4 ms·

The entire point of working for a living instead of e.g. subsistence farming is that you can simply switch jobs if it's not going well. As an adult if you can'

by throwaway22032 3y ago

The entire point of working for a living instead of e.g. subsistence farming is that you can simply switch jobs if it's not going well. As an adult if you can't weather a couple of weeks of unemployment you've seriously screwed up somewhere - probably overcommitting to expenses based on assuming that your income is guaranteed. The mindset that someone should be stopped from even offering a job because it might not be forever is completely ass backwards. It's never forever, act accordingly.

lostlogin 3y ago
> As an adult if you can't weather a couple of weeks of unemployment you've seriously screwed up somewhere Only 64% of Americans could cover an expected bill of $400. https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2021-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2020-dealing-with-unexpected-expenses.htm https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2021-economic-we...
- throwaway22032 3y ago
  Indeed. More than 36% of Americans are clinically obese. There are a _lot_ of really short sighted people out there.
  - mschuster91 3y ago
    That's due to poverty... calorie dense, highly processed food is cheap as hell due to mass production efficiencies, but high quality food? Groceries? Ain't no one got the money for that, or they live in "food deserts" [1]. For poor kids, it's even worse, because all they have other than sub-par school lunches is whatever microwave meal their parents can afford not just financially but also time-wise. Cooking for a family takes time and energy, both scarce when you gotta work two jobs to make ends meet. [1] https://www.aecf.org/blog/exploring-americas-food-deserts https://www.aecf.org/blog/exploring-americas-food-deserts
    - zeroonetwothree 3y ago
      Many people are obese despite not living in poverty (including myself, unfortunately).
      - mschuster91 3y ago
        Agreed, but tackling the poverty/food access issue is a pareto issue IMHO - get the wide masses out of poverty and provide equal access to healthy food supplies will get rid of a large chunk of the issue.
      - boohoowangle 3y ago
        I agree. Reports from Pew Research Center and CDC show that the cause for obesity is complex and cannot be pinpointed to just poverty. The studies are a decade old, but are still prevalent. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/11/13/obesity-and-poverty-dont-always-go-together/ https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/11/13/obesity-a... https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6650a1.htm https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6650a1.htm
    - suslik 3y ago
      This completely ignores issues like food addiction (which is a hell of a drug - some of the, say, top obesity candidate genes are expressed in brain), an overabundance of sugar in the diet, and lack of anything that resembles a decent food culture. It is absolutely possible to maintain a quick and healthy diet on low budget - there are infinite reddit threads and substack articles on the topic.
      - mschuster91 3y ago
        > an overabundance of sugar in the diet That's literally the first point I listed. > and lack of anything that resembles a decent food culture. Yep. I mean, I'm European so I'm a bit biased - here over the pond, we associate American food culture with "tons of fat and sugar". > It is absolutely possible to maintain a quick and healthy diet on low budget - there are infinite reddit threads and substack articles on the topic. It is, if you have the resources: a car to get to a place where healthy food is sold, most especially, and time and energy to cook. It simply is not possible to drag oneself out of poverty by the bootstraps. Most of these "live on a frugal budget" peddlers are highly privileged: they can afford to buy in bulk when stuff is on sale, they can afford to store bulk supplies without them going bad, they can afford to drive a lot just to get the best deals. Take these three points out of the equation and most "frugal" influencers get revealed as patronizing scammers who I believe have zero right to exist and bullshit others on the Internet. And the politicians who reference to these bullshit peddlers should be thrown into jail and be served nothing more than dry bread and water for a few weeks, just to get some humility into them. I'm sick and fucking tired of all of that. Fix poverty instead of patronizing those who are in direst needs.
- thablackbull 3y ago
  Not an expert on the financial market, but this article may be worthwhile to consider, 'Actually, Most Americans Can Come Up With $400 in an Emergency' [1] [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-08-03/actually-most-americans-can-come-up-with-400-in-an-emergency https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-08-03/actual...
- shiroiushi 3y ago
  In my observation, Americans are especially bad at managing their finances.
pixl97 3y ago
Eh, this also seems backwards from how most cities actually work... Most of the time they are looking into bringing businesses in that will have long term staying power, and backing that by offering low interest loans or tax breaks via a number of different programs. No, cities do not want boom/bust type scams that are going to eat up real estate and leave a dilapidated building in the future. >As an adult if you can't weather a couple of weeks of unemployment you've seriously screwed up somewher Or rent/housing/food/healthcare has exploded in cost in the past few years and you're like a large percentage of the country living paycheck to paycheck. But hey, screw them anyway, "let them eat cake", what could possibly go wrong.
galdosdi 3y ago
> As an adult if you can't weather a couple of weeks of unemployment you've seriously screwed up somewhere Especially considering that back when "we all" farmed, the common amount of savings to have was an entire year's worth, since that's how long it is between harvests (in some climates -- perhaps half a year depending local variation)

lostlogin 3y ago

> As an adult if you can't weather a couple of weeks of unemployment you've seriously screwed up somewhere Only 64% of Americans could cover an expected bill of $400. https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2021-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2020-dealing-with-unexpected-expenses.htm https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2021-economic-we...

