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Being poor changes your thinking about everything

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Re: Being poor changes your thinking about everything

#61

Post by reverius42 »

unono wrote: post #51

The root cause of poverty is the incompetent government education system - The Teacher's Union. Most public school teachers I've come across have contempt for the businessmen (people who create the wealth) and for poor people (teachers tend to be limousine liberals). The first country or state to disband the current teaching system and replace with a competitive system will skyrocket to success. This is a no-brainer,…

I would think in order to qualify as a "limousine liberal", you'd have to be able to afford a limousine.

I think you'd more likely see a teacher driving one, to supplement their income.

Re: Being poor changes your thinking about everything

#62

Post by throwaway344 »

narrator wrote: post #10
teddyh wrote: post #2

I'm very much reminded of these: http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-nobody-tells-you-about-... http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-devel... http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-politicians-will-never-... Especially the last one. EDIT: Fixed last link

What I keep thinking when I read these is if poor one should live with a large number of roommates you trust and share expenses and pitch in to help each other in an emergency. This in how people survive in developing countries. Something has collapsed in America though and everyone HAS to live by themselves and can't seem to trust anybody else.

This proposed collective of people who can help you when you need help in exchange for giving when you can, already exists in a the form of the welfare state.

Your idea is functionally the idealized vision for how welfare works.

Re: Being poor changes your thinking about everything

#63

Post by dgabriel »

derleth wrote: post #46
Retric wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you are poor condoms are fucking expencive and don't work long term. There is a reason people sell cheap 2l soda despite the fact a 2l bottle coke is 'Realy Cheap' to 95+% of HN posters.

I thought planned parenthood type places gave condoms away.

There are fewer of those very day.

Re: Being poor changes your thinking about everything

#64

Post by sillysaurus2 »

vacri wrote: post #42
teddyh wrote: post #2

I'm very much reminded of these: http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-nobody-tells-you-about-... http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-devel... http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-politicians-will-never-... Especially the last one. EDIT: Fixed last link

These were, without a doubt, the best articles that Cracked has put forth. I've never been in poverty, but I've seen it from a near distance. I've been poor, but if push came to shove, I always had a middle-class mother I could move back to. That's a 'safety net' that many in poverty simply do not have. And so it annoys the shit out of me that when a friend in finance got a $10k raise, all she could talk about was "b…

And so it annoys the shit out of me that when a friend in finance got a $10k raise, all she could talk about was "but I lose half of it to the government!". In some strange world where 30% equals half, she's more concerned about what she lost than the fact that her gain was almost equal to a poor person's annual income. She couldn't even frame her payrise as a positive.

There's more to life than feeling lucky we aren't in bad situations. I'd say ambition is more useful. A million dollars at 4% interest accrues $40k/yr, so in effect any millionaire is given 4x her raise every year just by doing nothing.

That's not a bad thing. It's just a fact of life. But "you should be happy with what you have" is practically a recipe for sabotaging your ambition.

Re: Being poor changes your thinking about everything

#65

Post by gutnor »

hosh wrote: post #37
discostrings wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Responsibility is a luxury reserved for those who can afford it.

That sounds really profound, except it isn't. That assertion is another way of justifying or rationalizing learned helplessness. It is true that there are a lot of things that suck, that few people with access to resources really empathize with those in scarcity trap. Thing is, people are not as helpless as they like to think they are.

Actually that is a perverse effect of being poor in a consumer driven society, and it is even worse in a society that value Freedom so highly like the US.

Because being poor is a complete absence of freedom. If you want to get out of it, you need to follow extremely rigorous lifestyle (like the one published by MacDonald) for decades, with each mistake costing you years of saving.

That is doable in the country side, but in urbanised area where you are bombarded 24/7 with adds, tempted by very easy credit, surrounded by toxic peers in a society that hates you ? If you think it is, then consider that you also start with a 13 IQ handicap().

Picture that as trying to be on a very strict diet while working drunk in your favourite sweet factory, with everybody around you gorging themselves, even those that shouldn't.

