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

Once poor, always poor?

stearsng.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 358 posts

Re: Once poor, always poor?

#211

Post by RHSeeger »

vbezhenar wrote: post #191

When I started to pile some cash, so many opportunities opened up to save more money. Like I've got a chance to buy a good car for a good price, but I need money right now. Or I can buy plenty of food at once with a good discount, but I need to have enough money and enough refrigerator space to store it. Poor people who don't have a house, must spend tremendous money to rent it. I'm spending like $20/month to pay for…

> I'm spending like $20/month to pay for house that I own.

Even assuming you own the house outright (which is not true for most people that have bought a house less than 30 years ago), that number seems ridiculously low. In every place I've lived, the land taxes alone are an order of magnitude higher than that. And then maintenance for the house is on top of that (something that people renting don't pay directly).

I know renting has its disadvantages, but owning a house certainly isn't cheap either, even ignoring the price of the actual house.

Re: Once poor, always poor?

#212

Post by tkot »

andrewjl wrote: post #136
AlexTWithBeard wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if you're a teenage girl, depending on your culture, your family seems to be peer pressuring you to be a mother Ironically, societies that do not steer girls to parenthood are subject to extinction. I'm not saying it's good or bad. It's just the law of nature.

> It's just the law of nature. Not really, societies aren't natural because they are human constructs.

What distinction does the word "natural" provide? Chimpanzees use tools, does that make their behavior and societies "unnatural"?

Re: Once poor, always poor?

#213

Post by newsclues »

wiseowise wrote: post #199
newsclues wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does buying multiple lottery tickets increase your odds of winning?

Comparing apples to oranges certainly don't.

You think children don’t represent a lottery ticket?

Your son could be strong and able to pole your field?

Your daughter could be beautiful and marry into wealth or royalty?

Your child could invent something wonderful that makes life easier or more enriching?

Or your kid could be a dud unable to grasp concepts of knowledge on hacker news…

Re: Once poor, always poor?

#214

Post by RHSeeger »

vpilcx wrote: post #141
duxup wrote: post #14

> Cultural norms can also encourage poverty cycles. I often wonder about these. Growing up I watched friends whose families had what you might describe as a cultural distrust of institutions, including schools, or even anyone who seemed to “think they’re better than us” (translation anyone who did well in school or a career). They constantly made self defeating choices and seemed destined to have the same problems/ p…

I'm one of those people living in poverty that distrusts school institutions. My main philosophical gripe is that it doesn't seem to really matter what your major is. "Oh, you got a bachelors in Biology? Well, I guess that's fine. Come work at my tech company in a way that is completely unrelated to Biology." In this particular situation, it seems like the only purpose of college is to create arbitrary classist hurdl…

> the fact that educational debt in America can never be voided through bankruptcy seems like a conscious systemic decision to create debt slaves

The inability to be voided through bankruptcy, as I understand it, was setup so that educational loans would not wind up with insane interest rates. Given that they are unsecured (there's nothing for the lender to repossess if the borrower fails to pay), there is much greater risk to the lender. Being unable to discharge the load in bankruptcy is one way to mitigate this. Raising interest rates on everyone taking such loans (so the people that do pay subsidize the people that don't) is another. Presumably, it was decided that the former was a better option than the later.

Re: Once poor, always poor?

#215

Post by addaon »

krapp wrote: post #39
AlexTWithBeard wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if you're a teenage girl, depending on your culture, your family seems to be peer pressuring you to be a mother Ironically, societies that do not steer girls to parenthood are subject to extinction. I'm not saying it's good or bad. It's just the law of nature.

>Ironically, societies that do not steer girls to parenthood are subject to extinction. Which societies have gone extinct due to this?

The Shakers.

Re: Once poor, always poor?

#216

Post by throwaway2037 »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #189
vpilcx wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm one of those people living in poverty that distrusts school institutions. My main philosophical gripe is that it doesn't seem to really matter what your major is. "Oh, you got a bachelors in Biology? Well, I guess that's fine. Come work at my tech company in a way that is completely unrelated to Biology." In this particular situation, it seems like the only purpose of college is to create arbitrary classist hurdl…

> Now, obviously, that's not the case with all education, but my next gripe with it is the seemingly insurmountable debt that said education brings. Literally, all of my friends that have gone to college are no where near paying their debt off and I'm in my late 30s. I grew up lower middle class - not poor - took on a healthy amount of debt to get a CS degree from a crappy college in West Virginia. Most of my classma…

I am also bothered by the rise in income inequality. Specifically, in many highly developed nations, the likelihood one can jump up income deciles has greatly decreased generation-over-generation.

As someone who grew up lower middle class and leapt many, many income deciles, what ideas do you have to decrease income inequality? For example, you say that you are in the top 1% now. Do you favour increasing your own personal tax burden to help offset income equality?

Re: Once poor, always poor?

#217

Post by wiseowise »

newsclues wrote: post #213
wiseowise wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Comparing apples to oranges certainly don't.

You think children don’t represent a lottery ticket? Your son could be strong and able to pole your field? Your daughter could be beautiful and marry into wealth or royalty? Your child could invent something wonderful that makes life easier or more enriching? Or your kid could be a dud unable to grasp concepts of knowledge on hacker news…

Or maybe your kid could grow up a decent human being who sees human life as something more than petty investment and a chance to redeem your poor life choices.

Re: Once poor, always poor?

#219

Post by newsclues »

wiseowise wrote: post #217
newsclues wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You think children don’t represent a lottery ticket? Your son could be strong and able to pole your field? Your daughter could be beautiful and marry into wealth or royalty? Your child could invent something wonderful that makes life easier or more enriching? Or your kid could be a dud unable to grasp concepts of knowledge on hacker news…

Or maybe your kid could grow up a decent human being who sees human life as something more than petty investment and a chance to redeem your poor life choices.

Perhaps that can be true but I also want my kid to cut the lawn because I’m lazy

Re: Once poor, always poor?

#220

Post by refurb »

vbezhenar wrote: post #191

When I started to pile some cash, so many opportunities opened up to save more money. Like I've got a chance to buy a good car for a good price, but I need money right now. Or I can buy plenty of food at once with a good discount, but I need to have enough money and enough refrigerator space to store it. Poor people who don't have a house, must spend tremendous money to rent it. I'm spending like $20/month to pay for…

Of course, but my own experience was that I could forgo a car for a bike. I could still buy bread at the end of day for a 75% discount. I could rent a room with 2 other people for 1/4 of what a 1 bedroom would be. I could go to 2nd hand stores for clothes.

Yes, trying to replicate a middle class life as a poor person is expensive. But you can also just live like a poor person and get by.

Post reply on HN