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Shit life syndrome

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Re: Shit life syndrome

#201

Post by _8j50 »

hkt wrote: post #13
_8j50 wrote: post #7

This is so weird. Is it another way of saying "being poor is expensive"? Or poor people get sick more? If so then this some next level captain obvious stuff. Or do the authors have such a nice societal experience that this seems very peculiar to them? I mean, this is one if the top reasons people want money right? At least they have NHS in the UK, in most of the world and most of human history people either adapt or…

The point is that it is not a single issue, but the result of many complex, interacting and interdependent issues. The stress of insecure work. The consequences of poor diets and little exercise. The cost of housing. The receding access to education. The demands of care work, both paid and unpaid. These problems taken together are worse than the sum of their parts. In an age where help is targeted, individual, and on…

All thise stressed and issues boil down to money and financial security though. Your and the authors' abstractions are making the problem worse because smart people who know the problem well are saying "oh no, it's more complicated than just money" so policy makers will wait for you/them to come up with some solution instead of just solving the obvious and simple problem.

Re: Shit life syndrome

#202

Post by _8j50 »

tjpnz wrote: post #10
_8j50 wrote: post #7

This is so weird. Is it another way of saying "being poor is expensive"? Or poor people get sick more? If so then this some next level captain obvious stuff. Or do the authors have such a nice societal experience that this seems very peculiar to them? I mean, this is one if the top reasons people want money right? At least they have NHS in the UK, in most of the world and most of human history people either adapt or…

Sometimes the only way to get people to notice a problem is to reframe it using new language. Yes, it's poverty all the way down, but most should be able to make that link without much help.

Reframing it abstracts away the root cause and shifts the focus to symptoms and intermediary causes rather than the root cause: money! The people that can make a difference (policy makers) will look at this and try to find a "complex multi-faceted soution" or whatever that shoves the problem under the rug and polishes it up and fixed some symptoms here and there.

This actually made me rethink of socialized health care and other social programs in europe because in tech at least the salaries are horrible there, it seems the line of thinking is that the government should take more money from everyone and support social programs to solve all kinds of issues, which until now I thought was a good idea but it seems it isn't just more taxes, the salaries there and job opportunities are not good. Even on HN you hear about companies in tech struggling because of the investor mindset there.

My new opinion is that while I support socialized programs to care for those who can't care for themselves, it does not absolve policy makers' responsibility to make that support in form of better income and opportunities as much as possible and even direct cash and tax credits, not more programs and bureaucracies but more jobs and better paying jobs and more rewarding jobs with job security.

Re: Shit life syndrome

#203

Post by Earw0rm »

laurencerowe wrote: post #173
placesalt wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(beautiful writing, as others have said!) > the same depressing crumbling economy of coastal towns all over the UK I'm surprised to hear that coastal towns in the UK are doing poorly. In North America, it's generally the coastal areas that are more prosperous. Was it overbuilding during the era of British sea power? Or a great sucking-up of wealth by London? It makes me wonder if, long term, seaside areas would make…

As others have said I’m not sure it’s right to say that all of the British coast is run down but there are a few common modes of failed places on the coast. Fishing ports which now have few fishers left. Long term decline due to overfishing along with Brexit making it hard for them to sell their catch to markets in EU. Grimsby. The Victorian seaside mass resorts that lost out to cheap foreign holidays. Blackpool. Pla…

Despite "British fish for British fishermen" being a significant factor both in the coastal towns themselves and lots of other places where people voted for Brexit.

I know we're not supposed to call Brexit voters thick, but it's difficult sometimes...

As to failure modes, the decline in small and midsize ports generally in favour of huge container ports, Felixstowe etc., also the offshoring of processing either to factory ships (conveniently located beyond the reach of employment law) or distant countries. Quite a few South and East coast places used to have passenger ferry services to Europe and no longer do - Ramsgate, Hull, Great Yarmouth, Folkestone spring to mind but I'm sure there were more.

Re: Shit life syndrome

#204

Post by KineticLensman »

Smaug123 wrote: post #199
laurencerowe wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As others have said I’m not sure it’s right to say that all of the British coast is run down but there are a few common modes of failed places on the coast. Fishing ports which now have few fishers left. Long term decline due to overfishing along with Brexit making it hard for them to sell their catch to markets in EU. Grimsby. The Victorian seaside mass resorts that lost out to cheap foreign holidays. Blackpool. Pla…

(By the way, the UK is not an island. For example, you've omitted Northern Ireland.)

