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The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

nytimes.com

31–40 of 88 posts

Re: The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

#31

Genuine question: Is living in America as horrible as it sounds for the average, non-rich citizen? Impression I get from the media: * Education sets you in semi-if-not-permanent debt. * Housing is impossibly expensive. * Single hospital visit can be thousand of dollars. * Critical medication is hundreds of dollars a month (or more). * Unpaid, (effectively) mandatory overtime. * Many people work several jobs (as adult…

* My education left me with 12k USD of debt, but provided significant earning opportunities. For me, it was worthwhile. I did elect to forgo a graduate degree, despite my above-average grades and desire to obtain one, because it would have incurred upwards of 50k USD of additional debt. One of my friends graduated with nearly 80k USD of debt to obtain a masters degree of engineering, and has not paid it back fully af…

> As for medications, take note that the previous president edicted that the prices of certain medications be lowered. The current, mainstream, president rescinded those edictions in less than one month. It is in the interest of the powerful and wealthy in this country that these prices remain high.

That’s not exactly what happened.

https://www.factcheck.org/2020/07/trumps-executive-orders-on...

Re: The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

#32

Genuine question: Is living in America as horrible as it sounds for the average, non-rich citizen? Impression I get from the media: * Education sets you in semi-if-not-permanent debt. * Housing is impossibly expensive. * Single hospital visit can be thousand of dollars. * Critical medication is hundreds of dollars a month (or more). * Unpaid, (effectively) mandatory overtime. * Many people work several jobs (as adult…

While that's all true, in the literal sense that those protections/benefits aren't legislated in the US, a significant number (maybe a majority, don't know for sure) of workers do get these things from their employer.

Education - yeah, this one is a problem. College costs too much. State schools in my area are $18k/year for in-state students and $51k/year for out-of-state/international students. That doesn't include room, board, book/supplies.

Housing - highly dependent on region. NYC, SF, LA are very expensive, but so are London and Tokyo. DC, Boston, Chicago are expensive, but "affordable" in the sense that most people with solid employment can purchase a home (anecdote - 2 friends of mine are UPS delivery drivers and both owned homes in their late-20s).

Health care - most workers have insurance through their employer. There are often large co-pays and deductibles. And the US as a unit overspends massively on health-care compared to Europe, Japan, and others.

Mandatory OT - highly dependent on job. Hourly workers get OT pay. Salaried workers (exempt) do not. IMO, a lot of salaried workers are misclassified as exempt when they should be hourly wage earners, but that cow left the barn a long time ago.

Vacation/PTO/holidays - highly dependent on job. Most salaried workers receive 3+ weeks/year of PTO. Hourly workers is hit or miss. FWIW, I have 5 weeks vacation, 2 weeks sick leave, and 10 holidays. This is about as good as it gets in the US and I've been at my employer 18 years (stared with 3 weeks leave, 2 sick, 10 holidays).

Parental leave - yeah, we lag WAY behind here. It's terrible.

1930s Poland we are not. But, there's LOTS of room for improvement.

[insert political rant about people voting against their own interests]

“John Steinbeck once said that socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” -― Ronald Wright

Re: The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

#33
My son had a bad reaction to regular formula, so we're stuck with using Enfamil Nutramigen. It's about $44 a can at Target or Walmart, and he goes through just over a can a week.

I've went on their website and mailed in the slip to get coupons, but they never send us any for this particular formula, just the other varieties. They are fairly valuable coupons, so we give them friends who can use them.

We are fortunate enough to be able to afford it, but it'd be nice to get a discount on what's basically $200/month.

One tip we've found is to ask the pediatrician's office for samples, they'll give us a couple small cans or bottles of ready-to-use formula when we ask.

Re: The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

#34
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well you definitely have the wrong idea. About 20% of Americans do live in extreme economic precarity. But things are not out of a horror movie. That’s in fact why there hasn’t been a violent revolution, things aren’t bad enough here (yet?).

> 20% of Americans do live in extreme economic precarity > That’s in fact why there hasn’t been a violent revolution You're being sarcastic, no? A fifth of the people are living in extreme economic precarity. Your Capital was stormed by terrorist from your own country. Widespread policy brutality lead to protests over the entire country, culminating in city blocks being burnt down in what, a dozen cities?

neither of these events brought about change at all.

Re: The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

#35
post #3

Alternatively, don't feed your baby processed crap food.

Shaming women for not breastfeeding is really shitty.

Agreed 100%, the pro-breastfeeding movement on the whole is a great movement that attacked some really bad medical advice from last century. But it has gone way too far, to the point that women feel ashamed or guilty for not being able to breast feed their child.

