Being Poor vs. Feeling Poor
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Being Poor vs. Feeling Poor
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Re: Being Poor vs. Feeling Poor
#2>”By all financial measures, we were poor.”
>”But here’s the thing: I never felt poor.”
>”I had everything I needed and wanted. I had all the resources I required to do well at school too, so I never felt underprivileged there either.”
This is written by someone who doesn’t understand that they were not poor.
Poor is only eating 3/7 days a week. Poor is not owning pyjama’s, underwear or socks. Poor is not having school books, and stationary. Poor is being excluded from community events and activities because you cannot afford to participate. Shit it irks me when people who haven’t lived poor try to explain how it’s just a matter of perspective. Even people who decide they’re going to be homeless for a while by choice to you know, have that lived experience so they can say they know what it’s like make me grr, like if it’s ever a choice on any level you just don’t know what it’s like.
Re: Being Poor vs. Feeling Poor
#3>”By all financial measures, we were poor.” >”But here’s the thing: I never felt poor.” >”I had everything I needed and wanted. I had all the resources I required to do well at school too, so I never felt underprivileged there either.” This is written by someone who doesn’t understand that they were not poor. Poor is only eating 3/7 days a week. Poor is not owning pyjama’s, underwear or socks. Poor is not having scho…
Here’s a question I’ve lived: what if you live in comically
impoverished conditions such that the elements you’ve described are mitigated? Squatting in a half collapsed 1970 single wife trailer with raccoons sleeping on your futon couch.
The schooling is there, the meals are there, but you’re living a life so embarrassing you don’t mention it. Is that poor?
Re: Being Poor vs. Feeling Poor
#4[deleted]
Re: Being Poor vs. Feeling Poor
#5>”By all financial measures, we were poor.” >”But here’s the thing: I never felt poor.” >”I had everything I needed and wanted. I had all the resources I required to do well at school too, so I never felt underprivileged there either.” This is written by someone who doesn’t understand that they were not poor. Poor is only eating 3/7 days a week. Poor is not owning pyjama’s, underwear or socks. Poor is not having scho…
Poor is a fuzzy word that could mean many different things. I think what you are describing could be understood as "poverty" while what OP described could be understood as poor.
I think OP's point is that wealth isn't requisite for a fulfilling life. If you have a good home life, a community, and enough money for the essentials, you can live a "rich" life.
Re: Being Poor vs. Feeling Poor
#6>”By all financial measures, we were poor.” >”But here’s the thing: I never felt poor.” >”I had everything I needed and wanted. I had all the resources I required to do well at school too, so I never felt underprivileged there either.” This is written by someone who doesn’t understand that they were not poor. Poor is only eating 3/7 days a week. Poor is not owning pyjama’s, underwear or socks. Poor is not having scho…
Here’s a question I’ve lived: what if you live in comically impoverished conditions such that the elements you’ve described are mitigated? Squatting in a half collapsed 1970 single wife trailer with raccoons sleeping on your futon couch. The schooling is there, the meals are there, but you’re living a life so embarrassing you don’t mention it. Is that poor?
Yeah man, that’s poverty.
The thing about poor/poverty is that it completely shapes your frame of reference. Sometimes you don’t even know how impoverished you really are, just like how privileged people often don’t understand how privileged they are.
But I think, if you’re so embarrassed by your living conditions you don’t mention it, I’d say you’re poor, and you know you’re poor too, by virtue of the fact that you feel embarrassed - not that I think people should be embarrassed about being poor, it’s not a signal of some moral failing as a human being (in my opinion).
Re: Being Poor vs. Feeling Poor
#7>”By all financial measures, we were poor.” >”But here’s the thing: I never felt poor.” >”I had everything I needed and wanted. I had all the resources I required to do well at school too, so I never felt underprivileged there either.” This is written by someone who doesn’t understand that they were not poor. Poor is only eating 3/7 days a week. Poor is not owning pyjama’s, underwear or socks. Poor is not having scho…
Poor is a fuzzy word that could mean many different things. I think what you are describing could be understood as "poverty" while what OP described could be understood as poor. I think OP's point is that wealth isn't requisite for a fulfilling life. If you have a good home life, a community, and enough money for the essentials, you can live a "rich" life.
Sure wealth isn’t a requisite for a fulfilling life, but it’s pretty clear that OP wasn’t actually poor.
If you have a good home life, a community and enough money for the essentials (and everything you want - according to OP) you’re not poor.
Re: Being Poor vs. Feeling Poor
#8>”By all financial measures, we were poor.” >”But here’s the thing: I never felt poor.” >”I had everything I needed and wanted. I had all the resources I required to do well at school too, so I never felt underprivileged there either.” This is written by someone who doesn’t understand that they were not poor. Poor is only eating 3/7 days a week. Poor is not owning pyjama’s, underwear or socks. Poor is not having scho…
Here’s a question I’ve lived: what if you live in comically impoverished conditions such that the elements you’ve described are mitigated? Squatting in a half collapsed 1970 single wife trailer with raccoons sleeping on your futon couch. The schooling is there, the meals are there, but you’re living a life so embarrassing you don’t mention it. Is that poor?
There are a few definitions of being homeless depending on the frame of reference. For a number of years I lived in a busted up unrentable storefront and it was certainly not by choice. It certainly fit a few of the government definitions of poverty and/or homelessness that are out there.
Being poor, being homeless, etc is a fuzzy thing in its nature. It’s not just being without everything.
My personal definition of being poor is having to make trade offs between food, shelter, and safety where you’re going without one or more on a regular basis.
I didn’t sleep in a bed, the place I slept in would pour buckets of water when it rained, it was cold in the winter, and the neighborhood could be unsafe at times. I didn’t go hungry since I always had the money for a $1 package of pasta and a $1.50 can of tomato sauce. I was able to go to school because my specific version of homelessness matched one that California recognized in order to waive tuition.
Ultimately life worked out for me.
15 years later I feel stressed for money due to all the asks my family makes of me, but I never feel poor.
Re: Being Poor vs. Feeling Poor
#9>”By all financial measures, we were poor.” >”But here’s the thing: I never felt poor.” >”I had everything I needed and wanted. I had all the resources I required to do well at school too, so I never felt underprivileged there either.” This is written by someone who doesn’t understand that they were not poor. Poor is only eating 3/7 days a week. Poor is not owning pyjama’s, underwear or socks. Poor is not having scho…
Would you say a person like Bezos would remain poor if they were in that exact situation?
Re: Being Poor vs. Feeling Poor
#10There was a popular submission to HN a few years ago that really opened my eyes to how having a low income can cause problems to compound, making things exponentially worse.
An example the author gives of this is car problems: people with low incomes often have older cars that are more likely to have issues. If their car breaks down, there's a chance they can't afford repairs, which means they're unable to commute to work. Perhaps because of this, they choose to stop making water bill payments or buying as much food while saving for repairs. Everything is very precarious—you're essentially one or two unlucky incidents away from ruin. That, to me, is what it means to "be poor" in the US.
https://www.residentcontrarian.com/p/on-the-experience-of-be...