Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

wired.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 134 posts

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#81

Post by k-mcgrady »

fps wrote: post #69
Taylorious wrote: post #50

Love the picture of the "homeless" guy using a laptop newer than mine, with his pet, nice bike, playing a video game while he smokes a cig. He also has an energy drink... as if he needs it to get through his day of sitting around. It's people like him who are hurting the homeless people that are actually in need.

That's a $319 laptop ( http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-G505-15-6-Inch-Laptop-Black/dp/... ) and, while I can see the brand of the bike, that's likely a less than $150 bike when it was brand new. Pit bulls/boxers are basically free at any dog shelter. The average rent price of apartments in Pensacola Fl (where he lives) is $819/month, and the cheapest apartment I could find was $600/month, with proof of income and first…

>> "Pit bulls/boxers are basically free at any dog shelter."

True but you have to feed them.

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#82

Post by michaelwww »

jeffasinger wrote: post #59
michaelwww wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, because homeless people should have nothing and suffer as much as possible because they can't afford rent.

I think the point is, the cost of having/using those things is approaching the cost of rent.

Not really. In order to get in most places you need first/last/cleaning deposit and good credit. For that you need a job. But to get a job you need a permanent address, a place to get clean everyday, and fresh clothes everyday. But to have those you need a place to live. While it's true that "digital nomads" choose to be homeless, that is more often not the case. I went the digital nomad route and found myself in a hole that was hard to get out of. At least I still had a car to sleep in and a laptop. Showers were a big problem. The best solution is to join a 24 hour gym.

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#83

Post by hosh »

hosh wrote: post #80
Taylorious wrote: post #50

Love the picture of the "homeless" guy using a laptop newer than mine, with his pet, nice bike, playing a video game while he smokes a cig. He also has an energy drink... as if he needs it to get through his day of sitting around. It's people like him who are hurting the homeless people that are actually in need.

Wow, you guys talking about how this guy should have an apartment or something because he has a laptop are lacking in empathy. When was the last time you met the eyes of one of these good-for-nothing, lazy, bad-smelling, disgusting … things ? If you can't even meet eyes with a homeless person, let alone really observing the person, you can't even put yourself into their shoes, feel what they feel, and see the world f…

I think a much better frame to look at this comes off of the recent article posted up on Hacker News in the past week or so. This was the interview about the scarcity trap: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/13/b...

The question is, is by watching the youtube videos or clicking on the apps for bitcoins, giving enough return? Or is it really a case of being inside a "tunnel" and there are more effective means?

If there are more effective means, does this person necessarily want to live better? We can't assume that someone who is homeless "wants" to be homeless (not unless you talk to that person and observe that person), though we can say that the choices he is make is likely to keep him in a scarcity trap that results in being homeless.

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#84

Post by cbr »

hooande wrote: post #29

There were a few points that the article didn't bring up. I was surprised that they didn't discuss the speculative value of bitcoins. There's no way that the value of a dollar in your pocket will suddenly double, but the value of a bitcoin has and will again. Obviously volatility isn't all fun...would you want your salary paid in bitcions? In the current market you might actually come out ahead over the next few year…

    value of a bitcoin has and will [double] again
If this were certain it would have already happened.

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#85

Post by igreulich »

crazypyro wrote: post #77
igreulich wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like rent would be more important than a fancy laptop, cigarettes, and energy drinks...

300 dollar laptop =! Fancy laptop. There's 0 chance of the added cost of all these products being equal to rent. Even assuming its a fancy laptop, are you suggesting he sell his only means of income to MAYBE afford a month of rent? How bout the next month? Judging a homeless person based on their small amount of possessions in a single picture shows a complete ignorance to the situation most homeless people are in...

Any laptop = fancy laptop, in my opinion. But it doesn't change my original point.

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#86

Post by itsybitsycoder »

rorrr2 wrote: post #64
mrb wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"At 0.0004 bitcoins per video it would take 2500 videos to watch to make one bitcoin." You seem confused by the divisibility of bitcoin. His goal is not to make one whole bitcoin, but probably to watch ~100 videos (3-4 hours total?) which is 0.04 bitcoins which is enough to buy a meal (~$5). Also the article is poorly worded but it sounds like the homeless guy is not taking advantage of the 0.000133 btc per day offer…

The article says he made 3-5 bitcoins.

It also says he gets donations.

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#87

Post by twoodfin »

Helianthus wrote: post #67
luscious wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are always enough jobs. There aren't enough jobs that people are willing to do for the money others are willing to pay. If I knew someone near me was living on The problem isn't a lack of jobs, it's the draining of capital flow that happen when the monetary system dries up. Whether you believe that to be unfairness or just some players being so adept at the game... that doesn't matter. The ball needs to move or…

>There are always enough jobs. There aren't enough jobs that people are willing to do for the money others are willing to pay. Nice. "Work willing to be done for others willing to pay" is what defines a job. It only took you two sentences to make the rest of your post into rubbish capitalist handwaving. >If I knew someone near me was living on Please do this actually. Someone near you is living on "It's not practical…

Someone near you is living on

Oh yeah? Running $0 worth of income through a SNAP benefits calculator tells me that an individual with no job is entitled to $200/month. That's one anti-poverty program that blows past your <$1/day by almost an order of magnitude.

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#88

Post by jebblue »

zanny wrote: post #19
rorrr2 wrote: post #6

The math doesn't add up. At "0.000133 bitcoins a day" it would take 7518 days (more than 20 years) to make one bitcoin. At "0.0004 bitcoins" per video it would take 2500 videos to watch to make one bitcoin. The amount of wasted human capital is insane. Why don't these people get jobs? There are tons of posts on Craigslist for jobs that don't require any education - delivery, waiters, busboys, cleaning, etc.

But for the tons of unskilled craigslist jobs, in these depressed areas, they will get hundreds of resumes. In most places around the US, the reality is multipointed: * Nobody who would want to hire someone has the capital to do so, or the resources to handle the absurd regulation surrounding hiring an employee. * The economic cycles in a lot of these areas are not producer ones, so they don't see job growth even whe…

>> because you don't earn a living wage on minimum wage

Are you saying minimum wage is not already high enough to live on?

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#89

Post by icebraining »

lingben wrote: post #62
michaelwww wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, because homeless people should have nothing and suffer as much as possible because they can't afford rent.

No, it is about priorities. See Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

That's a ridiculously myopic application of the concept (which is flawed to begin with). Even if some needs are more important, that doesn't mean we can't make plans to better fulfill those needs in the future.

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#90

Post by cinquemb »

From some of these comments, it amazes me that people want to dictate how others should live their lives while doing nothing to improve the situation or to solve the systemic forces that faces the individuals mentioned… unless some of you happen to be on the Federal Reserve board or a CEO at a TBTF bank that owns shares in it, because obviously they are very, very good at allocating capital and resources to us all, while we tell more people to participate the in bread and circuses in order to be useful in this society…

"What you eat don't make me shit, and who you fuck don't make me come"

Post reply on HN