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> Every time my family had any money, they bought stuff This is a pretty well-known phenomenon among people with unreliable income. Their default state is tha
by closetohome 9y ago
> Every time my family had any money, they bought stuff
This is a pretty well-known phenomenon among people with unreliable income. Their default state is that they have no money, because they keep ending up there. So when there's a windfall, they don't think long-term, they just know it will be gone. So they spend it on something that provides immediate gratification.
I came from pretty dirt poor too, and saw this among my own family and friends for years.
- charlescearl 9y agoThis article on most professional athletes going broke https://www.si.com/vault/2009/03/23/105789480/how-and-why-athletes-go-broke https://www.si.com/vault/2009/03/23/105789480/how-and-why-at... was on HN recently. Seems to give some credence to the claim that those of us who are dealing with poverty, are conditioned to stay that way. As a child of someone from a poor family of 9, it always seemed like there were so many traps to overcome. It has to be a massive societal commitment.