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I think a lot of people have not been in this situation or have not really experienced the level of poverty that these people live. Managing money is not that
by NovaS1X 12y ago
I think a lot of people have not been in this situation or have not really experienced the level of poverty that these people live.
Managing money is not that hard. Abbot also mentions that she knows how much she's paying, she's not blind to it.
I think what people don't understand is the intense amount of stress that poverty causes and how it affects your judgement. When you're in a spot so bad that you have maybe $20 a week for food and have bills and collections wanting everything you have, simple things like a new couch or speakers look like an escape, almost therapeutic, when you have nothing. The desire to be "normal" and come across as relevant in society can be so strong. You can't look at the couch as just a couch, these people are looking at an escape from their lives.
I highly suspect that the majority of HNers haven't been subject to a level of poverty that affects the mind like this. I can't take someone, who talks about the lives of the impoverished when they can take a degree, savings account, and probably a stable family/upbringing to the argument seriously.
- Delmania 12y ago"When you're in a spot so bad that you have maybe $20 a week for food and have bills and collections wanting everything you have, simple things like a new couch or speakers look like an escape, almost therapeutic, when you have nothing." This is something that most well off people have a hard time understanding. I remember well a story on NPR where a younger sibling scrimped and saved to buy his older brother a Nintendo DS, only to have an older and richer neighbor come over and berate him for wasting his money like that. When you're struggling every day to make ends meet, constantly worried about the future, and playing mental gymnastics to determine which bills you can afford to pay and still have food, even the smallest luxury is a relief.
- notahacker 12y agoI think we're conflating two different things here: there's a desire amongst the very poor to spend money on nonessential sources of digital entertainment which isn't necessarily that irrational. You'll find that holds in places where people earn far less than the US minimum wage and would never in their wildest dreams expect to own a sofa, a TV more than 17" across or even a trailer with actual glass in the windows; they're still very proud of their almost-smartphone and spend a lot of time glued to their CRT TV screen. There are also people with relatively limited education and intelligence and relatively high stress levels binging on furniture every time they walk into the store to make payments on the last item because they're extremely susceptible to the marketing messages that "normal" American families replace their sofas on a regular basis, and deferred payments are easier to keep up with.
- gdilla 12y agoA big issue here was the variable pay these people were getting. Obviously, that's no excuse to spend more than you make, but, it may help understand why it happens. If you have a steady paycheck, it's much easier to plan for things (even if it's a small paycheck).
- aeturnum 12y agoI think you're right. Modern research indicates that willpower is a muscle[0] and studies have demonstrated that the poor are under constant high levels of stress[1] . It feels a little like not understanding why the IT guy who just pulled two all nighters doesn't look his best. [0] http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/willpower.aspx http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/willpower.aspx [1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/poverty-strains-cognitive-abilities-opening-door-for-bad-decision-making-new-study-finds/2013/08/29/89990288-102b-11e3-8cdd-bcdc09410972_story.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/povert...