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My parents collect cans for a living

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Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#51

Post by dbavaria »

rmk wrote: post #26

I am curious: if you collect cans for a living, do you qualify for government assistance? Is it possible that Jessica Yauri receives aid earmarked for children so they can get proper nutrition, via her parents? She does not mention if she qualifies for lunch assistance. Also, I am assuming that she goes to a public school where she doesn't have to pay to attend. It is also not clear if she receives further aid in sup…

I don't think you are curious, rather you're making a not so subtly veiled point against immigration which is wholly inappropriate in the context of this thread.

Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#52

Post by x0x0 »

elil17 wrote: post #11
sien wrote: post #7

From the article "Jessica is a proud first-generation Ecuadorian-American and a second-year Percy Ellis Sutton Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge (SEEK) student at Baruch College majoring in business management with a minor in law and policy." Jessia is the American dream. First generation, got to college and writing like that. Lots of Americans concentrate on what is wrong with America. There is value in…

The writing in this article is incredible and I have nothing but admiration for the author and her family. But, to me, this situation is what’s wrong with America. Why are people who are clearly so hard working struggling to get by?

You may find some books on the economic history of the US interesting.

I suspect Jessica's parents immigrated and have very little formal education. Possible causes: trade liberalization means low skill workers in the US are competing with similar workers across the entire world. Simultaneously: 10th, 25th, and even median wages have barely moved in well over 20 years. Many of the jobs previously open to unskilled people willing to work very hard are no longer done in the US. A large shift of economic growth to capital over labor (which is, btw, the result of deliberate policy choices).

Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#54

Post by pbourke »

tomnipotent wrote: post #48

My father was illiterate, which left him very few options in life after spending his early 20s in prison for check fraud. During the 70s, he discovered he could pick up cardboard and recyclables from local shops and grocery stores and take them to the nearby recycling plant for decent money. By the early 90s, when I was a young teenager, he would use me as free labor and I'd spend my weekends crushing cans piled as m…

What a great story, thanks for sharing.

Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#55

Post by gambiting »

rladd wrote: post #53

This is why I have always thought that can and bottle deposit prices should keep up with inflation: to give the collectors a living wage.

The cost of drinks largely hasn't increased in line with inflation, so you'd very quickly arrive at an unsustainable situation where returning a can/bottle would give you more money than it cost you to buy it.

Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#56

Post by dbavaria »

helsinkiandrew wrote: post #5

I'm guessing that the cans in this story are paid for by weight rather than the 10-20 cent deposit/refund you get where I am? How much is that worth? With the deposit, collecting cans can be a fairly lucrative side line for children and the retired - you often see people collecting cans from bus stop trashbins and at music festivals or park events there will often be people going around with large trash offering to d…

The deposit is generally worth more than the scrap price for the cans. For example, NY can deposit is $0.05 [0] while the average scrap price is $0.13/lbs [1]

[0] https://portal.311.nyc.gov/article/?kanumber=KA-02477

[1] https://www.scrapmonster.com/scrap-yards/prices/new-york/sta...

Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#57

Post by rootsudo »

elil17 wrote: post #11
sien wrote: post #7

From the article "Jessica is a proud first-generation Ecuadorian-American and a second-year Percy Ellis Sutton Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge (SEEK) student at Baruch College majoring in business management with a minor in law and policy." Jessia is the American dream. First generation, got to college and writing like that. Lots of Americans concentrate on what is wrong with America. There is value in…

The writing in this article is incredible and I have nothing but admiration for the author and her family. But, to me, this situation is what’s wrong with America. Why are people who are clearly so hard working struggling to get by?

It's not a "problem" per se, it's unskilled, untrained labor and someone with no resources trying to make it.

Not all hard work gets a reward.

Not everyone has a happy ending.

While statistically, you have a better chance of making a "high" salary in the USA, it really also depends on what you do and who you know.

Picking up cans also sounds like they could be undocumented, with no "legal" work papers.

Many times, it would/could be better for someone to stay in their "origin" country and live a regular life, but at the same time, you have to think - "would many people that have a network and a "career" leave everything they have, uproot their close family and go to another country, where even the language is different to pick up cans?

Is that sacrafrice? Is it worth it? Is it even legal? (lols)

As shown with "amiga" in the article - the authors parents also do not know English.

The same happens with many "normal" Americans as well. The ones that are illiterate, have a poor network of friends, uneducated, etc. While we don't hear about it as often, it's pitted away as more depressing/their own fault because "they were born in the USA anyway."

--

Nothing against the author, but it reads as poverty porn. Great she accepts herself, and isn't ashamed, and while we may all think she should wear it as a badge of honor - in reality, the more socially distanced you appear to your peers, the more you are.

Pariah is pariah.

Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#58

Post by bruceb »

johnnyApplePRNG wrote: post #32

As they should. About a decade ago in Toronto, Ontario, Canada we actually made collecting cans out of recycling bins illegal. The city claimed that these "scavengers" were taking their rightful profits. I shit you not. [0] [0] https://toronto.citynews.ca/2008/08/07/city-to-crack-down-on...

Well if city doesn't get that revenue then the will raise the price of garbage collection. Doesn't seem that surprising.

From the article:

But city officials argue the small-time scavengers aren’t its chief concern.

“We’re not going after the single person going down the street going through the Blue Box,” Orpin insists. “We’re going after the professional recyclers, the guy who is running a truck or multiple trucks.”

Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#59

Post by pbourke »

mise_en_place wrote: post #39
callmeal wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Now they are servants, beholden to the corrupted members of our government. ITYM corporations. The government is desperately trying to help and corporate interests (in the form of Joe Manchin's blocking of the BBB act) are how we got to this point. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/12/joe-man... Most people have forgotten that we "solved" the ozone hole problem through regulation. We could have done…

Nope, the worst thing a corporation can do is try to sell me something I don’t want. The worst the federal govt can do to me is imprison me, or worse, kill me. It’s time we hold these fascists accountable.

> Nope, the worst thing a corporation can do is try to sell me something I don’t want.

I think poisoning your water supply with benzene might be a bit worse.

Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#60

Post by mschuster91 »

gambiting wrote: post #55
rladd wrote: post #53

This is why I have always thought that can and bottle deposit prices should keep up with inflation: to give the collectors a living wage.

The cost of drinks largely hasn't increased in line with inflation, so you'd very quickly arrive at an unsustainable situation where returning a can/bottle would give you more money than it cost you to buy it.

Why is this unsustainable? You would still have to pay for the drink and deposit before you get the deposit back.
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