Puffnstuff
Lifer
- Mar 9, 2005
- 16,203
- 4,884
- 136
If you were unable to acquire section 8 housing you would pretty much be in deep trouble. The cost of living has outpaced livable wages for many years now making very difficult to find affordable housing.
Jaskalas
Lifer
- Jun 23, 2004
- 35,765
- 10,074
- 136
Replace it all with Basic Income. Put government bureaucrats out of business. Free Americans from the strings.
ch33zw1z
Lifer
- Nov 4, 2004
- 39,750
- 20,323
- 146
Very true. My anecdote is you got a 50/50 shot of finding a good place too, that's clean enough to be considered 1st world, and you neighbors arent casing the place to take your shit when your at work.
For a "Christian Nation" Americans certainly enjoy some deadly sinning
Depends on where you live I would guess. NYC is likely very tough but in a MI city I was able to find a cheap place to rent fairly easily although not exactly in a nice neighborhood. My car got broken into twice and stolen once. The positive side was that my car was such a POS they returned it. I do NOT miss worrying when it would die in the middle of the road again or that it leaked on me when it rained
ch33zw1z
Lifer
- Nov 4, 2004
- 39,750
- 20,323
- 146
Sure, it's relative to your area, but there's important factors to keep in mind. Housing is priced based on location, and in your example it sounds like it was cheap because of crime. The root cause of most crime is economic hardship as well. So yea, you got a "cheap place" but would you move your family of four to that area? I'd venture to say nobody wants to, but maybe HAS to sometimes.
Would I want to? Of course not. I also wouldn't want to go back to popcorn and peanut butter as cheap fillers to keep my stomach from growling. But that family of four would be fine as the shelter provided was perfectly adequate. Kept a non-leaking roof over my head, the heat and plumbing worked and crime largely non-violent*. Sure I would have preferred AC I could afford to run and better space to hand wash and hang dry my clothes but when you're poor 'adequate' and 'manageable' are what you shoot for.
*From my memory. This was more than a few years ago so can't really check but I don't recall ever feeling unsafe or recall hearing about muggings, stabbings etc
ch33zw1z
Lifer
- Nov 4, 2004
- 39,750
- 20,323
- 146
A couple young kids wanting to play outside can change that perspective 😉
1prophet
Diamond Member
- Aug 17, 2005
- 5,313
- 534
- 126
Not poor people but poor Americans with poor habits and being told its always someone else's fault (a psychological enslavement method to keep them poor and useful to those that use them for political purposes), that's why immigrants and refugees who come from places were poverty that is many times worse than what native born Americans consider to be poverty can run circles around them.
Why Immigrants' Children Do Better in School
Children who immigrate to the United States with their families are likely to outperform kids with a similar background who were born here. But by the third generation, the advantage will be gone. This according to a Johns Hopkins study that tracked 11,000 young immigrants.
A new study shows that even the poorest immigrants lift themselves up within a generation
It appears that the idea of the “American Dream” has some truth.
www.vox.com
Why Do Immigrants Outperform Native-Born Americans?
The real economic engines of our economy are not native-born populations, but the children of immigrants with the grit and resources to succeed.
America still is the land of opportunities for black immigrants—but not their kids
Why it's easier to be a black immigrant than a black American.
Children of Poor Immigrants Rise, Regardless of Where They Come From - Asset Funders Network
A pattern that has persisted for a century: They tend to outperform children of similarly poor native-born Americans. Immigration to the United States has consistently …
assetfunders.org
Opinion - The Blame Game: The Black Victim narrative is getting tired
While marginalized groups, like blacks, are right in highlighting systemic issues, the black victim narrative is really the problem says Joe Mebrahtu.
shiftermagazine.com
As others mentioned the amount of money to be poor varies wildly by area so these comparisons are hard. I remember when my wife was in grad school in Georgia and I would visit her from NYC I would feel like Scrooge McDuck because everything was so cheap. She paid $300 a month for half a house, I paid $1,200 a month for a studio that was more roach than studio.
Sonikku
Lifer
- Jun 23, 2005
- 15,901
- 4,927
- 136
Of course I could. I'm considered below the poverty level even now on SSI and my disposable income tripled compared to what I was living on before getting it. $446 a month for housing, utilities, internet and all day to day expenses with $192 on food stamps. I lived on that for seven years.
What about property tax? I own my house outright as well, but property tax alone is >300.00 per month?
sportage
Lifer
- Feb 1, 2008
- 11,492
- 3,163
- 136
You know, the funny thing is we are all poor Americans. Most are one paycheck away from disaster. Most are far overextended credit-wise. Our national debt is a nightmare and so is personal debt. No matter how rich and secure one believes themself to be, it takes only one one hit to the stock market to clean out savings, retirement, to close businesses. Sorry folks but we're all poor trailer trash Americans underneath the iPhones and SUV's. Some of our trailers may be fancier than the other trailers, but that's about it. If ever a true pandemic came along, one where the infection rates were ramped and the infected doomed to death, what wealth is would take on an entirely different meaning. Maybe the schools should teach the kids how to hunt, build shelters, and survive off the land just in case the next pandemic is not so forgiving... THEN ask the question what would it be like to be poor? A man that could built a shelter, build a fire, and gather food would be considered quite wealthy while everyone else succumbed to their iPhones and SUV's. Which by the way, iPhones and SUV's have very little nutritional value.
