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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

#21

Post by RandomBacon »

twoquestions wrote: post #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 li…

> 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.

Source?

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

#22

Post by craftinator »

mywittyname wrote: post #5
eli_gottlieb wrote: post #3

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…

> 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.

This is a great summary of the major issue with being poor. I know people who live in Italy and Denmark who take home about the same percentage below the poverty line there that I did when I was quite poor. They always had food on the table, always had medical care, and didn't miss rent payments. We just cut poor people loose here.

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

#23

Post by twoquestions »

opo wrote: post #18
twoquestions wrote: post #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 li…

The US population is generally considered one of the most generous in the world whether you consider the amounts given to charity as a percentage of GDP or time spent volunteering to help others: >...The United States is often considered the most generous country in the world. Why? Because Americans donate a lot of money. Its people, its foundations and its companies donated roughly $410 billion in 2017 -- or about 2…

To be quite honest I wasn't expecting data like this. America is a big place, and it's entirely possible either I was wrong or I grew up in a tightwad part of the country.

As far as opinions toward the unemployed, my google-fu is too weak to find hard data, as current headlines are saturated with the millions of suddenly "not necessary" people losing their jobs, so all I got for you is anecdata. I'm from the Rust Belt, a part of the country that's largely abandoned by Capital, where 30 years ago it was much easier to find a job then than now.

Between your data and jobs now deemed essential which were previously held in contempt (gas station attendants, grocery store workers, etc.) my outlook has become slightly more rosy.

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

#24

Post by RandomBacon »

RandomBacon wrote: post #21
twoquestions wrote: post #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 li…

> 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. Source?

Of all places, I'm surprised HN doesn't like me asking for evidence.

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

#25

Post by reilly3000 »

bagacrap wrote: post #16
reilly3000 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think about this: some of our best and brightest in this country are our poorest workers.

... are they? The US has great upwards mobility. Yes, some people are privileged and some are disadvantaged, but the worst disadvantages are generally not enough to deter our best and brightest.

The data disagrees: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/02_econ...

US upward mobility is certainly not the best in the world, and perception of it outweighs reality by a wide margin.

Do you honestly believe that people are poor because they are stupid?

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