throwaway22032 3y ago
Indeed. More than 36% of Americans are clinically obese. There are a _lot_ of really short sighted people out there.
- mschuster91 3y ago
  That's due to poverty... calorie dense, highly processed food is cheap as hell due to mass production efficiencies, but high quality food? Groceries? Ain't no one got the money for that, or they live in "food deserts" [1]. For poor kids, it's even worse, because all they have other than sub-par school lunches is whatever microwave meal their parents can afford not just financially but also time-wise. Cooking for a family takes time and energy, both scarce when you gotta work two jobs to make ends meet. [1] https://www.aecf.org/blog/exploring-americas-food-deserts https://www.aecf.org/blog/exploring-americas-food-deserts
  - zeroonetwothree 3y ago
    Many people are obese despite not living in poverty (including myself, unfortunately).
    - mschuster91 3y ago
      Agreed, but tackling the poverty/food access issue is a pareto issue IMHO - get the wide masses out of poverty and provide equal access to healthy food supplies will get rid of a large chunk of the issue.
    - boohoowangle 3y ago
      I agree. Reports from Pew Research Center and CDC show that the cause for obesity is complex and cannot be pinpointed to just poverty. The studies are a decade old, but are still prevalent. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/11/13/obesity-and-poverty-dont-always-go-together/ https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/11/13/obesity-a... https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6650a1.htm https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6650a1.htm
  - suslik 3y ago
    This completely ignores issues like food addiction (which is a hell of a drug - some of the, say, top obesity candidate genes are expressed in brain), an overabundance of sugar in the diet, and lack of anything that resembles a decent food culture. It is absolutely possible to maintain a quick and healthy diet on low budget - there are infinite reddit threads and substack articles on the topic.
    - mschuster91 3y ago
      > an overabundance of sugar in the diet That's literally the first point I listed. > and lack of anything that resembles a decent food culture. Yep. I mean, I'm European so I'm a bit biased - here over the pond, we associate American food culture with "tons of fat and sugar". > It is absolutely possible to maintain a quick and healthy diet on low budget - there are infinite reddit threads and substack articles on the topic. It is, if you have the resources: a car to get to a place where healthy food is sold, most especially, and time and energy to cook. It simply is not possible to drag oneself out of poverty by the bootstraps. Most of these "live on a frugal budget" peddlers are highly privileged: they can afford to buy in bulk when stuff is on sale, they can afford to store bulk supplies without them going bad, they can afford to drive a lot just to get the best deals. Take these three points out of the equation and most "frugal" influencers get revealed as patronizing scammers who I believe have zero right to exist and bullshit others on the Internet. And the politicians who reference to these bullshit peddlers should be thrown into jail and be served nothing more than dry bread and water for a few weeks, just to get some humility into them. I'm sick and fucking tired of all of that. Fix poverty instead of patronizing those who are in direst needs.
thablackbull 3y ago
Not an expert on the financial market, but this article may be worthwhile to consider, 'Actually, Most Americans Can Come Up With $400 in an Emergency' [1] [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-08-03/actually-most-americans-can-come-up-with-400-in-an-emergency https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-08-03/actual...
shiroiushi 3y ago
In my observation, Americans are especially bad at managing their finances.

pixl97 3y ago

Eh, this also seems backwards from how most cities actually work... Most of the time they are looking into bringing businesses in that will have long term staying power, and backing that by offering low interest loans or tax breaks via a number of different programs. No, cities do not want boom/bust type scams that are going to eat up real estate and leave a dilapidated building in the future. >As an adult if you can't weather a couple of weeks of unemployment you've seriously screwed up somewher Or rent/housing/food/healthcare has exploded in cost in the past few years and you're like a large percentage of the country living paycheck to paycheck. But hey, screw them anyway, "let them eat cake", what could possibly go wrong.

galdosdi 3y ago

> As an adult if you can't weather a couple of weeks of unemployment you've seriously screwed up somewhere Especially considering that back when "we all" farmed, the common amount of savings to have was an entire year's worth, since that's how long it is between harvests (in some climates -- perhaps half a year depending local variation)