7 ms·

$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 tr

by 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.
        jnbiche 9y ago
        I wonder the same thing. I think there is a study being done now in the US on cash grants, so there may be some data. But not nearly as much as there is from Africa.
    - djsumdog 9y ago
      > They didn't earn it. And what exactly does Zuckerburge do earn the millions he makes every year? Personally, nothing. Everything him and Gates et. al. did was leverage the capital of people they convinced to work for them. When I worked in an office in Seattle where a 1/bdr was $1800/month, I would watch a janitor come around each day and empty my trash can. I'm sure he made a fraction of what I did, but honestly, I'm sure he did more work .. or at least the same amount. What I do is more difficult, and I was lucky to be raised in a family that had the means to send me to college and I was lucky to pick a career field that earned me that money. So much of what we have isn't earned. It's more by chance. The major determining factor in your succeeding (school, career, etc.) is determined before you are born. If you're born into poverty, it is very very difficult to get out. To quote George Carlin, it's called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe in it.
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...

by FLGMwt 9y ago

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.
      - jnbiche 9y ago
        I wonder the same thing. I think there is a study being done now in the US on cash grants, so there may be some data. But not nearly as much as there is from Africa.
  - djsumdog 9y ago
    > They didn't earn it. And what exactly does Zuckerburge do earn the millions he makes every year? Personally, nothing. Everything him and Gates et. al. did was leverage the capital of people they convinced to work for them. When I worked in an office in Seattle where a 1/bdr was $1800/month, I would watch a janitor come around each day and empty my trash can. I'm sure he made a fraction of what I did, but honestly, I'm sure he did more work .. or at least the same amount. What I do is more difficult, and I was lucky to be raised in a family that had the means to send me to college and I was lucky to pick a career field that earned me that money. So much of what we have isn't earned. It's more by chance. The major determining factor in your succeeding (school, career, etc.) is determined before you are born. If you're born into poverty, it is very very difficult to get out. To quote George Carlin, it's called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe in it.

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...