6 ms·

Wait... all these people paid $15 to begin with? Are you really that poor if you can flip out $15 for any little thing that comes along.

throwercah 9y ago
Maybe they're poor because they're constantly wasting money buying frivolous things online instead of paying their bills.
- platz 9y ago
  Avocado toast
jquery 9y ago
That's an excellent point, really.
FLGMwt 9y ago
$15 is a roughly a single meal. Are we suggesting that $15 spent towards entertainment is exceptional or excessive for anyone below middle-class, ? If that's true, than surely we're worse off than we're all aware of.
- l4yao 9y ago
  In large parts of America, $15 is a lot more than a single meal. I grew up in relative poverty, $15 for entertainment would seem like a very poor choice in my household. Your comment makes me think we really are worse off than many people are aware of.
- mberning 9y ago
  At a restaurant. Which you really shouldn't be indulging in very often or at all if $1000 is a major boon to your life.
  - djsumdog 9y ago
    When everything is going to shit, people are in the hospital and you barely have enough food stamps to feed your kids ... You can go to a movie. Are you going to really fault someone for that, or taking their partner to a restaurant, using what little they have, to just try and forget how bad things are for a few hours?! It's not like they can just stop being poor.
    - mberning 9y ago
      I don't begrudge anybody their small pleasures in life. I also think they can do what they want with their money. But, when the topic of wealth redistribution comes up I do start to have a lot more questions about what people want to do with the money. After all, it's not their money. They didn't earn it. Somebody else did. I think it's pretty fair to at least have the conversation. I absolutely hate the "helpless poor people" trope and the idea that if they just had more money everything would be better. How often do good and well meaning ideas have horrible and long lasting consequences that were not intended.
      - JakeTheAndroid 9y ago
        And you're suggesting that purchasing a funny card game that has value over time should be a disqualifying factor?
      - jnbiche 9y ago
        For very poor people, just having more money can often make a huge difference in their lives: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/08/23/214210692/the-charity-that-just-gives-money-to-poor-people https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/08/23/214210692/the-... There's actually a mounting volume of convincing evidence that cash grants to poor people are much more effective than random charity programs of equivalent value. Because poor people often know what they need more than some paper pusher in a faraway city.
        Jarwain 9y ago
        I wonder whether there is a difference in attitudes or money usage for poor people in Kenya or other developing nations, vs those who are poor in developed nations like the US. Although you did say 'very' poor people, this was the thought that popped into my mind.
- jquery 9y ago
  If $1000 is life changing money for you, you have no business spending $15 on a lottery ticket, unless you are terrible at managing money, which might have something more to do with their situation more than living in the richest nation on Earth.
  - petercampanelli 9y ago
    You're casting so much judgement here. Anyone can spend money on whatever they choose, just like the recipients can spend the $1000 however they like. We have no business criticizing these people.
    - jquery 9y ago
      If Cards Against Humanity is going to demand wealth redistribution to support these people, you're goddamn right I can judge the financial choices of their champions.
      - FLGMwt 9y ago
        Hi. The "wealth distribution" is entirely at CAH's expense. They only surfaced that language because they made a point of communicating to the non-recipients that they wouldn't be receiving anything on top of their original contract (of getting the game for cash, which they totally got).
      - sctb 9y ago
        You've broken the guidelines a lot in this thread by commenting uncivilly and/or unsubstantively. Would you please re-read them and then stop? https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - paulv 9y ago
    Poor people are allowed to have fun, too. They "Deserve To Taste Something Other Than Shame", by Ijeoma Oluo: https://theestablishment.co/poor-people-deserve-to-taste-something-other-than-shame-90eb3aceabf9 https://theestablishment.co/poor-people-deserve-to-taste-som...
geofft 9y ago
No, you're not "that poor", if by that phrase you mean that $15 is a life-or-death decision for you, and every last cent goes toward survival. But there's a large distance between that and having enough money to fund every level on Maslow's hierarchy, and there's a larger distance between even that and not noticing a $15 expenditure at all. Maybe they have a budget for things that make life worth living, things other than ramen and a cardboard box, and they spent $15 out of that.
- mberning 9y ago
  Maybe they have a budget for that kind of stuff. Maybe they don't. Based on personal experience growing up in actual poverty I would bet most do not. I certainly didn't. And neither did most of the people in my life. It's really no different than buying smokes by the pack or 20oz sodas at the gas station. Many people can easily come up with the money to buy these things, even people that are perpetually "broke". But it does all add up. Anyway, my point was that I don't think "lack of money" is a very instructive way of looking at poverty. If these people are so poor yet have $15 for an impulse buy do you think giving them $1000 is going to change their life? Probably not. Education and building better habits would really help them a lot more. They could save $1000 or probably a lot more and really turn their life around.
  - throwawaycloud 9y ago
    Ever make chicken? 3lbs of chicken is $15 alone ($3.59/lb x 4 lbs, about 1lb of liquid). That's not a lot of food. Oh, hmm.. How about hamburger then? Same story. $1k would absolutely be a lifechanger. I'd be able to go get my colonoscopy that I desperately need, or be able to at least go to a therapist to help get over my fear of needles in preparation for that. You bet I'll drop $15 on CAH. I'm not going to deny myself entertainment just because there are other things I need. Look at it this way: $15 is a one-time expense. Health insurance is $400/mo. And I'm not even that poor. I'd rather the $1k go to someone who needs it more than me.
    - fjsolwmv 9y ago
      $1000 for a colonoscopy to tell you that you need $500K of treatment?
mikekchar 9y ago
You may be suffering from the same thing I did: not understanding what this is about. I recommend taking a look at the FAQ (which is relatively difficult to get to from the original article): https://www.cardsagainsthumanitysavesamerica.com/#faq https://www.cardsagainsthumanitysavesamerica.com/#faq It's a "complicated promotion" and in this phase they are redistributing wealth to the poorest of the group who paid -- not to the poorest people in the country. I had originally thought that people were signing up with the hopes of getting a payback -- some kind of horrible poorest person wins the pot kind of game. But this is literally, "Pay us $15 and we will do something crazy with it". So far the other things they have done is bought up land to try to interfere with Trump's wall between the US and Mexico (and built a trebuchet), and set up a "good news only podcast" (and sent out stickers). Most people in the US have discretionary spending even if they are poor. $15 to participate in crazy stunts to "save America"? Certainly there are people who can not afford that, but I don't think that was ever the point. Edit: Is $1000 potentially life changing for people who are not in abject poverty. I think point is: yes. They point out that half of Americans do not have any emergency money at all. So you don't even need to be in poverty to be living hand to mouth. Will $1000 realistically change that? Clearly not. But the whole thing is a bit tongue in cheek.
- jquery 9y ago
  Past college, living hand-to-mouth is in the USA is largely an issue of financial education and self-control. I was living hand-to-mouth when I met my wife, who made half what I did and had substantial savings. Get housemates instead of keeping a house to yourself. Get roommates instead of a room to yourself. Get rid of your subscriptions. And so on. Sustenance is remarkably cheap unless you're in poor health. I blame this lack of financial education on our failing high schools and bad parenting. And a stigma against judging others for poor financial choices (I see people in this thread lauding the gifts the charity recipients plan to buy).
  - op00to 9y ago
    Are you kidding me? What if someone is unable to go to college? How about someone making minimum wage?

