Poverty is a funnel with slippery sides and no bottom. You can struggle your entire life just not to slide downwards even further. The post's author understands this and so do I.
Being poor vs. being broke
111–120 of 732 posts
Re: Being poor vs. being broke
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are some places in the US, that have that kind of poverty, but I have not seen them, with my own eyes. Americans are very often blind to the poverty in their own backyards. There are hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people in America who do not have electricity or even running water in their homes. I'm always reminded of a photograph from a few years ago in the Navajo Times showing a handful of children sit…
There are Americans who have open sewage in their yards [0], because their counties are predominantly Black or Latino, and their state deprioritizes any infrastructure work. It’s structural racism. Even better, the Trump administration canceled [1] an attempt to right that wrong, citing that it was “DEI.” 0: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sanitation-open-sewers-black-... 1: https://apnews.com/article/justice-departme…
[flagged]
Re: Being poor vs. being broke
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are some places in the US, that have that kind of poverty, but I have not seen them, with my own eyes. Americans are very often blind to the poverty in their own backyards. There are hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people in America who do not have electricity or even running water in their homes. I'm always reminded of a photograph from a few years ago in the Navajo Times showing a handful of children sit…
> Americans are very often blind to the poverty in their own backyards. it doesn't help that it's in practice illegal to be in such poverty.
If anyone is wondering why solving homelessness and poverty is so hard, this sibling reply is dead but I think people need to see that this opinion exists, and we need to contemplate the richest and most powerful people in this country share this sentiment:
"we're not blind to it, half of us are sick of paying for it for multiple generations, accruing interest. we're paying for poor people from 20 years ago still. let them sink, let them go away. its a test, they failed it."
Here, "go away" is a euphemism for "die from exposure".
20 years ago we had a worldwide financial crises caused by the capricious whims of the richest people in this country, they caused massive amounts of damage, destroyed people's lives and livelihoods, kicked them out on the street, and it's framed as "paying for poor people".
Re: Being poor vs. being broke
#114I like this guy’s backstory[0]. I grew up in Africa. The poverty I saw, as a child, was foundational in my own personal development. There are some places in the US, that have that kind of poverty, but I have not seen them, with my own eyes. I have family that dedicated most of their life to fighting poverty (with very limited success). They believe that poverty is probably the single biggest problem in the world, to…
> But, I absolutely hated working in an office. I also hated what digital marketing has done to people’s privacy. I had to get out. So, after 10 years I left and went back to my roots. I founded a sprinkler contracting business with my brother and work outside all day, every day. And I love it.
I don't think this person should be putting themselves in the same category as people who are stuck in poverty with no options.
Re: Being poor vs. being broke
#115I once saw people start their month with 0 on their bank account, and live in the negative monthly credit their bank allows. Them having a job (luckily), means they just about manage to fill that debt back at the end of the month, covering the debt and the small bank interest. They end up paying the bank money bit by bit every month, yet they stay locked in that negative money pit. It’s like being permanently broke,…
I had a roommate who was taking payday loans to support his brother for a while. I saw how ridiculous the interest was, paid it off for him, then had him pay me back. It got him out of the constant cycle of debt.
Re: Being poor vs. being broke
#116I don't understand what am I supposed to do with this information. Now that I know what it means to be poor what should I do?
Go back to reading man pages for fun - your venture into non-technical writing was a failed experiment.
Re: Being poor vs. being broke
#117https://blog.ctms.me/about/ It would appear from the about page and the article that he has the requisite skills to earn an income that should move him out of the "poor" category: - auto mechanic - digital tech - landscaping I'm not trying to dismiss the difficult realities associated with being poor. But if you have the skills to make more money and bring your family out of the "poor" category, why wouldn't you do t…
- Cancel Netflix
- Make food at home
- Stop going to Starbucks
- Fix it yourself
- Don’t upgrade your phone
Re: Being poor vs. being broke
#118I have poor friends, they spend more on Netflix, Gym, Starbucks, IPhones, steam games etc then me, and they are poor for atleast last 10-20 years. I almost never have any of these and I have given them that classic suggestions like the cancelling the gym membership that he/she rarely or never uses, and it doesnt work, they keep spending money on garbage with money they don't have.
In the terminology of the article - which I enjoyed and recommend that you read when you get time - these friends of yours are not 'poor', they are 'broke'.
Re: Being poor vs. being broke
#119> You can’t afford to go to the movies, but will stay home and watch what’s new on Netflix. I never had Netflix nor Spotify and I am not poor. I always thought that having Netflix and Spotify is some kind of luxury. Not a big one, but those services are not cheap, if you're on a tight budget.
If you're a family it's much cheaper to have Netflix, spread these $20 over 4 people a month than going to the movie theater for $100+ every time. These $20/month are already out of reach for many, I realize that.
I see. Makes sense.
Re: Being poor vs. being broke
#120Half of the poor voted for Trump who has been doing everything in his power to make them poorer. Speaking of the people as a whole, you get what you vote for.