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My parents collect cans for a living

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Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#381

Post by danans »

nopenopenopeno wrote: post #43
hunterb123 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then hopefully immigrants are also going there and enjoying that system, if it supports them, wherever it may be.

FYI a great many immigrants were rich when they immigrated. A lot of rich people come to America because America offers so much opportunity to people who are already wealthy. Immigrants from overseas are especially likely to be wealthy. Indian-Americans are the wealthiest ethnic demographic in America simply because migrating from India pretty much requires being very wealthy to begin with.

> Indian-Americans are the wealthiest ethnic demographic in America simply because migrating from India pretty much requires being very wealthy to begin with.

Most Indian immigrants come from middle class, not poor or rich backgrounds. They are privileged enough to have access to educational opportunities that give them the skills to emigrate, but privileged enough to not have a reason to emigrate.

Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#382

Post by valarauko »

nopenopenopeno wrote: post #375
valarauko wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Plenty of lower class Indian immigrants pool their money for taxi medallions, convenient stores, hotels, trucks, etc. to get a business going. Are there many "lower class Indian immigrants" who arrived in the past 30 years? The immigration system since the 90s has raised the barrier for Indians so high that the idea of 'lower class Indian immigrants' seems difficult to parse. I disagree with the assertion that Indi…

As I understand, lower class/cast Indians have to win a lottery to get a decent education.

What? That's not the case at all. Like anywhere in the world, education in India is definitely more accessible to the privileged. However, the Indian educational system has a mandatory quota for the traditionally marginalized groups, and higher education is essentially free. Yes, there are issues around accessibility to education for the most disadvantaged groups, but to suggest that a "lower caste" Indian needs to win a lottery (whatever that means) to get a decent education is just not true. The current system reserves about 50% of educational seats at the very best institutions for various marginalized groups (including the differently abled). A kid from a marginalized group that has at least average grades is almost guaranteed a college education, for free. A bright kid from one of these groups is very likely to get into the very best engineering/medical/research institutions. Of course, it not all smooth sailing after that, and discrimination is a real problem. I would still disagree that the chances for a decent education are anywhere comparable to winning a lottery.

Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#383

Post by zepearl »

Language/writing question

At the very end:

> Now, when people ask me what my parents do for a living, I tell them not with embarrassment or shame, but with pride.

In this context, is "pride" appropriate, or would "dignity" (or something else) be better?

My mother tongue is italian. I understand "pride" as referring to something exceptional that was done (which doesn't seem to be the case in this article), "dignity" on the other hand as something ?

Thx :)

Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#384

Post by irjustin »

rmk wrote: post #347
irjustin wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A number of fair questions, I can only answer from personal experience. My dad being a bus driver+conference phone tech and my mom an office admin we qualified for lunch and other aids as long as I was in school. Many things were subsidized, but there were also things that weren't. It was hard to know when unless you always asked. For smaller items sometimes it wasn't worth the embarrassment of always walking up to y…

It is always embarrassing, even for a young child, to be asking for what he feels to be handouts. But, in your personal experience, was there enough assistance, and did it make a meaningful difference at the right time in your life? Was being better-informed about assistance the biggest challenge by far?

> was there enough assistance,

Having read other stories of other children, yes I would say it was. As the pandemic really got going, shutting down schools was removing some kids only assured meals.

> and did it make a meaningful difference at the right time in your life?

mmmmm for me personally I want to say yes, but can't definitively say so because it wasn't profound enough for me to say "Ah yes my life changed" because of this. I can't tell what my life would have been like if my parents made more money during that same time period.

> Was being better-informed about assistance the biggest challenge by far?

As the parent, probably, I haven't asked. As the child, no, the hardest challenge was asking for it and being told by my parents to go ask. I'd bring home a paper that says you need $50 for this field trip, parents would send me to the office to ask. I'd fight/beg not to. Sometimes I actually got my way, most of time I didn't.

Today, I know/can-imagine what kind of stress that particular fight puts on parents and I thank them so much for raising me.

Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#385

Post by MrFoof »

downrightmike wrote: post #363
bluedino wrote: post #225

Michigander here. One of the very few states in the USA with a bottle deposit. 10 cents per can/bottle. It's actually prohibited to put a bottle or can in a landfill here. It's very common to see people digging through trash cans and such, collecting bottles and cans to return for deposit. We have two garbage cans in the garage at home, when they both fill up we will take them back to the store. It's a inconvenience…

In Germany the machines just print out a slip of paper with a barcode that can be used to get cash back at the register, or as store credit. The machines compact the plastic, and are fairly quick. On your way in, you just pop them in and go shopping. If more states had the bottle deposit, it would be easier to handle.

Those machines exist here in the US as well. Every grocer or store around me with bottle and can recycling machines operate identically, and are redeemed identically.

Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#386

Post by kebman »

namdnay wrote: post #154
kebman wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

‘It is incredible what people can pay in tax if they just get used to it.’ — Erik Brofoss, former Norwegian minister of finance and director of the IMF.

It’s not a tax..

That's not the point. The point is, if they get used to it, they will pay it.

Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#387

Post by Ensorceled »

kevincox wrote: post #309
Ensorceled wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The dirty secret of recycling is that a significant percentage of what the city of Toronto collects is not really recyclable; those black take out containers, pizza boxes, plastic bags, contaminated paper products, loose lids .... The only truly recyclable products are aluminum cans, clean paper and clear glass. Aluminum cans and clean cardboard are the only thing that really pays to recycle. If for profit companies,…

Toronto doesn't claim to recycle most of those objects: The tool doesn't allow linking to specific items but you can find the source here: https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/recycling-organics-... - plastic food tubs: Place any black and/or compostable plastic in the Garbage Bin. - pizza boxes (food-soiled): Place this item in the Green Bin. - plastic bags: Recommends reuse first, but does claim that they shoul…

Yes, collects.

I know that the city tells you not to put those things in the blue bin, but it's full of that junk. Then a bunch of stuff they say they recycle isn't really recycled, or gets tossed because it's contaminated.

Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#388

Post by 8note »

bluedino wrote: post #225

Michigander here. One of the very few states in the USA with a bottle deposit. 10 cents per can/bottle. It's actually prohibited to put a bottle or can in a landfill here. It's very common to see people digging through trash cans and such, collecting bottles and cans to return for deposit. We have two garbage cans in the garage at home, when they both fill up we will take them back to the store. It's a inconvenience…

In Alberta there's dedicated bottle depots that accept all recyclables that have a deposit on them. Seems a bit simpler

Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#389

Post by umvi »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #380
umvi wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 2. Everyone needs a living wage I think everyone would agree with this, but phrased slightly differently I don't think everyone would agree: "Every method of making money must be capable of generating a living wage for the person using that method"

>> 2. Everyone needs a living wage > I think everyone would agree with this Are you kidding? You'd have to be insane to agree with that. Some people are already independently wealthy. Some people -- a really large number of people -- are supported by other people.

I think everyone would agree that, barring rich people, at the end of the day everyone needs to be supported by someone making at least a living wage.

Re: My parents collect cans for a living

#390

Post by thaumasiotes »

umvi wrote: post #389
thaumasiotes wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> 2. Everyone needs a living wage > I think everyone would agree with this Are you kidding? You'd have to be insane to agree with that. Some people are already independently wealthy. Some people -- a really large number of people -- are supported by other people.

I think everyone would agree that, barring rich people, at the end of the day everyone needs to be supported by someone making at least a living wage.

And it should be illegal for those people to have jobs themselves?
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