> (By the way, the UK is not an island. For example, you've omitted Northern Ireland.)

There is a very, very deep rabbit hole here. Because it's late and I have to be up early in the morning, I'll merely point out the entrance [0] and quietly back away...

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles_naming

Re: Shit life syndrome

#205

Post by laurencerowe »

Smaug123 wrote: post #199
laurencerowe wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As others have said I’m not sure it’s right to say that all of the British coast is run down but there are a few common modes of failed places on the coast. Fishing ports which now have few fishers left. Long term decline due to overfishing along with Brexit making it hard for them to sell their catch to markets in EU. Grimsby. The Victorian seaside mass resorts that lost out to cheap foreign holidays. Blackpool. Pla…

(By the way, the UK is not an island. For example, you've omitted Northern Ireland.)

That is highly pedantic but yes, I should have used Great Britain. Though in fairness even our government frequently forgets that Northern Ireland exists.

Re: Shit life syndrome

#206

Post by Earw0rm »

3dbrows wrote: post #184
arethuza wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's accurate to say that all coastal towns in the UK are doing badly - I can't help noticing there here on the east of Scotland you have on different sides of the Firth of Forth Methil, which is deprived, and North Berwick which is doing very nicely. Different histories, reliance on different industries, quality of transport links make a huge difference. Not even all coastal "tourist" towns are doing b…

It seems to be true that they are either doing very well or very badly. St Andrews? Elie? Lovely. Methil? Granton? Pass. Are there examples of “it’s alright” seaside towns above some threshold size?

Eastbourne? Better end of alright, but some way short of lovely.

Hastings kind of the other end of things. A fair few problems but not hopeless/desperate.

Main difference between them being Eastbourne's proximity to other prosperous places and slightly better road/rail connection to London.

Re: Shit life syndrome

#207

Post by felurx »

dazc wrote: post #131
Obscurity4340 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To what extent are they necessary if one is already receiving welfare services and resources?

They are mostly not. Unlike most people who comment on such issues I actually know of two people who use food banks on a regular basis. One spends £20 a day on tobacco, the other drinks himself into intensive care whenever he has the opportunity. I have a friend who lives in the same building (it's like an old folk's home but with independent apartments and on-site care). The 'managers' of this council funded facilit…

First of all, that's not a representative sample. It might be that that is really how it is for everyone who uses food banks, or it might be completely different. A sample of two doesn't give enough information to know.

But mostly: If there are people depending on the food banks to get food because of their addictions, isn't that a sign that (at least for these people), food banks very much are neccessary? Unless one assumes that people would change their spending behaviour under enough pressure, but from what little I personally know, that would very much just be an assumption.

Re: Shit life syndrome

#208

Post by hkt »

_8j50 wrote: post #201
hkt wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point is that it is not a single issue, but the result of many complex, interacting and interdependent issues. The stress of insecure work. The consequences of poor diets and little exercise. The cost of housing. The receding access to education. The demands of care work, both paid and unpaid. These problems taken together are worse than the sum of their parts. In an age where help is targeted, individual, and on…

All thise stressed and issues boil down to money and financial security though. Your and the authors' abstractions are making the problem worse because smart people who know the problem well are saying "oh no, it's more complicated than just money" so policy makers will wait for you/them to come up with some solution instead of just solving the obvious and simple problem.

It is more than just money, though: it is about the law and how power in society is apportioned.

Re: Shit life syndrome

#209

Post by midasuni »

tomatocracy wrote: post #180
midasuni wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have two kids and earn 55k from work, you pay marginal tax of 60%, as you have to pay a child tax on top of income and national insurance, plus another 9% or 15% on student loans (which are funded as an income tax)

Yes, although that could be classed as a benefit withdrawal rather than a tax (the child benefit clawback), though I'd agree with calling student loans effectively a graduate tax under the current system (since very few would expect to ever fully repay them). More broadly benefit withdrawal rates are another horror show which create all sorts of bad incentives in the UK - the withdrawal rate for universal credit is 5…

Except the benefit isn’t withdrawn. This is especially seen when you have parent who have split up. One parent receives the benefit, the other pays extra tax.

Re: Shit life syndrome

#210

Post by midasuni »

siwatanejo wrote: post #83
midasuni wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All assets depend on the governemt. You own land, that’s because the government allows it, you own a company, not if the government doesn’t let it exist.

What part of my comment did you miss? I already mentioned government-related stuff. Cryptocurrency is not government related.

It’s also a worthless number until exchanged for something real.
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