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The Unexotic Underclass

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Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#141

Post by lilsunnybee »

jasey wrote: post #99
ebiester wrote: post #44

It's pretty simple. The Unexotic Underclass Doesn't Have Cash. In 2007, the bottom 60% of the country had 4.2% of the country's wealth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._Distribution_of_Weal... Frankly, it doesn't make sense to target anyone but the top 40% of the country. Roll a 20 sided die. If you roll a 1, put in the pile that goes to the bottom 60%. If you roll a 2-20, put it in the money that goes to the…

100% this. As per the laws of free market capitalism if a niche in the market is underserved the market will step up and supply to the markets demand. On Wall st where the author has worked, any market inefficiency is arbitraged away. Where there is profits to be made the market will find them. I just don't think there's any big viable markets there, it would be nice if the author could identify at least 1 product id…

Most poor problems are government problems. The problem is most of the money goes towards bloat and bureaucracy and war than actually providing services for poor people as well as the rich.

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#142

Post by lilsunnybee »

ctdonath wrote: post #108
gadders wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but there are a LOT of poor people. For reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fortune_at_the_Bottom_of_th...

Total USA household wealth is somewhere around $50T, GDP $15T. Per parent post, the bottom 60% has 4.2% of wealth: that's $2.1T, or average $11,150 per person - most of which is not "disposable" (tied up in home, car, and other nonliquid essentials). Assuming same distribution for income, that's averaging $3,343 - again, most of it not "disposable" (rent, gas, food). Yes, there are a lot of them ("poor" still being a…

How about do something to uplift poor people, rather than just siphoning more money away. Affordable medical, dental, and legal help would be great focuses.

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#143

Post by lilsunnybee »

Crake wrote: post #69

It's really great to see poor white people considered as people in need. (It would have been even better if the article considered poor asians, too. They're not all rich doctors.) It's a huge demographic that's desperately in need of help, but it doesn't score you any brownie points to help the "unexotic"--just as the article highlights. As a result, many languish in poverty instead of fulfilling their full potential…

Poor people of all colors suffer much more from class-based discrimination. Rich people spend their money on trifles like ipads and gaming computers rather than trying to help their struggling neighbor. Maybe it has something to do with how separated we all are, that rich people probably haven't even really talked to a poor person in years, and operate based on stereotypes and contempt.

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#144

Post by lilsunnybee »

lsiebert wrote: post #126

This is crossposted from my comment in the MeFi discussion of this article. I don't buy that startups are just targeting rich people. It's perhaps part of it, but not all of it. They are targeting people like them, young, single childless generally white guys. I see a million dating sites, but very few sites for married people, which are still a huge chunk of the adult population. Though I seem to recall at least one…

Care.com for babysitting/daycare, etc. It runs lots of commercials on all the kids channels. Amazon.com for diapers, or plenty of other sites do subscriptions too. Diaper services are still around.

Healthcare and legal services startups sound like a great idea.

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#145

Post by lilsunnybee »

mikecane wrote: post #82

That was epic. And this is the heart of everything: >>>It’s not rocket science: people build what they know. Cosmopolitan, well-educated young men and women in America’s big cities are rushing into startups and building for other cosmopolitan well-educated young men and women in big cities. Until you've become part of the exotic underclass -- or an over-50 perma-unemployable (tick tick tick) -- you won't see these pr…

Stuff can start to get done now. It's just about privileged people thinking about more than themselves. There's plenty of bright people at the bottom too, just without the resources and connections to get anything fixed.

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#146

Post by lilsunnybee »

vijayr wrote: post #109

This is a nice read. Is there any place where we can learn more about these problems? as in, a place (blog/site etc) that lists problems that are real world problems to solve, than twitter/facebook type?

You'd be going about it the wrong way if you just looked at a list. Sometimes the underlying issues are complex, or just downright a struggle to fix or disrupt. The best thing you could do is make friends and acquaintances outside of your ingroup. Have people tell you about their problems themselves. You'll get a better idea of the problems out there the more people you talk to and dialogue with.

