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Big Macs are shit salty food that doesn’t make you full and spikes your glycemic load so you’re hungry again in 30 minutes. The American idea that poor people

Big Macs are shit salty food that doesn’t make you full and spikes your glycemic load so you’re hungry again in 30 minutes. The American idea that poor people get to organize their time the same way that non poor people get to organize their time is near the core of the problem. The argument that eating fast food saves you time is deeply troublesome because poor people, while disadvantaged in many ways like having to use public transit or not having transit, generally have the lowest premium on time because their time is worthless.

falcolas 9y ago
Where else can I spend $6, and have 1000+ calories available to me the next minute? Assume I don't have prep time, because I'm not at home, or because I'm already late for my second job in an attempt to provide for myself at minimum wages. A lot of folks don't have the time or energy to stock up for, prepare and cook proper meals, whether rich, poor, or somewhere in between. Call it a tragedy of the modern times.
- linkmotif 9y ago
  > Where else can I spend $6, and have 1000+ calories available to me the next minute? The supermarket. You’ll have 10-15,000 much better calories, but you’ll have to cook them in water before you consume them. If you can’t find time to cook and you’re poor, you’ll be poor forever. If you can’t find time to cook and you’re middle class, you’ll be poor soon enough. If you can’t organize your time to run your home economy, you’re going to be poor. Your home economy is the basis of all your wealth. It’s fundamental. If you “don’t have time” for that you’re a slave to The Man, parroting that nonesense for the privilege of eating inferior food other people prepared for you at a huge markup. > Call it a tragedy of the modern times. I am! :) It's the tragedy, really.
- derekp7 9y ago
  Tuna sandwich -- half can tuna, mayo, relish, bread, cheese, 360 calories for about $1.02. Prices and calories derived from serving sizes on the various product labels, looking up the products on walmart.com. Takes about a minute to mix the ingredients together and make a few sandwiches. Can also bake a potato in the microwave, throw some butter, sour cream, shredded cheese, and seasoning on them. Baked potatoes (or skillet fried, etc) make fairly cheap meals. Pasta is something that is cheap and easy to make, for time management purposes, boil it while you are taking a shower in the morning. Throw it (along with some tomato sauce) in a ziplock baggie in the morning, take it with you for lunch. I realize that time is limited esp. if you are working 80 hour weeks at minimum wage. And then there is the time it takes to stop by walmart to pick up the ingredients. However many people that I know that complain about lack of time also spend quite a bit on either watching TV, or taking smoke breaks, or other things that would be better spent on meal preparation instead of running to McDonalds.
enraged_camel 9y ago
>>Big Macs are shit salty food that doesn’t make you full and spikes your glycemic load so you’re hungry again in 30 minutes. Even if you eat 1000 calories of pure sugar, there is no way in hell you will be hungry again in 30 minutes.
dagw 9y ago
generally have the lowest premium on time because their time is worthless. That is completely backwards. The marginal utility for a poor person working an extra 10 hours a week is massive since it might very well the difference between being able to pay rent or not. The marginal utility for me working an extra 10 hours a week is probably negative since I'm already 'rich enough' to buy everything I need so the extra money doesn't mean that much to me and those extra 10 hours will keep me away from things I care lot more about (like being able to spend an hour cooking for and eating with my family)

falcolas 9y ago

Where else can I spend $6, and have 1000+ calories available to me the next minute? Assume I don't have prep time, because I'm not at home, or because I'm already late for my second job in an attempt to provide for myself at minimum wages. A lot of folks don't have the time or energy to stock up for, prepare and cook proper meals, whether rich, poor, or somewhere in between. Call it a tragedy of the modern times.

linkmotif 9y ago
> Where else can I spend $6, and have 1000+ calories available to me the next minute? The supermarket. You’ll have 10-15,000 much better calories, but you’ll have to cook them in water before you consume them. If you can’t find time to cook and you’re poor, you’ll be poor forever. If you can’t find time to cook and you’re middle class, you’ll be poor soon enough. If you can’t organize your time to run your home economy, you’re going to be poor. Your home economy is the basis of all your wealth. It’s fundamental. If you “don’t have time” for that you’re a slave to The Man, parroting that nonesense for the privilege of eating inferior food other people prepared for you at a huge markup. > Call it a tragedy of the modern times. I am! :) It's the tragedy, really.
derekp7 9y ago
Tuna sandwich -- half can tuna, mayo, relish, bread, cheese, 360 calories for about $1.02. Prices and calories derived from serving sizes on the various product labels, looking up the products on walmart.com. Takes about a minute to mix the ingredients together and make a few sandwiches. Can also bake a potato in the microwave, throw some butter, sour cream, shredded cheese, and seasoning on them. Baked potatoes (or skillet fried, etc) make fairly cheap meals. Pasta is something that is cheap and easy to make, for time management purposes, boil it while you are taking a shower in the morning. Throw it (along with some tomato sauce) in a ziplock baggie in the morning, take it with you for lunch. I realize that time is limited esp. if you are working 80 hour weeks at minimum wage. And then there is the time it takes to stop by walmart to pick up the ingredients. However many people that I know that complain about lack of time also spend quite a bit on either watching TV, or taking smoke breaks, or other things that would be better spent on meal preparation instead of running to McDonalds.

enraged_camel 9y ago

>>Big Macs are shit salty food that doesn’t make you full and spikes your glycemic load so you’re hungry again in 30 minutes. Even if you eat 1000 calories of pure sugar, there is no way in hell you will be hungry again in 30 minutes.

dagw 9y ago

generally have the lowest premium on time because their time is worthless. That is completely backwards. The marginal utility for a poor person working an extra 10 hours a week is massive since it might very well the difference between being able to pay rent or not. The marginal utility for me working an extra 10 hours a week is probably negative since I'm already 'rich enough' to buy everything I need so the extra money doesn't mean that much to me and those extra 10 hours will keep me away from things I care lot more about (like being able to spend an hour cooking for and eating with my family)