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The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

tressiemc.com

201–210 of 214 posts

Re: The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

#201

>We could, as my grandfather would say, talk like white folks. We loaned that privilege out to folks a lot. I think that speaking well, or being articulate, is not a privilege but an ability. It is not an ability that everyone has, but it is an ability that almost anyone can acquire with practice. This is true both in verbal and digital communication. If you are not articulate, you will be at a disadvantage throughou…

It's kind of interesting that you equate 'talk[ing] like white folks' with 'speaking well' and 'being articulate.' Why do you think that is?

cuz I been done dat, and you know, like dat idea where, you know, it's like, when I been tryin', but it ain't gud nuff 4 dem, cuz dey white foke be thinkin dat I can't do it when I can!

versus

Because I've done that, and you know, the idea where, I-have-been-trying-but-it-isn't-good-enough, makes them think that I can't do it when I can.

versus

The impression I left with them portrayed a lack of capability, when in-fact, that was not the case. I felt it unfair, that I may have been the recipient of a snap-judgement and to add insult to injury, I did not have the opportunity to re-impress upon them my talent.

A lot of people equate speaking-white with [more-]proper sentence structure , but the true differentiator in articulative ability is an expansive vocabulary capable of conveying in-intricate-detail or not, the abstract ideas necessary to communicate on a team.

Re: The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

#202

There is a big fallacy with the reasoning behind this article. I grew up in impoverished areas (both the inner city, and in rural areas) with the typical high minority population. I have observed a LOT of poor people and their spending habits. Here are my thoughts. (I am not disputing the claim of the author's story and that experience, I am merely pointing out that his example is not the case most of the time.) It i…

This is definitely spot-on.

Re: The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

#203
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. I just think it's posturing on his part. He's pretending to be something he's not, so that people see the friendly brogrammer instead of the ambitious "They trust me — dumb fucks" CEO who disregards privacy.

Don't you think that maybe it's the other 99.9% of people that are "posturing"? Some people just rebel against the "norm" of using clothing to represent their socioeconomic status - money or no money.

This isn't rebellion (honestly that term is used WAY too much). It's just Zuck doing a little song and dance.

Re: The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

#204
post #196
post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your former manager sounds like a very interesting person. Could you elaborate a little about him? What was it that he saw in you?

He was, in fact, an interesting person, and far more so than I ever gave him credit for at the time. I was actually perpetually oblivious to all the things he was trying to do for me until much later. In my first 2 weeks working he signed me up to have breakfast with him, one other employee, and Kenneth Cole. Like, the actual guy. He put it on the schedule, but didn't see me in advance of it, and I didn't actually lo…

That's very interesting, thank you for the response. Your joy talking with strangers and sharing your expertise with them (exemplified here too) sounds like a very good asset to have, for salesmen and for hackers too.

Re: The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

#205

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…

Deserve? Are you making a moral judgement about income?

About income, no. About stealing yes.

If you are on the dole and you are a buying things that aren't necessary to survive, you are stealing.

A relative of mine owns several condos and some of his renters are "Section 8". The state pays for 90% of their rent, they only need to come up with 10%. One guy who couldn't come up with his 10% (and got evicted) had an xbox connected to a big screen TV. How is that not stealing?

If you take money from others to pay for your food or for your rent you don't deserve an xbox, a TV, an iPhone 5. You deserve to go the public library and learn something to make yourself more marketable. You deserve to work 3 jobs until you can pay your own way for necessities.

Re: The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

#206

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…

buy things they clearly don't need or deserve. Deserve? Where does deserve come into this? Posessing money makes it easy to aquire things, but having it or lacking it doesn't say anything about if someone deserves something or not.

>Posessing money makes it easy to aquire things

Flat out wrong. There are three ways to acquire things:

- Trade (with money or goods of value)

- Beg

- Steal

I ordered that list in order of HARDEST to EASIEST way to acquire things.

Re: The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

#207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

buy things they clearly don't need or deserve. Deserve? Where does deserve come into this? Posessing money makes it easy to aquire things, but having it or lacking it doesn't say anything about if someone deserves something or not.

>Posessing money makes it easy to aquire things Flat out wrong. There are three ways to acquire things: - Trade (with money or goods of value) - Beg - Steal I ordered that list in order of HARDEST to EASIEST way to acquire things.

You are a loony. If I walk into a shop with a ton of money, then I can walk out with far more stuff and with much less effort than trying to steal from the shop or beg for free stuff from it.

Re: The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

#208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Abortion, Homosexual Marriage, these are manufactured controversy. They were created so that that poor masses can be convinced to vote for them.

How are they "manufactured controversy?" Do you think that there is a secret universal agreement on these issues? Seems unlikely.

It's a mostly tacit agreement between a relatively small group of career rabble rousers and carpet-bagging politicians, building 'issues' to root their respective industries in.

Re: The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

#209
post #157
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And of course if you look at the economic performance of the US under R administrations, vs D administrations, the Rs win by a hundred miles. /s

Unless you actually look at economic performance. [1] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-25/democratic-presiden... [2] http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/post/economy-ha...

As the /s was meant to indicate. :)

(Thanks for the links).

Re: The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

#210
post #196
post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your former manager sounds like a very interesting person. Could you elaborate a little about him? What was it that he saw in you?

He was, in fact, an interesting person, and far more so than I ever gave him credit for at the time. I was actually perpetually oblivious to all the things he was trying to do for me until much later. In my first 2 weeks working he signed me up to have breakfast with him, one other employee, and Kenneth Cole. Like, the actual guy. He put it on the schedule, but didn't see me in advance of it, and I didn't actually lo…

This is really fascinating, thanks for the post. I also have to add that you were a bit lucky to run into Joe. In my first job (big investment bank) there was too much politics and the only people I could trust (and who somewhat mentored me) were not only from different teams, but the managers of our managers were also different people.
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