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71 Percent of jobless Americans did not recieve their March unemployment benefit

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Re: 71 Percent of jobless Americans did not recieve their March unemployment benefit

#3

If we had a small percentage of our best and brightest working on getting our poorest workers access to the most basic forms of fintech, this would not have happened.

Our poorest workers wouldn't be our poorest workers if they didn't lack "access to the most basic forms of fintech". They are poor because they are exploited: by "businesspeople" who can't pay the daily maintenance costs of their own workers and rely on public subsidies to make up the difference, by banks and payday lenders who scrape fees and interest off meager paychecks, by politicians who misdirect their outrage at college graduates.

Re: 71 Percent of jobless Americans did not recieve their March unemployment benefit

#4
Even aside from the economic fallout which on its own keeps me up at night, I'm really terrified of the social consequences of this. The United States by and large is not a very compassionate society to begin with, and our hatred for the poor and unemployed is among the highest in the world.

It was already bad enough in normal conditions, but when our collective fury is unleashed on 20something million people, and likely more before this is all said and done, I'm afraid of what the short-term and long-term effects are going to be. I'm afraid to even speculate on this.

Re: 71 Percent of jobless Americans did not recieve their March unemployment benefit

#5

If we had a small percentage of our best and brightest working on getting our poorest workers access to the most basic forms of fintech, this would not have happened.

Our poorest workers wouldn't be our poorest workers if they didn't lack "access to the most basic forms of fintech". They are poor because they are exploited : by "businesspeople" who can't pay the daily maintenance costs of their own workers and rely on public subsidies to make up the difference, by banks and payday lenders who scrape fees and interest off meager paychecks, by politicians who misdirect their outrage…

It's expensive to be poor in the US. And, unless you've been poor, it can be hard to empathize with because poor problems are largely solved by having more money.

Example: people who receive their paycheck on, effectively, a visa gift card need to pay relatively high fees in order to access that money. A solution would be to suggest a bank account, but those are also expensive when you're poor as banks often make a healthy chunk of profit from fees that hit poor people the most.

Practically every solution to this problem is some variation on, "just [have more money]." Which is why these people still face exploitation in the wealthiest country in the world.

Re: 71 Percent of jobless Americans did not recieve their March unemployment benefit

#6

If we had a small percentage of our best and brightest working on getting our poorest workers access to the most basic forms of fintech, this would not have happened.

Our poorest workers wouldn't be our poorest workers if they didn't lack "access to the most basic forms of fintech". They are poor because they are exploited : by "businesspeople" who can't pay the daily maintenance costs of their own workers and rely on public subsidies to make up the difference, by banks and payday lenders who scrape fees and interest off meager paychecks, by politicians who misdirect their outrage…

They’re exploited by voters who keep voting against taxpayer funded social safety nets.

The unemployment systems don’t work because the voters intentionally vote for politicians that don’t want them to work. Out of ire against those that receive benefits.

Re: 71 Percent of jobless Americans did not recieve their March unemployment benefit

#7

Even aside from the economic fallout which on its own keeps me up at night, I'm really terrified of the social consequences of this. The United States by and large is not a very compassionate society to begin with, and our hatred for the poor and unemployed is among the highest in the world. It was already bad enough in normal conditions, but when our collective fury is unleashed on 20something million people, and li…

I think it’s important to distinguish between what the American people want and what the system produces. The majority of Americans support policies that would make a more compassionate society.[1] But these policies don’t get traction or passed due to a corrupt system that fails to represent people.

[1] E.g. the latest Medicare for All poll shows overall 69% of Americans support it, rising to 88% of Dems support it. So overall the population wants it yet it doesn’t happen. You also see similar disconnect between what people support and what we have with other policies that would make American society more compassionate one. (https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/25/poll-shows-near...)

Re: 71 Percent of jobless Americans did not recieve their March unemployment benefit

#8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our poorest workers wouldn't be our poorest workers if they didn't lack "access to the most basic forms of fintech". They are poor because they are exploited : by "businesspeople" who can't pay the daily maintenance costs of their own workers and rely on public subsidies to make up the difference, by banks and payday lenders who scrape fees and interest off meager paychecks, by politicians who misdirect their outrage…

It's expensive to be poor in the US. And, unless you've been poor, it can be hard to empathize with because poor problems are largely solved by having more money. Example: people who receive their paycheck on, effectively, a visa gift card need to pay relatively high fees in order to access that money. A solution would be to suggest a bank account, but those are also expensive when you're poor as banks often make a h…

Pardon my ignorance, but is getting paid in visa gift cards a common occurrence for the poor in the US?

Re: 71 Percent of jobless Americans did not recieve their March unemployment benefit

#9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's expensive to be poor in the US. And, unless you've been poor, it can be hard to empathize with because poor problems are largely solved by having more money. Example: people who receive their paycheck on, effectively, a visa gift card need to pay relatively high fees in order to access that money. A solution would be to suggest a bank account, but those are also expensive when you're poor as banks often make a h…

Pardon my ignorance, but is getting paid in visa gift cards a common occurrence for the poor in the US?

Not usually Visa gift cards, but getting paid via debit card has become somewhat common for low-wage workers.

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/business/as-pay-cards-rep...

Re: 71 Percent of jobless Americans did not recieve their March unemployment benefit

#10
post #7

Even aside from the economic fallout which on its own keeps me up at night, I'm really terrified of the social consequences of this. The United States by and large is not a very compassionate society to begin with, and our hatred for the poor and unemployed is among the highest in the world. It was already bad enough in normal conditions, but when our collective fury is unleashed on 20something million people, and li…

I think it’s important to distinguish between what the American people want and what the system produces. The majority of Americans support policies that would make a more compassionate society.[1] But these policies don’t get traction or passed due to a corrupt system that fails to represent people. [1] E.g. the latest Medicare for All poll shows overall 69% of Americans support it, rising to 88% of Dems support it.…

>E.g. the latest Medicare for All poll shows overall 69% of Americans support it, rising to 88% of Dems support it. So overall the population wants it yet it doesn’t happen.

It's important to note that, with the Democratic primary having wound down, most of these 88% of Dems seem to have voted for an imagined version of Joe Biden who was, at the least, not explicitly against Medicare For All.

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