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Being poor vs. being broke

blog.ctms.me

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Re: Being poor vs. being broke

#421

Post by DonsDiscountGas »

billfor wrote: post #117
rsyring wrote: post #2

https://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 I have money and I do all of these things. It's got nothing to do with being poor. More of just a best practice imho.

Poor people should have Amazon prime because it doubles as fast delivery, and zero other streaming services. Staying in is always going to be cheaper than going out so some entertainment at home is a good idea.

Re: Being poor vs. being broke

#422

Post by bombcar »

switchbak wrote: post #77
rsyring wrote: post #2

https://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…

Not just that, they appear to have 6 kids. I have a lot of empathy for people that are struggling financially, especially with how hard things are now. I grew up in a way that most would consider to be "poor", though I mostly never felt that way. I do well for myself now, better than I ever thought I could, and yet still I had to think very hard about the financial implications and compromises that come with choosing…

I don't see how you can be "dirt poor" of the way explained if you live in the USA and have 6 kids.

Even the "worst" state in the USA will give tons of assistance quite high with 6 kids.

Re: Being poor vs. being broke

#423

Post by ModernMech »

carlosjobim wrote: post #410
seba_dos1 wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, because human mind is famously known for being extraordinarily good at getting out of self-destructive spiraling without external help, and that help is famously known for being provided to everyone who needs it regardless of their economic status. Also, chronic lack of money has absolutely no way to contribute to that occurring in the first place. /s

I get it. Everybody gets it. For some months, even years. But after a decade or so in such a situation, you must arrive at some sort of epiphany, look at your life and say "what the fuck?". And I don't think anybody is arguing that people shouldn't get help to get back on their feet. Rather that some people refuse to get back on their feet.

[dead]

Re: Being poor vs. being broke

#424

Post by bombcar »

DonsDiscountGas wrote: post #421
billfor wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- Cancel Netflix - Make food at home - Stop going to Starbucks - Fix it yourself - Don’t upgrade your phone I have money and I do all of these things. It's got nothing to do with being poor. More of just a best practice imho.

Poor people should have Amazon prime because it doubles as fast delivery, and zero other streaming services. Staying in is always going to be cheaper than going out so some entertainment at home is a good idea.

Poor people shouldn't be buying shit on Amazon, nor should they be spending money on Prime.

They'd be better off with DVDs from the library.

The problem is the same as with dieting; we do know what we need to do but the willpower required is quite high.

And the world is engineered to make it hard, because they want to separate us from what money we do have.

Re: Being poor vs. being broke

#425

Post by DonsDiscountGas »

I feel like the target audience is this is people who have zero sympathy for the poor, but the thing is that's generally not an opinion they reasoned themselves into. They don't want to spend the money helping anybody so they rationalize that a decide nobody deserves help. So don't expect any minds to change based on facts and logic.

(For the record I give no money to charity because I'm completely selfish; I make no assumptions about the people I don't help)

Re: Being poor vs. being broke

#426

Post by bluGill »

amazing_stories wrote: post #321
posix86 wrote: post #233

Travelling to a 3rd world country with genuinely poor people can help, a bit. When you see the houses genuinely poor people live in, it purs things into perspective. Being in appartment where the roof... is broken. And you have no way to fix it. No way. There's cold coming inside, mold on the walls, no real kitchen, no real bed, "living room"?? Lol. You grow up not getting a proper education, your parents have worked…

Poverty is a spectrum. Naturally, abject poverty is worse than regular poverty. I see too many people say "you're not poor, you have a phone" or "you're not homeless, you aren't sleeping on the sidewalk" (both of these have been said to me). There is a mismatch between what people imagine as poor and what poverty is, and of course, things could always be worse.

If I was in poverty a phone would be early on my list of things to get. First is enough food to eat, followed closely be enough shelter to live (sleeping outside in the snow is fine so long as you have a warm bed in the tend). There might be a few other things as well (I'm not in this condition), but a phone would be high on my list if I could afford it (including the monthly bill) just because of all the things you can do once you have one. For the price they are a great investment.