() http://www.businessinsider.com/poverty-effect-on-intelligenc...

Re: Being poor changes your thinking about everything

#66

Post by protomyth »

wolfgke wrote: post #13
teddyh wrote: post #2

I'm very much reminded of these: http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-nobody-tells-you-about-... http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-devel... http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-politicians-will-never-... Especially the last one. EDIT: Fixed last link

Having read these articles, there's one thing that I don't appreciate: in these articles kids of poor people are mentioned. Why in the hell are these people "producing" children, if they aren't 100% certain that they'll be able to support them for the years until they are old enough to stand on their own feet? Strokes of fate that lead to poverty are one side, but the side is reproding if you are poor: I consider thi…

Dad and Mom were making good coin with a secure future when they had myself and my brother. The world doesn't respect secure. You'll also find that you need children when your poor in many places to have a shot at a future.

I still think fish is poor people's food and won't eat it again.

Re: Being poor changes your thinking about everything

#67

Post by unono »

reverius42 wrote: post #61
unono wrote: post #51

The root cause of poverty is the incompetent government education system - The Teacher's Union. Most public school teachers I've come across have contempt for the businessmen (people who create the wealth) and for poor people (teachers tend to be limousine liberals). The first country or state to disband the current teaching system and replace with a competitive system will skyrocket to success. This is a no-brainer,…

I would think in order to qualify as a "limousine liberal", you'd have to be able to afford a limousine. I think you'd more likely see a teacher driving one, to supplement their income.

Boo-hoo, teachers, who cannot clearly demonstrate how they actually add economic value to anything, want to be paid even more than their current $52,000 median salary.

Meanwhile, fisherman, who hold the most dangerous job, have a median salary of $25,000.

Firefighters, whose job is to enter dangerous buildings, $45,000.

Fast food workers, $18,000.

Re: Being poor changes your thinking about everything

#68

Post by theorique »

teddyh wrote: post #17
narrator wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I keep thinking when I read these is if poor one should live with a large number of roommates you trust and share expenses and pitch in to help each other in an emergency. This in how people survive in developing countries. Something has collapsed in America though and everyone HAS to live by themselves and can't seem to trust anybody else.

There's a problem starting such a collective (which is, in effect, what you are proposing): Housing. To have many people live together, you need square footage (or m², for metric people). This necessitates a large apartment or house. Such a thing, (if not bought outright, ha, ha, just kidding), will be expensive. The landlord will need a single legal person to be responsible for the paying of this rent, and own the l…

Two words: Detroit [1].

Houses there are so cheap that this kind of plan would probably work as long as you had enough human will and intention to make it happen. As far as I can tell, that is where these things break down. It's hard for groups to form this kind of collective dynamic and trust in the absence of some cohering force - religion, a focal point like a cult leader, or similar influences.

[1] Well, OK, two syllables.

Re: Being poor changes your thinking about everything

#69

Post by [deleted] »

derleth wrote: post #46
Retric wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you are poor condoms are fucking expencive and don't work long term. There is a reason people sell cheap 2l soda despite the fact a 2l bottle coke is 'Realy Cheap' to 95+% of HN posters.

I thought planned parenthood type places gave condoms away.

[deleted]

Re: Being poor changes your thinking about everything

#70

Post by poppysan »

wolfgke wrote: post #13
teddyh wrote: post #2

I'm very much reminded of these: http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-nobody-tells-you-about-... http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-devel... http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-politicians-will-never-... Especially the last one. EDIT: Fixed last link

Having read these articles, there's one thing that I don't appreciate: in these articles kids of poor people are mentioned. Why in the hell are these people "producing" children, if they aren't 100% certain that they'll be able to support them for the years until they are old enough to stand on their own feet? Strokes of fate that lead to poverty are one side, but the side is reproding if you are poor: I consider thi…

You should let us know exactly who has the right to reproduce. Poor people don't?
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