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I think this post is pretty ignorant. Yea, people who were formerly rich will have better financial habits. If you were born into poverty, who is going to teac

by dyeje 10y ago

I think this post is pretty ignorant. Yea, people who were formerly rich will have better financial habits. If you were born into poverty, who is going to teach you those good financial habits in the first place? Yea, that would probably be better diet. But do they even know how to eat healthy? Do they have time to cook? Are they even able to get to a grocery store? Yea, you could probably get a decent suit at a thrift store for $30. But some people literally can not spare that money. $30 could be the difference between your kids eating or having a roof over your head.

mac01021 10y ago
> I think this post is pretty ignorant. I'm not expressing any animosity toward, or disdain for, people in poverty. I agree with the article that being poor inhibits people's ability to make good decisions for themselves, and that the best way to break the vicious cycle may be to provide them with enough income that they have more freedom to make decisions that will improve their circumstances. I disagree with the parent comment's thesis that the poor don't make bad decisions in their lives. That doesn't mean I blame them for their poor circumstances or think that they deserve what they get. > Yea, people who were formerly rich will have better financial habits. If you were born into poverty, who is going to teach you those good financial habits in the first place? I agree. Your rhetorical question is correct. > Yea, that would probably be better diet. But do they even know how to eat healthy? Do they have time to cook? Are they even able to get to a grocery store? They probably don't know how to eat healthy - just like with the financial habits. I think it must be a pretty small fraction, though, that doesn't have access to a better diet than what they eat now. Cooking need not take more than a single-digit-number of minutes. > Yea, you could probably get a decent suit at a thrift store for $30. But some people literally can not spare that money. $30 could be the difference between your kids eating or having a roof over your head. It's true that some people's circumstances are so poor that they cannot survive an additional one-time $30 purchase and can't even set aside $1 per day for a month despite their best efforts. If such a person interviewed for a job that needed professional garb, I would hope that they would explain their situation to the interviewer and that the interviewer would give them special consideration. Maybe they wouldn't, but this scenario seems pretty rare to me and not especially relevant to the discussion at hand.
- dyeje 10y ago
  Yea, I didn't think you were being harsh or anything. I meant ignorant literally. Certainly people in poverty make bad decisions, everyone makes bad decisions, but alot of those bad decisions are based on a lack of education that is largely out of their control. I don't have hard numbers, but I think you are overestimating people in poverty's disposable income and access to fresh groceries.

by dyeje 10y ago

mac01021 10y ago

> I think this post is pretty ignorant. I'm not expressing any animosity toward, or disdain for, people in poverty. I agree with the article that being poor inhibits people's ability to make good decisions for themselves, and that the best way to break the vicious cycle may be to provide them with enough income that they have more freedom to make decisions that will improve their circumstances. I disagree with the parent comment's thesis that the poor don't make bad decisions in their lives. That doesn't mean I blame them for their poor circumstances or think that they deserve what they get. > Yea, people who were formerly rich will have better financial habits. If you were born into poverty, who is going to teach you those good financial habits in the first place? I agree. Your rhetorical question is correct. > Yea, that would probably be better diet. But do they even know how to eat healthy? Do they have time to cook? Are they even able to get to a grocery store? They probably don't know how to eat healthy - just like with the financial habits. I think it must be a pretty small fraction, though, that doesn't have access to a better diet than what they eat now. Cooking need not take more than a single-digit-number of minutes. > Yea, you could probably get a decent suit at a thrift store for $30. But some people literally can not spare that money. $30 could be the difference between your kids eating or having a roof over your head. It's true that some people's circumstances are so poor that they cannot survive an additional one-time $30 purchase and can't even set aside $1 per day for a month despite their best efforts. If such a person interviewed for a job that needed professional garb, I would hope that they would explain their situation to the interviewer and that the interviewer would give them special consideration. Maybe they wouldn't, but this scenario seems pretty rare to me and not especially relevant to the discussion at hand.

dyeje 10y ago
Yea, I didn't think you were being harsh or anything. I meant ignorant literally. Certainly people in poverty make bad decisions, everyone makes bad decisions, but alot of those bad decisions are based on a lack of education that is largely out of their control. I don't have hard numbers, but I think you are overestimating people in poverty's disposable income and access to fresh groceries.