4 ms·

I lived on $2 a day for a couple of years[0], that was left after rent, bills and tobacco. Tobacco is taxed out the wazoo here in Australia, $30+ a bag. I didn'

I lived on $2 a day for a couple of years[0], that was left after rent, bills and tobacco. Tobacco is taxed out the wazoo here in Australia, $30+ a bag. I didn't think about stopping.. As long as you can afford a luxury like that, you have your human dignity. Or something like that. Maybe if a bag of oranges was $35 and tobacco $3, fruit would be the essential luxury.. "The only thing that can console one for being poor is extravagance. The only thing that can console one for being rich is economy." - Oscar Wilde, A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated [0] I survived on pasta, home-made cereal (e.g. wheat germ + shredded coconut) and friends taking me out to lunch.

icelancer 8y ago
Exactly. People consume tobacco/alcohol/marijuana because, well, so do normal people. If you have never been poor, then you can't possibly understand the stress that goes into it that is often relieved only by these types of goods for many people, and the shame that already goes into giving up so much.