have a fighting chance to get out. Likewise, you can maneuver yourself into situations (through bad habits or whatever) that you will no longer be able to get out of on your own.

Re: Why Do People Stay Poor? [pdf]

#109

Post by benibela »

feralimal wrote: post #74
nicbou wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3 times? How so?

Sorry - my mistake. I was going off memory. 2 times, including the principle. Looking here: https://finance.icalculator.info/mortgage-calculator.html I enter, Mortgage Amount: 100000 Annual Interest Rate: 5% Term of Mortgage: 30years The interest paid is 93255.20

But that is still cheaper than paying rent for 30 years

Re: Why Do People Stay Poor? [pdf]

#110

Post by marcosdumay »

paulpauper wrote: post #98

Why does every econ paper these days read like a high-energy physics paper? I feel like I am reading about field theory, not econ.

Hum... What exactly did you expect?

It has a simple stochastic model and some statistics for verifying if the real world agrees with it. You are deluding yourself if you think one can study economics without advanced statistics.

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