I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt • Hacker News Board

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#441

Post by gred » Tue, May 06, 2025, 9:54 AM UTC

camgunz wrote: post #401

mlyle wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know what the correct answer is. The tricky thing is, if you let anyone just choose not to pay, there will be plenty of people who are capable of paying who don't bother. In your case, it sounds like your dad was maybe capable of paying but wanted to freeload. So as long as you're going to charge for lunches, you need to have some kind of enforcement mechanism. Embarrassing the kid ideally would not be part o…

There are no moral hazards when it comes to social welfare programs. People really think there are, but every time we look we find practically no freeloaders. This idea that we have to threaten people with literal starvation to get them to be productive members of society is ironically deeply impoverished. And if we really think that's true, why do we let people accrue wealth at all? Why do we then think that the mos…

> There are no moral hazards when it comes to social welfare programs.

This is a wild statement. Of course people take advantage of welfare programs. Of course welfare programs have unintended consequences and sometimes encourage immoral or anti-social behavior. That doesn't mean they're all bad or that they need to be completely eliminated, but leading with this obvious falsehood made it very hard to read the rest of your comment.

https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/covid-19-fraud-enfor...

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#442

Post by harvey9 » Tue, May 06, 2025, 9:57 AM UTC

mtnGoat wrote: post #436

snkzxbs wrote: post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Except this isn’t a political issue, it’s humanitarian and basic empathy. Never said anyone should be removed from earth, that’s quite the projection, but go on.

I think the point is the stance of having nothing to do with someone who holds a different view, rather than being willing to engage in conversation.

I got food assistance as a kid.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#443

Post by titaphraz » Tue, May 06, 2025, 9:57 AM UTC

> The thing about witnessing a 7-year-old having their hot lunch tray yanked away and replaced with a cold sandwich

It's bizarre that this happens in America.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#444

Post by cess11 » Tue, May 06, 2025, 9:58 AM UTC

snkzxbs wrote: post #403

mtnGoat wrote: post #343

As someone who experienced this first hand growing up. I consider how someone feels about free school lunch, a basic test of their humanity. If you think kids should go hungry or be embarrassed at school because of their parents finances… we can’t be friends, nor acquaintances. IMHO, you are subhuman at that point and not worth my time. My dad believed that because he paid taxes he shouldn’t have to pay the school to…

[flagged]

Yeah, some people need to be fought, they can't be reasoned with. One clear sign that they aren't open to reason is that they want other children to suffer while they and their children don't.

We don't necessarily have to kill them, we could fight them by other means, like general strike or by destroying their property. Disowning them of their privileges or social status typically causes them to change their positions on policy.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#445

Post by lukan » Tue, May 06, 2025, 9:59 AM UTC

taurath wrote: post #433

0xDEAFBEAD wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>People really think there are, but every time we look we find practically no freeloaders. I don't believe that is true. You didn't provide any support for your claim at all either. Let's just consider a single example: >In the past three decades, the number of Americans who are on disability has skyrocketed. The rise has come even as medical advances have allowed many more people to remain on the job, and new laws h…

If you’ve ever considered going on disability, or needed to, you’d be very quickly enlightened. It’s hard. You have to have documentation, you will get denied. Even then the benefits are pretty shit. It’s not a thing that you can just accidently get. There’s a lot of people who are just disabled. What happens if the parents who should be responsible, aren’t?

"What happens if the parents who should be responsible, aren’t?"

Normally, child protection service?

(But what I know, they don't always improve things)

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#446

Post by gonzobonzo » Tue, May 06, 2025, 9:59 AM UTC

thrance wrote: post #418

snkzxbs wrote: post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

When the other side is advocating for children to starve, then yeah, fuck them. There is no point in being charitable to people incapable of the most basic decency.

The OP wouldn't have starved. There appears to have been food in the house the OP could have taken, but the OP didn't because he wanted his father to, in his words, "buy lunch food." You'll note that he says his family could afford food, but that he dad wouldn't pay for school lunch specifically because he thought the government should pay for it.

The previous poster didn't want to bring the food that was in his home because it wasn't "lunch food," so he justifies how he stole from his father, his classmates, and local businesses. And now he's going to judge other people's humanity by whether or not they agree with his stance that he was entitled to the kind of lunch he wanted, and call people subhuman if they disagree.

I'm someone who's in favor of the government providing free lunches, but this discussion shows why caution is needed. To many people will ignore the actually events that happened and start manufacturing catastrophes, then say that because of their fabricated scenario anyone who isn't in favor of what they want is a horrible human being, or that they were justified for harming others.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#447

Post by codelikeawolf » Tue, May 06, 2025, 10:02 AM UTC

When I first started high school, my parents worked a lot, so they left me to fend for myself and I was terrible about packing lunches, so lunchtime was always stressful. I ended up getting a job washing dishes in the school kitchen, which got me a ticket for a free lunch. We weren't rich, but we were definitely comfortably middle class. I'm sure there were a lot of kids like me. It would have been a lot better if the food was free.

Edit: grammar

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#448

Post by switch007 » Tue, May 06, 2025, 10:02 AM UTC

taurath wrote: post #433

0xDEAFBEAD wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>People really think there are, but every time we look we find practically no freeloaders. I don't believe that is true. You didn't provide any support for your claim at all either. Let's just consider a single example: >In the past three decades, the number of Americans who are on disability has skyrocketed. The rise has come even as medical advances have allowed many more people to remain on the job, and new laws h…

If you’ve ever considered going on disability, or needed to, you’d be very quickly enlightened. It’s hard. You have to have documentation, you will get denied. Even then the benefits are pretty shit. It’s not a thing that you can just accidently get. There’s a lot of people who are just disabled. What happens if the parents who should be responsible, aren’t?

For every story about it being difficult to claim, there are plenty about people who haven't worked for 20 years who have received over £400,000 in welfare, who could have worked, because they learnt the game. The two sides have to move beyond these talking points if any useful discussion is to be had.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#449

Post by blueflow » Tue, May 06, 2025, 10:06 AM UTC

mtnGoat wrote: post #436

snkzxbs wrote: post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Except this isn’t a political issue, it’s humanitarian and basic empathy. Never said anyone should be removed from earth, that’s quite the projection, but go on.

Basic empathy, except for those folks you disagree with. Maybe they just lack an perspective? Maybe you just need to point out one or two things and they understand?

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#450

Post by MadcapJake » Tue, May 06, 2025, 10:11 AM UTC

gsck wrote: post #410

madeofpalk wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm confused - you think kids should go hungry?

I'm confused - where did they say that?

They said that implicitly by choosing to debate a trivial sentence designed to impart the reader with the sense of importance that this principle holds for the OP. This kind of tone policing is a tactic designed to pull you away from the original argument.