throwercah 9y ago

Maybe they're poor because they're constantly wasting money buying frivolous things online instead of paying their bills.

platz 9y ago
Avocado toast

jquery 9y ago

That's an excellent point, really.

FLGMwt 9y ago

$15 is a roughly a single meal. Are we suggesting that $15 spent towards entertainment is exceptional or excessive for anyone below middle-class, ? If that's true, than surely we're worse off than we're all aware of.

l4yao 9y ago
In large parts of America, $15 is a lot more than a single meal. I grew up in relative poverty, $15 for entertainment would seem like a very poor choice in my household. Your comment makes me think we really are worse off than many people are aware of.
mberning 9y ago
At a restaurant. Which you really shouldn't be indulging in very often or at all if $1000 is a major boon to your life.
- djsumdog 9y ago
  When everything is going to shit, people are in the hospital and you barely have enough food stamps to feed your kids ... You can go to a movie. Are you going to really fault someone for that, or taking their partner to a restaurant, using what little they have, to just try and forget how bad things are for a few hours?! It's not like they can just stop being poor.
  - mberning 9y ago
    I don't begrudge anybody their small pleasures in life. I also think they can do what they want with their money. But, when the topic of wealth redistribution comes up I do start to have a lot more questions about what people want to do with the money. After all, it's not their money. They didn't earn it. Somebody else did. I think it's pretty fair to at least have the conversation. I absolutely hate the "helpless poor people" trope and the idea that if they just had more money everything would be better. How often do good and well meaning ideas have horrible and long lasting consequences that were not intended.
    - JakeTheAndroid 9y ago
      And you're suggesting that purchasing a funny card game that has value over time should be a disqualifying factor?
    - jnbiche 9y ago
      For very poor people, just having more money can often make a huge difference in their lives: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/08/23/214210692/the-charity-that-just-gives-money-to-poor-people https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/08/23/214210692/the-... There's actually a mounting volume of convincing evidence that cash grants to poor people are much more effective than random charity programs of equivalent value. Because poor people often know what they need more than some paper pusher in a faraway city.
      - Jarwain 9y ago
        I wonder whether there is a difference in attitudes or money usage for poor people in Kenya or other developing nations, vs those who are poor in developed nations like the US. Although you did say 'very' poor people, this was the thought that popped into my mind.
jquery 9y ago
If $1000 is life changing money for you, you have no business spending $15 on a lottery ticket, unless you are terrible at managing money, which might have something more to do with their situation more than living in the richest nation on Earth.
- petercampanelli 9y ago
  You're casting so much judgement here. Anyone can spend money on whatever they choose, just like the recipients can spend the $1000 however they like. We have no business criticizing these people.
  - jquery 9y ago
    If Cards Against Humanity is going to demand wealth redistribution to support these people, you're goddamn right I can judge the financial choices of their champions.
    - FLGMwt 9y ago
      Hi. The "wealth distribution" is entirely at CAH's expense. They only surfaced that language because they made a point of communicating to the non-recipients that they wouldn't be receiving anything on top of their original contract (of getting the game for cash, which they totally got).
    - sctb 9y ago
      You've broken the guidelines a lot in this thread by commenting uncivilly and/or unsubstantively. Would you please re-read them and then stop? https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- paulv 9y ago
  Poor people are allowed to have fun, too. They "Deserve To Taste Something Other Than Shame", by Ijeoma Oluo: https://theestablishment.co/poor-people-deserve-to-taste-something-other-than-shame-90eb3aceabf9 https://theestablishment.co/poor-people-deserve-to-taste-som...