If you want my opinion on the main obstacles against making the world a better place: - gentrification and separation of the rich and poor - social services being a giant wasteful bureaucracy rather than a streamlined, responsive, empowering structure - gridlock in the US legislature as far as finding real solutions, leading to lack of regulations where they should be and mis-managed and destructive overregulation in others

Everyone towards the bottom is overworked and have no leftover energy and willpower to jump through all the arbitrary hoops to improve their lot in life. Something needs to change with how wealth, free time, and the benefits of efficiency are distributed in society, or the country will go into further decline and unrest.

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#148

Post by Crake »

lilsunnybee wrote: post #143
Crake wrote: post #69

It's really great to see poor white people considered as people in need. (It would have been even better if the article considered poor asians, too. They're not all rich doctors.) It's a huge demographic that's desperately in need of help, but it doesn't score you any brownie points to help the "unexotic"--just as the article highlights. As a result, many languish in poverty instead of fulfilling their full potential…

Poor people of all colors suffer much more from class-based discrimination. Rich people spend their money on trifles like ipads and gaming computers rather than trying to help their struggling neighbor. Maybe it has something to do with how separated we all are, that rich people probably haven't even really talked to a poor person in years, and operate based on stereotypes and contempt.

Yeah, most of the people who get on the PoC privilege train clearly haven't interacted with low income people for a while. I saw a girl from a $70,000+/year family say once that her family was lower middle class. wtf. One of the worst SRWs I've met, everything was racism to her. She went into social work, and the last I heard was a blog post complaining about how one of the people in a case she was working had called her spoiled. El-oh-el.

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#149

Post by shadowcats »

lilsunnybee wrote: post #137
cbennett wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like this idea quite a bit, although I'm not exactly sure it would be a startup in the end because the willingness (ability?) to pay amongst the target market here must be quite low, I imagine. Just free styling here, but the way to go about it would be to bundle a sort of 'package' of tools into a couple of various tiers, from easy (low input of time/funds) to challenging (more pricey/difficult). One wrinkle is th…

How about show your fellow human beings a modicum of respect. They aren't your lab rats. Maybe if your upper-class, power-heavy minority would reevaluate all the patronizing aspects of their philanthropic efforts, poor folks wouldn't have learned helplessness from the futility of their situation, and would actually have the energy to lift themselves up. Drug dealing, crime, and prostitution are sometimes seemingly th…

Oh, give me a break.

I'm not interested in respecting and not-patronizing people. I'm interested in a better world and fixing the problems.

A big part of why people are poor (and/or delinquent) is, let's face it, because of how their brains work. Sure, there are lots of socio-economic factors keeping people down, but it's never an either-or issue. And I'm not saying that we should stop trying traditional poverty-bootstrapping tactics, but rather that cognitive enhancement is worth looking into also.

For instance, there was a study done in a prison that showed that fish oil can reduce violent tendencies[1]. It's also known to help with child ADHD[2].

(Actually, the interventions I have in mind would focus more around positive psychology, metacognition/mindfulness training, and applied rationality aka scientific self-help. Just using the fish oil as an example since it's well studied and is a very simple measure to take.)

Also, poor people should be happy that the "upper class" take an interest in raising them up. What do you prefer, patronizing philanthropists or corrupt elites who don't give a rat's ass as to their wellbeing at all?

[1] Influence of supplementary vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids on the antisocial behaviour of young adult prisoners - http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/181/1/22.full

[2] Multiple studies - http://examine.com/show_rubric_effect.php?id=2&effect=AD...

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#150

Post by eli_gottlieb »

lilsunnybee wrote: post #138
VLM wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To quote the article: "a cultural disregard for intelligence, empathy and respect" Not to say its impossible. Its just going to have to be very covert. Part of a game of some sort, but not K-12 ridiculously blatant educational game like space invaders where you have to solve an addition problem to fire the anti-missile missile (I think I actually had to play that one in school...) (Edited to add EVE Online is basical…

Acting even more patronizing towards the poor is not the answer.

It's as often the rich and the middle class in America that disparage intellectualism as the poor.
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