I can tell you the homeless man I met this week didn't have a phone, but he didn't go anywhere without the kitten he rescued from a fire. I'm not sure what I'd do in his place, but that is an important data point.

Re: Being poor vs. being broke

#427

Post by bombcar »

alaxhn wrote: post #67
cluckindan wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

The article directly mentions that the author has done complete engine rebuilds. Mechanics who can do things like engine rebuilds (efficiently) can crack six figures in a MCOL area although this industry does tend to expect quite a bit of work (e.g. 50 hours a week probably and not just M-F). Similarly the about page of the author mentions that they didn't like working in tech and left. The author seems to have all o…

If you have six kids and a wife and don't work I'm pretty sure most states in the USA will pay you quite nicely.

Probably not a good life, but a great life by any historical standard.

But you'd have to write blogs convincing yourself that you're doing the right thing.

Re: Being poor vs. being broke

#428

Post by simoncion »

9rx wrote: post #418
simoncion wrote: post #401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not without a lot of extra help. That is why I said by yourself. One guy can totally make butter, lard, and harvest fatty meat by themselves. While it's far easier with help, it's not as if you're asking the fellow to -say- change the orbit of the sun. Fat people and high-calorie foods substantially predate modern industry.

> One guy can totally make butter, lard, and harvest fatty meat by themselves. Theoretically it is possible that one person could, on their own, produce enough calories with cattle to feed around two people. So in a vacuum it is true that you could gain excessive weight. But it still isn't actually possible in reality. The time commitment to produce that much is expansive. There isn't enough time in the day for you a…

> Theoretically it is possible that one person could, on their own, produce enough calories with cattle to feed around two people.

Right. This is the same species as the "birthing in olden times was fatal 50% of the time" assertion.

Anyway, I see what you're driving at.

Yes. I agree that a lone, naked, unarmed human surrounded by a couple dozen wolves looking to eat him right now is almost certainly going to be eaten by those wolves.

Though, what that has to do with a lone farmer getting fat off his own produce, I have no idea.

Re: Being poor vs. being broke

#429

Post by quesera »

relaxing wrote: post #329
carlosjobim wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My solution is boring, but it works for the individual who is in that situation: Go and work somewhere where you are provided food and board and a salary. Not only do you physically get yourself out of the environment which has dragged you down, you can also cut out expenses such as rent and even transportation. Which is huge. Yes, it's not a fun solution. It won't make you rich. But it will take you out of being dir…

I think implicit in the anti-poverty argument is individuals shouldn’t have to take a vow of poverty. So the monastery is out. Not everyone is physically cut out for the merchant marines. This is also inconveniently ignores OP’s family. Not everyone wants to join the military, but that feels like it’s getting somewhere… What if the government had other jobs that paid food and shelter?

> What if the government had other jobs that paid food and shelter?

They do, various and sundry, e.g. making license plates.

I'm being glib, which is probably unforgivable under the circumstances, but people do this. Sometimes intentionally -- and, granted, there are often other issues in play -- but it's heartbreaking.

Re: Being poor vs. being broke

#430

Post by bluGill »

antonymoose wrote: post #392
wredcoll wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This definitely comes up a lot and I've never found a satisfactory way to get through to these people that you can both work hard and be lucky. The ultimate point is to get people to empathize with others, it's easy, especially in the general american culture, to treat being poor as a moral failure.

The problem is the world isn’t clean, statistics aren’t clean, it’s all mosaic. You can have noble, moral poors and rich. You can have absolute dirt bags both rich and poor. I grew up in a take of two households, with parents divorced at a young age. Father grows up in a picture perfect well-to-do family and ends up a classic party-hard drug addled dirt bag. He died last year living alone, homeless in a tent off an i…

Having seen the above I would be cautious about believing it.

In divorce courts will often emotionally and monetarily abuse men. (divorce itself if you love the other party is emotional abuse, though I don't know what to do about this. Abusive men do love their wives despite the abuse). As such die of a drug overdose while living in a homeless tent is probably the only option seen left.

I'm not saying there are not lazy losers in the real world. However the picture is often more complex and few people will admit that.

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