geofft 9y ago

No, you're not "that poor", if by that phrase you mean that $15 is a life-or-death decision for you, and every last cent goes toward survival. But there's a large distance between that and having enough money to fund every level on Maslow's hierarchy, and there's a larger distance between even that and not noticing a $15 expenditure at all. Maybe they have a budget for things that make life worth living, things other than ramen and a cardboard box, and they spent $15 out of that.

mberning 9y ago
Maybe they have a budget for that kind of stuff. Maybe they don't. Based on personal experience growing up in actual poverty I would bet most do not. I certainly didn't. And neither did most of the people in my life. It's really no different than buying smokes by the pack or 20oz sodas at the gas station. Many people can easily come up with the money to buy these things, even people that are perpetually "broke". But it does all add up. Anyway, my point was that I don't think "lack of money" is a very instructive way of looking at poverty. If these people are so poor yet have $15 for an impulse buy do you think giving them $1000 is going to change their life? Probably not. Education and building better habits would really help them a lot more. They could save $1000 or probably a lot more and really turn their life around.
- throwawaycloud 9y ago
  Ever make chicken? 3lbs of chicken is $15 alone ($3.59/lb x 4 lbs, about 1lb of liquid). That's not a lot of food. Oh, hmm.. How about hamburger then? Same story. $1k would absolutely be a lifechanger. I'd be able to go get my colonoscopy that I desperately need, or be able to at least go to a therapist to help get over my fear of needles in preparation for that. You bet I'll drop $15 on CAH. I'm not going to deny myself entertainment just because there are other things I need. Look at it this way: $15 is a one-time expense. Health insurance is $400/mo. And I'm not even that poor. I'd rather the $1k go to someone who needs it more than me.
  - fjsolwmv 9y ago
    $1000 for a colonoscopy to tell you that you need $500K of treatment?

mikekchar 9y ago

You may be suffering from the same thing I did: not understanding what this is about. I recommend taking a look at the FAQ (which is relatively difficult to get to from the original article): https://www.cardsagainsthumanitysavesamerica.com/#faq https://www.cardsagainsthumanitysavesamerica.com/#faq It's a "complicated promotion" and in this phase they are redistributing wealth to the poorest of the group who paid -- not to the poorest people in the country. I had originally thought that people were signing up with the hopes of getting a payback -- some kind of horrible poorest person wins the pot kind of game. But this is literally, "Pay us $15 and we will do something crazy with it". So far the other things they have done is bought up land to try to interfere with Trump's wall between the US and Mexico (and built a trebuchet), and set up a "good news only podcast" (and sent out stickers). Most people in the US have discretionary spending even if they are poor. $15 to participate in crazy stunts to "save America"? Certainly there are people who can not afford that, but I don't think that was ever the point. Edit: Is $1000 potentially life changing for people who are not in abject poverty. I think point is: yes. They point out that half of Americans do not have any emergency money at all. So you don't even need to be in poverty to be living hand to mouth. Will $1000 realistically change that? Clearly not. But the whole thing is a bit tongue in cheek.

jquery 9y ago
Past college, living hand-to-mouth is in the USA is largely an issue of financial education and self-control. I was living hand-to-mouth when I met my wife, who made half what I did and had substantial savings. Get housemates instead of keeping a house to yourself. Get roommates instead of a room to yourself. Get rid of your subscriptions. And so on. Sustenance is remarkably cheap unless you're in poor health. I blame this lack of financial education on our failing high schools and bad parenting. And a stigma against judging others for poor financial choices (I see people in this thread lauding the gifts the charity recipients plan to buy).
- op00to 9y ago
  Are you kidding me? What if someone is unable to go to college? How about someone making minimum wage?