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Burrito Now, Pay Later

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Re: Burrito Now, Pay Later

#291

Post by helge9210 »

kspacewalk2 wrote: post #289
catlikesshrimp wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correction https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_reform_of_1861 Serfdom ended in 1861.

There's a very good argument that, after being abolished in 1861, serfdom was re-introduced in the early 1930s via collectivization. Instead of private ownership of serfs, the state effectively owned the peasants who were bound to their collective farms by a system of meagre food-for-labour payments, needing permission to leave the farm/village for any reason, etc. The peasants that "came with" the collective farms w…

Without an internal passport a person would be detained at the first train station and, in best case, returned back to the farm.

Re: Burrito Now, Pay Later

#292

Post by dani__german »

calmbonsai wrote: post #113

"This logic doesn’t change just because the thing being financed is a burrito." Yes, it absolutely _does_ change. One might as well go all the way and start offering Oxygen or Water bonds. The immorality masking as morality here is insulting--not related, mortgage-backed CDOs during the financial crisis and "Pay Day" loans. There are many, many fundamental individual needs and items (economic "utility") that, while f…

BMI is an excellent metric for measuring your own body. Its fantastic. Its not perfect, but considering its two numbers, its amazingly useful and a super easy way to quantify how unhealthy you are. If you are not currently using Body fat percentage, and know what yours is at this exact instant, you should use BMI instead.

Here's a perfectly correct general statement: Any effort spent telling average people to not use BMI makes society less healthy. Average people are not getting BF% measured when you tell them not to use BMI. They are just ignoring all metrics and eating potato chips instead.

Re: Burrito Now, Pay Later

#293

Post by nradov »

rienbdj wrote: post #212
ChadNauseam wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lack of food can be explained either by a shortage of demand or a shortage of supply. Many people assume that the demand is there and the supply is the problem - people are desperate for healthy food but no one wants to sell it to them for some reason (the reason is always left unsaid). Instead, they have no choice but to shop at 7/11. So presumably, as soon as a store selling fresh, nutritious ingredients opens…

Time is extremely scarce for poor people. Cooking healthy and cheap meals means research, planning and batch meal prep. This also requires being a forward-looking state of mind. Personally, I think the government should be investigating ways to raise income levels for the poorest. I don’t know what form this should take - UBI? negative income tax? - but fix that and the rest would follow for many people.

I generally support measures like increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit but I'm skeptical that would really solve this particular problem. Poor people in other countries manage to cook healthy and cheap meals from a few staple ingredients. There's no research or planning involved, they just get on with it.

Re: Burrito Now, Pay Later

#294

Post by 7373737373 »

calmbonsai wrote: post #113

"This logic doesn’t change just because the thing being financed is a burrito." Yes, it absolutely _does_ change. One might as well go all the way and start offering Oxygen or Water bonds. The immorality masking as morality here is insulting--not related, mortgage-backed CDOs during the financial crisis and "Pay Day" loans. There are many, many fundamental individual needs and items (economic "utility") that, while f…

"Be Fearful When Others Are Greedy"

Re: Burrito Now, Pay Later

#295

Post by nradov »

walrus01 wrote: post #176
ChadNauseam wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Food is a basic human need, paying someone to make a burrito for you and then hand deliver it to your house is not. There is no shortage of food in america. In brazil, many people don’t eat meat because it’s too expensive, and get the vast majority of their calories from beans and rice. you can also do this in america, but almost no one does outside of college students because food is cheap enough relative to wages t…

> Food is a basic human need, paying someone to make a burrito for you and then hand deliver it to your house is not. There is no shortage of food in america. Do some googling about what is a "food desert", plenty of lower income people in the USA live somewhere that the grocery store options and fresh, nutritious ingredient shopping options are VERY poor. Or a costly distance away to drive on a regular basis. I am n…

Even in most "food deserts" it's possible to get cheap and healthy food like beans, rice, potatoes, apples, peanut butter, frozen chicken, cheese, canned vegetables, etc. Most of that stuff can be stored for a long time and doesn't require frequent trips to the grocery store.

