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Surprisingly, this is the first time this article was submitted to HN. It's quite interesting. Some of these things happen in all developed nations, but quite

Surprisingly, this is the first time this article was submitted to HN. It's quite interesting. Some of these things happen in all developed nations, but quite a significant number of them only happen in the US. For example, it did not realize just how fucked up health care is in the US prior to reading this article.

ido 16y ago
Or the couple of mentions about poor people having shitty cars. Where I'm from poor people take the bus, as they could afford neither a car nor the gas.
- zephyrfalcon 16y ago
  Not all places in the US are reachable by bus, especially smaller towns.
  - die_sekte 16y ago
    The geographical disadvantage of the US is probably to blame for this. I don't think that there's a substantial number of rural poor in western Europe. I don't think that there is any town in Germany that is not reachable by bus, and our inner cities have at least adequate public transit. Apart from free health care, good public transit could turn some things in the US.
    - zephyrfalcon 16y ago
      Agreed; I'm originally from the Netherlands myself, and the situation there is the same as in Germany. Over here in the US, it's a different story. If you live in a rural area (like I do) you really need a car, because there is no public transportation anywhere around.
- RyanMcGreal 16y ago
  In most industrialized cities, the bus service is good enough to use as a primary transportation mode.
  - _delirium 16y ago
    Depends on the city and the job imo. Many cities have very bad late-night bus services (often non-existent), which is a problem if you're a janitor or fast-food worker who gets off at 2am. And many of the better-paying jobs available to the poor are in wealthy suburban areas with bad bus services as well, so with no car you're cutting out a bunch of employment options, like cleaning houses or waiting tables in upscale suburbs. Atlanta has interesting rush-hour traffic along those lines, with a large group of poor people from southern Atlanta driving to jobs in the suburban/exurban counties to the north.
yummyfajitas 16y ago
I'm pretty sure he is not talking about the US. Being poor is knowing you work as hard as anyone, anywhere. This is definitely not the US. Most of our poor don't work at all (and are not trying to work), and about 90% don't work full time. http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2008.pdf http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2008.pdf Being poor is not enough space for everyone who lives with you. In the US, 67% of poor households have 2 rooms per person (compared to 70.2% of non-poor households). http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2004/01/understanding-poverty-in-america http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2004/01/understandi... Being poor is stealing meat from the store, frying it up before your mom gets home and then telling her she doesn’t have make dinner tonight because you’re not hungry anyway. In the US, being poor is eating the meat, the potato chips, the bacon and the ice cream. But it might be a quart of Krasdale rather than a pint of Ben & Jerry's. [Edit: I'm speculating that the poor get fat off a broad sampling of typical American fatty foods. I could be getting specific food items wrong. Thanks krschultz for pointing out that my comment was unclear.] http://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/February06/Features/feature4.htm http://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/February06/Features/featu... I really don't know what part of the world he is talking about. [edit: changed secondary source to original source on obesity. ]
- krschultz 16y ago
  I recently found out how much money WIC pays out for "supplemental" nutrition. $50 a MONTH. In vouchers. For only certain foods. Ice cream would definitely not be one of them. White bread is not one of them. Soda is not one of them. Get your facts straight.
  - yummyfajitas 16y ago
    Could you remind me where I claimed the poor were getting fat off WIC supplemental nutrition, rather than other sources of food? I've edited my comment to reflect the fact that I'm only speculating about specific food items making the poor fat. But make no mistake, the poor are fat - their average BMI is 29, only one point short of obesity. If you ever live in a poor neighborhood, all you need to do is open your eyes to see that everyone has plenty to eat.
bd 16y ago
Surprisingly, this is the first time this article was submitted to HN. It was already discussed here before (with many comments), but it was submitted as a comment: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=619197 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=619197

ido 16y ago

Or the couple of mentions about poor people having shitty cars. Where I'm from poor people take the bus, as they could afford neither a car nor the gas.

zephyrfalcon 16y ago
Not all places in the US are reachable by bus, especially smaller towns.
- die_sekte 16y ago
  The geographical disadvantage of the US is probably to blame for this. I don't think that there's a substantial number of rural poor in western Europe. I don't think that there is any town in Germany that is not reachable by bus, and our inner cities have at least adequate public transit. Apart from free health care, good public transit could turn some things in the US.
  - zephyrfalcon 16y ago
    Agreed; I'm originally from the Netherlands myself, and the situation there is the same as in Germany. Over here in the US, it's a different story. If you live in a rural area (like I do) you really need a car, because there is no public transportation anywhere around.
RyanMcGreal 16y ago
In most industrialized cities, the bus service is good enough to use as a primary transportation mode.
- _delirium 16y ago
  Depends on the city and the job imo. Many cities have very bad late-night bus services (often non-existent), which is a problem if you're a janitor or fast-food worker who gets off at 2am. And many of the better-paying jobs available to the poor are in wealthy suburban areas with bad bus services as well, so with no car you're cutting out a bunch of employment options, like cleaning houses or waiting tables in upscale suburbs. Atlanta has interesting rush-hour traffic along those lines, with a large group of poor people from southern Atlanta driving to jobs in the suburban/exurban counties to the north.

yummyfajitas 16y ago

I'm pretty sure he is not talking about the US. Being poor is knowing you work as hard as anyone, anywhere. This is definitely not the US. Most of our poor don't work at all (and are not trying to work), and about 90% don't work full time. http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2008.pdf http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2008.pdf Being poor is not enough space for everyone who lives with you. In the US, 67% of poor households have 2 rooms per person (compared to 70.2% of non-poor households). http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2004/01/understanding-poverty-in-america http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2004/01/understandi... Being poor is stealing meat from the store, frying it up before your mom gets home and then telling her she doesn’t have make dinner tonight because you’re not hungry anyway. In the US, being poor is eating the meat, the potato chips, the bacon and the ice cream. But it might be a quart of Krasdale rather than a pint of Ben & Jerry's. [Edit: I'm speculating that the poor get fat off a broad sampling of typical American fatty foods. I could be getting specific food items wrong. Thanks krschultz for pointing out that my comment was unclear.] http://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/February06/Features/feature4.htm http://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/February06/Features/featu... I really don't know what part of the world he is talking about. [edit: changed secondary source to original source on obesity. ]

krschultz 16y ago
I recently found out how much money WIC pays out for "supplemental" nutrition. $50 a MONTH. In vouchers. For only certain foods. Ice cream would definitely not be one of them. White bread is not one of them. Soda is not one of them. Get your facts straight.
- yummyfajitas 16y ago
  Could you remind me where I claimed the poor were getting fat off WIC supplemental nutrition, rather than other sources of food? I've edited my comment to reflect the fact that I'm only speculating about specific food items making the poor fat. But make no mistake, the poor are fat - their average BMI is 29, only one point short of obesity. If you ever live in a poor neighborhood, all you need to do is open your eyes to see that everyone has plenty to eat.

bd 16y ago

Surprisingly, this is the first time this article was submitted to HN. It was already discussed here before (with many comments), but it was submitted as a comment: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=619197 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=619197