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Really? The wealthy are to blame? Wealthy tell poor mothers to buy junk food instead of healthier (and cheaper) options? Wealthy tell poor kids to watch TV in

Really? The wealthy are to blame? Wealthy tell poor mothers to buy junk food instead of healthier (and cheaper) options? Wealthy tell poor kids to watch TV instead of doing homework? Wealthy tell poor that having a budget and sticking to it is a dumb idea?

Draiken 8y ago
Yes? Who owns the fast food chains? The marketing agencies? The land where the stores are built? Who lobbies politicians to allow them to do anything they want in the name of profit? Who owns the media brainwashing the masses into voting for X or buying Y? I'm sorry but literally everything is done for the wealthy and by the wealthy.
Viliam1234 8y ago
> Wealthy tell poor kids to watch TV instead of doing homework? No. That happens naturally, while the parents are working at their second jobs.
- AlexTWithBeard 8y ago
  Teachers do a pretty good job enforcing the homeworks, unless actively obstructed by "you're unfair, he didn't do nothing wrong!" parents.
objectivetruth 8y ago
Yep. The wealthy control the society that... a) ...has food deserts where poor people can't access fresh food and vegetables, and in many of these areas, junk food IS the cheapest option. Learn more: https://www.moveforhunger.org/harsh-reality-food-deserts-america/ https://www.moveforhunger.org/harsh-reality-food-deserts-ame... b) ...has tons of enriching and educational and recreational activities for wealthier students compared to poor students. In addition, just being poor has HUNDREDS of correlating factors for poor academic performance -- it's very lazy to just say "poor people are bad parents who just let their kids watch TV, that's why they are bad at school." Learn more: https://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/publications/education https://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/publications/education c) ... does NOT, despite your strawman point, ever tell poor people "that having a budget and sticking to it is a dumb idea." Every financial counseling service for poor people includes budgeting classes. But if you're a single parent of two kids with $1900/month gross income (well above minimum wage) and the median rent for a 2BR apartment in your city is $1200/month, good luck with that budget. Learn more: https://povertyusa.org/facts https://povertyusa.org/facts So, we might not blame an individual wealthy person but it's fair to blame the people holding the cards in society. By the way, when people repeat the arguments above, it reads to many people as incredibly uninformed and displaying an astonishing lack of empathy. I don't mean that as an attack, since many people on this site pride themselves on their lack of empathy and their ability to never have to interact with any lower-class people, other than complaining about homeless poop in the Tenderloin. One more thing: rarely, there are incredibly driven and talented and lucky poor people who break through every possible disadvantage of childhood poverty and become successful. Sometimes those people will reply to a post like this and say "Well, I did it, so it's possible! [fuck the rest of them!]" But MOST of the people in that situation developed enough empathy and real word apperception to realize the rarity of their success, and agree that society should strive to offer more pathways up for everyone.
TheCoelacanth 8y ago
Yes to all of those, it's called advertising.
- AlexTWithBeard 8y ago
  Do you believe all the advertising? Why poor people would?
  - SantalBlush 8y ago
    Are people really at fault for being persuaded by advertisements when that is their entire point?
Frondo 8y ago
Given that the least-healthy food is the most heavily subsidized in America, yes, the wealthy have orchestrated a world in which the poor choose junk food. Some "free market" there. As for having a budget and sticking to it, no one is better at budgeting than the poor, out of sheer necessity.

Draiken 8y ago

Yes? Who owns the fast food chains? The marketing agencies? The land where the stores are built? Who lobbies politicians to allow them to do anything they want in the name of profit? Who owns the media brainwashing the masses into voting for X or buying Y? I'm sorry but literally everything is done for the wealthy and by the wealthy.

Viliam1234 8y ago

> Wealthy tell poor kids to watch TV instead of doing homework? No. That happens naturally, while the parents are working at their second jobs.

AlexTWithBeard 8y ago
Teachers do a pretty good job enforcing the homeworks, unless actively obstructed by "you're unfair, he didn't do nothing wrong!" parents.

objectivetruth 8y ago

Yep. The wealthy control the society that... a) ...has food deserts where poor people can't access fresh food and vegetables, and in many of these areas, junk food IS the cheapest option. Learn more: https://www.moveforhunger.org/harsh-reality-food-deserts-america/ https://www.moveforhunger.org/harsh-reality-food-deserts-ame... b) ...has tons of enriching and educational and recreational activities for wealthier students compared to poor students. In addition, just being poor has HUNDREDS of correlating factors for poor academic performance -- it's very lazy to just say "poor people are bad parents who just let their kids watch TV, that's why they are bad at school." Learn more: https://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/publications/education https://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/publications/education c) ... does NOT, despite your strawman point, ever tell poor people "that having a budget and sticking to it is a dumb idea." Every financial counseling service for poor people includes budgeting classes. But if you're a single parent of two kids with $1900/month gross income (well above minimum wage) and the median rent for a 2BR apartment in your city is $1200/month, good luck with that budget. Learn more: https://povertyusa.org/facts https://povertyusa.org/facts So, we might not blame an individual wealthy person but it's fair to blame the people holding the cards in society. By the way, when people repeat the arguments above, it reads to many people as incredibly uninformed and displaying an astonishing lack of empathy. I don't mean that as an attack, since many people on this site pride themselves on their lack of empathy and their ability to never have to interact with any lower-class people, other than complaining about homeless poop in the Tenderloin. One more thing: rarely, there are incredibly driven and talented and lucky poor people who break through every possible disadvantage of childhood poverty and become successful. Sometimes those people will reply to a post like this and say "Well, I did it, so it's possible! [fuck the rest of them!]" But MOST of the people in that situation developed enough empathy and real word apperception to realize the rarity of their success, and agree that society should strive to offer more pathways up for everyone.

TheCoelacanth 8y ago

Yes to all of those, it's called advertising.

AlexTWithBeard 8y ago
Do you believe all the advertising? Why poor people would?
- SantalBlush 8y ago
  Are people really at fault for being persuaded by advertisements when that is their entire point?

Frondo 8y ago

Given that the least-healthy food is the most heavily subsidized in America, yes, the wealthy have orchestrated a world in which the poor choose junk food. Some "free market" there. As for having a budget and sticking to it, no one is better at budgeting than the poor, out of sheer necessity.