My wife had difficulties breastfeeding our daughter and ended up doing exclusive pumping for over a year. It was a huge strain on her, both mentally and physically. Then she still felt guilty for not being able to actually breast feed our daughter directly. Any woman that is able to provide any amount of breastmilk for any amount of time is an absolute saint. Women who can't or choose not to are also amazing and no one should be shaming or second guessing their choice on how to best take care of themselves and their child.

Re: The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

#36

Based on the date, it looks like I literally missed this article because I was standing in the aisle of a grocery store trying to decide which formula to buy for my three-day-old baby.

Lol. Based on date, we were pregnant and deciding which formula to use since we knew ahead breastfeeding was not an option for us. The funny part is we never used any of it because the little shit would only eat the pre-made liquid form and we only bought powder types. I still don't get why but the exact same product he loved came in a powder form and it was really incompatible for him. The joke was "he has expensive tastes"

Also, my advice to all new parents is don't stock up or plan too much on food related items/tools. Don't buy a dozen bottles until you know they like them. This applies into toddlerhood.

Re: The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

#37
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well you definitely have the wrong idea. About 20% of Americans do live in extreme economic precarity. But things are not out of a horror movie. That’s in fact why there hasn’t been a violent revolution, things aren’t bad enough here (yet?).

> 20% of Americans do live in extreme economic precarity > That’s in fact why there hasn’t been a violent revolution You're being sarcastic, no? A fifth of the people are living in extreme economic precarity. Your Capital was stormed by terrorist from your own country. Widespread policy brutality lead to protests over the entire country, culminating in city blocks being burnt down in what, a dozen cities?

Ask a random American person what happened yesterday. They probably went to work, came back, sat in their backyard, watched some TV, went to bed.

Re: The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

#38
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No the lesson is don’t order food products from Amazon! Order them from Target which has a far more controlled supply chain.

Unfortunately, Target has also introduced third party sellers on their website so it's no longer as easy to trust them as it once was. Costco or the brand's website itself is my most trusted source for now.

My most trusted source is find the major players (make sure they are competing companies and not just brands of the same one), follow the "where to buy links", and find a small niche company that sells both brands. They tend to only sell one type of thing so they are experts and can give good reviews. They don't care which item I buy, just that I buy from them. They can thus tell me the real differences. I then buy from them as the prices are generally good and I get good service.

Re: The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

#39

Genuine question: Is living in America as horrible as it sounds for the average, non-rich citizen? Impression I get from the media: * Education sets you in semi-if-not-permanent debt. * Housing is impossibly expensive. * Single hospital visit can be thousand of dollars. * Critical medication is hundreds of dollars a month (or more). * Unpaid, (effectively) mandatory overtime. * Many people work several jobs (as adult…

A lot of these generalizations comes from headlines and they often don't hold true (or there's more to the story but it's not clickbaity enough). Some of it is flat out misinformation.

A good example is education. Community Colleges are, mostly, free. State schools are incredibly affordable and private non-profits (think MIT) often have need blind admission where they will make sure anyone that is admitted can attend. But there are for-profit schools that will try and charge the maximum they can and it's those you hear about in the news.

Re: The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

#40

Genuine question: Is living in America as horrible as it sounds for the average, non-rich citizen? Impression I get from the media: * Education sets you in semi-if-not-permanent debt. * Housing is impossibly expensive. * Single hospital visit can be thousand of dollars. * Critical medication is hundreds of dollars a month (or more). * Unpaid, (effectively) mandatory overtime. * Many people work several jobs (as adult…

It's unlikely you will get a representative set of answers form this site, which skews towards what you might call "upper-class" individuals. That being said, if you're very, very poor it's not terrible to be a US citizen. - Community college is free via a Pell grant. - Housing is expensive, but you will qualify for Section 8 (welfare) and will eventually get housing for free. - Hospital costs are irrelevant if you'r…

> That being said, if you're very, very poor it's not terrible to be a US citizen.

..then...

> You would likely work multiple jobs if you're dirt poor.

> You likely wouldn't have vacation if you're dirt poor.

I guess that's "not terrible" in your book, compared to starving in the streets?

> Community college is free via a Pell grant.

No it is not free. [1]

The maximum a pell grant can be is ~$5700. Community college costs are skyrocketing and Pell grants do not cover the entire cost.

> Housing is expensive, but you will qualify for Section 8 (welfare) and will eventually get housing for free

No it is not free. It is a fixed subsidy, not 100% costs. [2]

It is not required that landlords accept section 8 vouchers. [3] Many do not, hence homelessness ensues, but it is VERY helpful.

> It's unlikely you will get a representative set of answers form this site, which skews towards what you might call "upper-class" individuals.

Hello irony!

[1] https://www2.ed.gov/programs/fpg/index.html

[2] https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/what-cau...

[3] https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-section-8-landlords-2...

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