Re: Burrito Now, Pay Later

#296

Post by guywithahat »

bagels wrote: post #145
guywithahat wrote: post #134

I feel like the comments are misunderstanding what's happening. Historically luxury food has been nice ingredients but now that's everywhere, and what consumers really want is delivered food. They want the thing they want, only made 6 miles away, hand delivered to them and still warm. This is a luxury good, and like many luxury goods may now be financed. Cheap food is not going away; my lunch every day costs ~55 cent…

What are you eating for 55 cents per meal?

I usually have some mixture of rice, lentils, beans and (frozen) vegetables. I cook the rice and lentils first, and then add frozen vegetables at the end (and possibly beans). It's quite good, healthy, and cheap.

Re: Burrito Now, Pay Later

#297

Post by s1artibartfast »

cousin_it wrote: post #197
s1artibartfast wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I beginning to think we should have separate legal systems for different people. One where people have more agency and responsibility for the consequences, and one where they are treated like children, but taken care of. There is actually a fantastic sci-fi novel I highly recommend written by a professor of enlightenment philosophy that uses the as part of the premise. too like the lightning by Ada palmer. [1] https:…

Or you could have one system where people are treated like adults and taken care of. The risk of getting into unmanageable debt isn't any better than the risk of a car crash, it should be minimized, not celebrated. "I drive without a seatbelt because I'm an adult and can drive responsibly!" Except it's even worse. A car crash is terrible, but at least nobody profits from it. With debt you create a market for manipula…

I dont fallow your car crash analogy.

Are you still proposing banning all debt?

Re: Burrito Now, Pay Later

#298

Post by eli_gottlieb »

geodel wrote: post #272
eli_gottlieb wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But the American credit card system, which is the same sort of thing mildly rearranged, is far less exploitative. Than what? Have we actually checked what the level of fraud is by credit-card companies, or how they price various cards for various customers?

Please enlighten on "level of fraud". Whenever I hear this thing it is mostly that any fees/charge is evil and when there is no charge or fees then of course customer is the product.

Fees and charges are not fraud. Fraud is defined in the law.

Re: Burrito Now, Pay Later

#299

Post by s1artibartfast »

batty_alex wrote: post #236
YarickR2 wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what would increasing the income do for changing the state of mind, or for better time management ?

Are you suggesting people are poor because they don't have good time management?

Many of them, yes. And a plethora of other complex problems. Severe trauma, drug and alcohol addiction, low executive function are all in the mix.

This isn't an attempt at blaming, just a statement that there are significant hurdles.

Re: Burrito Now, Pay Later

#300

Post by s1artibartfast »

nradov wrote: post #293
rienbdj wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Time is extremely scarce for poor people. Cooking healthy and cheap meals means research, planning and batch meal prep. This also requires being a forward-looking state of mind. Personally, I think the government should be investigating ways to raise income levels for the poorest. I don’t know what form this should take - UBI? negative income tax? - but fix that and the rest would follow for many people.

I generally support measures like increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit but I'm skeptical that would really solve this particular problem. Poor people in other countries manage to cook healthy and cheap meals from a few staple ingredients. There's no research or planning involved, they just get on with it.

Lack of calories is not an issue in the USA. There are redundant pathways to get the staples people need, food banks, stamps, ect.

The few percent of the population that suffer insecurity do so as a symptom of other complex causes. Children of addicts and mentally unstable will struggle to get dinner, even if there is a food pantry down the block. A homeless schizophrenic living out of a backpack wont always have food with them.

For reasons like this, there is a floor to the practical floor to the elimination of hunger.

Also, if you havent, I would recommend reading through a food insecurity survey if you haven't. The definition is broader than most realize.

If you look at malnutrition rates in the US, I think you get a much clearer picture.

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