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The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

tressiemc.com

131–140 of 214 posts

Re: The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

#131
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parents and siblings. And that actually brings up an entirely other privilege I had at that time. When I first got my job at the movie theater, I was asked by nearly every floor employee how many kids I had. I was one of only a handful who were yet to have children, despite all of us being ~18-26. I can't guess how restricted I would have been in my mobility if I had children to think of at that time.

Oh god, take this 'privilege' stuff back to Tumblr. Not having kids isn't privilege, it's choice. Edit because I don't want this comment to come off too aggressively: you sullied a perfectly nice set of comments and truly interesting anecdote about your life by discounting it as privilege. Since when are wise choices privilege?

I think your privilege — and lack of awareness thereof — is showing...

Re: your edit, it's not the choices that are privilege, but all too often, the opportunity even to make them. As a white male, I have choices, and opportunities to make them, that women and non-white people simply don't. That's privilege: not what you do with the choices you do have, but the choices you have available to you.

Re: The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

#133
post #42
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't mean to be a pedantic jerk, and I'm only mentioning it because I would want to be corrected similarly: I think the word you meant to use was 'populace', not 'populous'.

You're like a Canadian grammar Nazi: punctilious yet courteous.

That's because it's not done to be a jerk, but to be edumucative eh? :P

Re: The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

#134
One of my mentors, the late David Crane FAIA, clearly articulated how to understand what poor folks want. They want the same things as folks who ain't. Better than nothing, starving and shivering aside, means the same to them as it does to me.

Re: The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

#135
There is a difference between investing money in quality goods as tools & means of improving one's condition, vs. squandering money in luxury goods with no reasonable expectation of return on the expense. The author points directly at this difference without recognizing it.

Re: The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

#136
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parents and siblings. And that actually brings up an entirely other privilege I had at that time. When I first got my job at the movie theater, I was asked by nearly every floor employee how many kids I had. I was one of only a handful who were yet to have children, despite all of us being ~18-26. I can't guess how restricted I would have been in my mobility if I had children to think of at that time.

Oh god, take this 'privilege' stuff back to Tumblr. Not having kids isn't privilege, it's choice. Edit because I don't want this comment to come off too aggressively: you sullied a perfectly nice set of comments and truly interesting anecdote about your life by discounting it as privilege. Since when are wise choices privilege?

You can choose some privileges.

Re: The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

#137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. Two different things being discussed as one. 1) Everyone should have at least one outfit that is super classy. A cheap solution is a Salvation Army or Goodwill store in a nice part of town. 2) People who live on the dole and buy things they clearly don't need or deserve. Rocking an iPhone 5 while using your food stamp debit card at the grocery store to buy junk food is the typical "Stupid" poor person move m…

Man, the iPhone 5 really is not a very good example here. If you wear your super classy outfit to an interview AND you have the iPhone 5 instead of a prepaid Android phone (or worse -- a prepaid non-smartphone), it's going to show that you "belong" and that you're not poor. Some people really do pay attention to what kind of phone you have, particularly for these gateway-straddling jobs that the author talks about in…

Want to be really classy in an interview? Leave your smart, dumb or average phone at home.

Re: The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

#138
post #53

I will agree the value of a put-together appearance is valid, in many contexts. and i wouldn't take from that at all. However ... it's ridiculous to use this to defend a $2,500 handbag purchase. the purchase was inadvisable at best. marshall's, target, JCP etc have a massive business strategy around making sophisticated looks available on a low budget. so there are plenty of ways to accomplish the objective of self r…

Unfortunately, when the very thing you're trying to do is status signaling, it's not how "sophisticated" your outfit looks nearly so much as it is the brands in your outfit. High-end brands signal status by their very high-end-ness. An off-brand, but sophisticated outfit signals far less status than a perhaps less sophisticated, but visibly branded outfit, assuming the "right" brand.

Re: The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

#139

I read the whole article and do not agree. Here in Silicon Valley the importance of appearances has become marginal. Yes, you have to be clean, presentable, but that's it. After that you need the skills, talent, knowledge and aptitude to perform your job. And you need that everyday, to keep your job, in this hyper-competitive environment. I was a poor starving immigrant student at one point. I did fine without even m…

That's great, but did you notice that the author was talking about completely different than engineers? Surely you've noticed that even within the Valley the sales and marketing people dress up better?
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