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Thank you for sharing. Your comment highlights something important I believe when talking about poverty. One common argument against any type of government help

Thank you for sharing. Your comment highlights something important I believe when talking about poverty. One common argument against any type of government help is that poor people should just work harder and pull themselves by the bootstrap. However the situation you describe above shows the many side-effects of being poor which impede life in general: lack of proper sleep (because you live in a noisy area with no other choice), constant stress (paying rent, maybe dangerous neighborhood, etc.), probably not affording good quality food, etc. etc. Add these side-effects up and one quickly understand that getting out of poverty is an herculean task and I personally couldn't blame someone for not making it.

bradleyjg 6y ago
I’d go further—-why do all narratives around poverty have to revolve around the middle class? Either someone used to be middle class and is now poor, grew up poor and is now middle class or at very least is moving towards that end. Where are the stories about people born into poverty, still in poverty, and not likely to be anything but poor for the rest of their lives? There are lots of people like this and cutting out their stories distorts our perceptions.
- collyw 6y ago
  > Where are the stories about people born into poverty, still in poverty, and not likely to be anything but poor for the rest of their lives? Thomas Sowell says that it's actually a pretty small percentage of people like that. Most poor people are young and most rich people are old. Young people become older and the vast majority work their way up the pay scale to some extent.
  - musingsole 6y ago
    Seems like the thing to put some numbers on. If that perpetually poor narrative is only true for 1% of Americans, that's a population bigger than my hometown being forever mischaracterized and unrepresented. Ignoring the realities of others' lives is how we got rising fascism. I doubt many are comforted in knowing they're a statistical minority.
    - collyw 6y ago
      He does. I tried to find it on youtube, but there are a lot of Sowell clips. >Ignoring the realities of others' lives is how we got rising fascism. Not sure where that comes from.
- throw1234651234 6y ago
  I imagine no one cares about those stories for the most part, other than Jack London and Anton Chekhov.
6510 6y ago
> One common argument against any type of government help is that poor people should just work harder and pull themselves by the bootstrap. Even in a fully emotionally detached view a government should do what it takes to upgrade citizens to healthy productive members of society.
deleted 6y ago
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bradleyjg 6y ago

I’d go further—-why do all narratives around poverty have to revolve around the middle class? Either someone used to be middle class and is now poor, grew up poor and is now middle class or at very least is moving towards that end. Where are the stories about people born into poverty, still in poverty, and not likely to be anything but poor for the rest of their lives? There are lots of people like this and cutting out their stories distorts our perceptions.

collyw 6y ago
> Where are the stories about people born into poverty, still in poverty, and not likely to be anything but poor for the rest of their lives? Thomas Sowell says that it's actually a pretty small percentage of people like that. Most poor people are young and most rich people are old. Young people become older and the vast majority work their way up the pay scale to some extent.
- musingsole 6y ago
  Seems like the thing to put some numbers on. If that perpetually poor narrative is only true for 1% of Americans, that's a population bigger than my hometown being forever mischaracterized and unrepresented. Ignoring the realities of others' lives is how we got rising fascism. I doubt many are comforted in knowing they're a statistical minority.
  - collyw 6y ago
    He does. I tried to find it on youtube, but there are a lot of Sowell clips. >Ignoring the realities of others' lives is how we got rising fascism. Not sure where that comes from.
throw1234651234 6y ago
I imagine no one cares about those stories for the most part, other than Jack London and Anton Chekhov.

6510 6y ago

> One common argument against any type of government help is that poor people should just work harder and pull themselves by the bootstrap. Even in a fully emotionally detached view a government should do what it takes to upgrade citizens to healthy productive members of society.

deleted 6y ago

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