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I actually got quite depressed playing the game, then reading the quite dismissive comments of 2011. It was kind of nice to switch back to the current discussi

I actually got quite depressed playing the game, then reading the quite dismissive comments of 2011. It was kind of nice to switch back to the current discussion and see it lean a bit more toward empathy for the poor.

pavel_lishin 8y ago
Something I've realized here, and in other discussions I'm randomly having: I think most people just don't think things through and can't put themselves sufficiently deeply into another person's shoes. Someone just asked me, "why do you have to register to vote? why can't I show up with a passport?" - which sounds reasonable until you start thinking about local elections, where you need to prove that you live in a certain area, and then the need for some sort of registration becomes more obvious. (Or another refactoring of the system, at least.) Same here - people think, "why do you need a car, I certainly don't need one on the Upper East Side!" - and for them, they don't. In rural Texas, not having one means you're very geographically bound, and effectively unemployable. So, for some things, I don't think it's just a lack of empathy; it's just a quick knee-jerk comment on an internet forum.
- Kalium 8y ago
  A year or two back, I had an encounter with an artist. They were in some financial distress. This person blamed Uber and a company they'd rented a car from for this distress, telling a tale of woe and failed art shows. They included numbers. I took the numbers provided and worked out what their finances looked like. Tracked income and outlays. It quickly became clear that while Uber hadn't helped their situation, the several thousand dollars they had spent on financially unsuccessful art shows had more to do with their distress. The artist in question was blown away. They'd literally never encountered the notion of tracking their money in a meaningful sense. What I learned from this is that what's unimaginable to me - such as the idea of budgeting being entirely foreign - is someone else's normal. I also learned that it's impossible to put myself into their shoes fully, because life experiences can easily diverge wildly.
- sdwisely 8y ago
  Same here - people think, "why do you need a car, I certainly don't need one on the Upper East Side!" - and for them, they don't. In rural Texas, not having one means you're very geographically bound, and effectively unemployable. You're absolutely correct. I'm lucky enough to live in Melbourne Australia. Until this year "world's most livable city". Public Transport is fantastic and affordable. However, if you're unemployed and looking for a entry level job, then lets give a few examples. Warehouse and factory work - plenty of that around. However by nature they're going to be in industrial zones quite far from residential areas and transport. You can probably rule that out without a car. Cleaning - You might be able to get commercial cleaning, although your inability to get between jobs isn't going to look great to employers. Residential cleaning doesn't seem likely. Labouring - No chance you can be reliable because the jobsite will constantly be changing. By nature plenty of the low-skilled work you're immediately unable to do by not having a car, even in a city with a VERY good infrastructure. I don't necessarily think the posters are lacking in empathy, I think I was just trying to bright side that perhaps the tone of the comments meant there was a bit more societal awareness than we had back then.

pavel_lishin 8y ago

Something I've realized here, and in other discussions I'm randomly having: I think most people just don't think things through and can't put themselves sufficiently deeply into another person's shoes. Someone just asked me, "why do you have to register to vote? why can't I show up with a passport?" - which sounds reasonable until you start thinking about local elections, where you need to prove that you live in a certain area, and then the need for some sort of registration becomes more obvious. (Or another refactoring of the system, at least.) Same here - people think, "why do you need a car, I certainly don't need one on the Upper East Side!" - and for them, they don't. In rural Texas, not having one means you're very geographically bound, and effectively unemployable. So, for some things, I don't think it's just a lack of empathy; it's just a quick knee-jerk comment on an internet forum.

Kalium 8y ago
A year or two back, I had an encounter with an artist. They were in some financial distress. This person blamed Uber and a company they'd rented a car from for this distress, telling a tale of woe and failed art shows. They included numbers. I took the numbers provided and worked out what their finances looked like. Tracked income and outlays. It quickly became clear that while Uber hadn't helped their situation, the several thousand dollars they had spent on financially unsuccessful art shows had more to do with their distress. The artist in question was blown away. They'd literally never encountered the notion of tracking their money in a meaningful sense. What I learned from this is that what's unimaginable to me - such as the idea of budgeting being entirely foreign - is someone else's normal. I also learned that it's impossible to put myself into their shoes fully, because life experiences can easily diverge wildly.
sdwisely 8y ago
Same here - people think, "why do you need a car, I certainly don't need one on the Upper East Side!" - and for them, they don't. In rural Texas, not having one means you're very geographically bound, and effectively unemployable. You're absolutely correct. I'm lucky enough to live in Melbourne Australia. Until this year "world's most livable city". Public Transport is fantastic and affordable. However, if you're unemployed and looking for a entry level job, then lets give a few examples. Warehouse and factory work - plenty of that around. However by nature they're going to be in industrial zones quite far from residential areas and transport. You can probably rule that out without a car. Cleaning - You might be able to get commercial cleaning, although your inability to get between jobs isn't going to look great to employers. Residential cleaning doesn't seem likely. Labouring - No chance you can be reliable because the jobsite will constantly be changing. By nature plenty of the low-skilled work you're immediately unable to do by not having a car, even in a city with a VERY good infrastructure. I don't necessarily think the posters are lacking in empathy, I think I was just trying to bright side that perhaps the tone of the comments meant there was a bit more societal awareness than we had back then.