No.
From what I've seen, from many I've known who were off-spring of migrants to the UK, appearances can be deceptive. Migrants often take a step-down in the class-heirarchy as the cost of migration - taking jobs below that they are capable of - but they still have the cultural capital (e.g. education, social networks, psychological stability) of their class of origin, back in the 'old country'. And their offspring often subsequently return to the class of their grandparents.
It also varies by country of origin. People who arrive as traumatized refugees from countries in a state of severe social-collapse tend not to do as well as those who arrive as motivated workers looking to gain opportunities.
Not poor people but poor Americans with poor habits and being told its always someone else's fault (a psychological enslavement method to keep them poor and useful to those that use them for political purposes), that's why immigrants and refugees who come from places were poverty that is many times worse than what native born Americans consider to be poverty can run circles around them.
Why Immigrants' Children Do Better in School
Children who immigrate to the United States with their families are likely to outperform kids with a similar background who were born here. But by the third generation, the advantage will be gone. This according to a Johns Hopkins study that tracked 11,000 young immigrants.abcnews.go.com
A new study shows that even the poorest immigrants lift themselves up within a generation
It appears that the idea of the “American Dream” has some truth.
Why Do Immigrants Outperform Native-Born Americans?
The real economic engines of our economy are not native-born populations, but the children of immigrants with the grit and resources to succeed.www.psychologytoday.com
America still is the land of opportunities for black immigrants—but not their kids
Why it's easier to be a black immigrant than a black American.qz.com
Children of Poor Immigrants Rise, Regardless of Where They Come From - Asset Funders Network
A pattern that has persisted for a century: They tend to outperform children of similarly poor native-born Americans. Immigration to the United States has consistently …
Opinion - The Blame Game: The Black Victim narrative is getting tired
While marginalized groups, like blacks, are right in highlighting systemic issues, the black victim narrative is really the problem says Joe Mebrahtu.
From what I've seen, from many I've known who were off-spring of migrants to the UK, appearances can be deceptive. Migrants often take a step-down in the class-heirarchy as the cost of migration - taking jobs below that they are capable of - but they still have the cultural capital (e.g. education, social networks, psychological stability) of their class of origin, back in the 'old country'. And their offspring often subsequently return to the class of their grandparents.
It also varies by country of origin. People who arrive as traumatized refugees from countries in a state of severe social-collapse tend not to do as well as those who arrive as motivated workers looking to gain opportunities.
Muse
Lifer
- Jul 11, 2001
- 40,874
- 10,222
- 136
Muse
Lifer
- Jul 11, 2001
- 40,874
- 10,222
- 136
I see those miles-long lines of cars with people getting food handouts going on now and marvel: When I was that poor I didn't drive a car, I either had a bicycle (that I bought used) or I walked.
I'm not poor now, but most of my life I've lived below the poverty line, so, yes, I absolutely could survive as a poor American. I know more about how to live on less than the GREAT MAJORITY of Americans. I can stretch a dollar across 5 counties.
There was a 2 week period in the 1970s when I had 2 dollars to my name. That 2 dollars stayed in my pocket (didn't spend a cent) because
I could write a book, and maybe I will. Been thinking that for decades. Funny thing is that the situation in America hasn't improved, it's only gotten worse, so the need for that book has continued to grow. But now that I have some money, I don't feel like a person who needs those techniques, well, not like I did. But I'm still street-wise, I always will be.
It's a thing. Frugality. Or is it thriftiness? See, thrift is a curse, frugality is a virtue. Well, that's the semantic divide here. "A dollar saved is a dollar earned." Famous saying, and I think it was Ben Franklin. "Waste not want not." Same idea. But thrift can be a curse. It's like Jimmy Stewart in "It's a Wonderful Life," complaining that he didn't want to spend his life trying to "save 25 cents on a piece of pipe."
In large part it comes down to mental health, another term for sanity.
I'm not poor now, but most of my life I've lived below the poverty line, so, yes, I absolutely could survive as a poor American. I know more about how to live on less than the GREAT MAJORITY of Americans. I can stretch a dollar across 5 counties.
There was a 2 week period in the 1970s when I had 2 dollars to my name. That 2 dollars stayed in my pocket (didn't spend a cent) because
I did not want to be penniless
I could write a book, and maybe I will. Been thinking that for decades. Funny thing is that the situation in America hasn't improved, it's only gotten worse, so the need for that book has continued to grow. But now that I have some money, I don't feel like a person who needs those techniques, well, not like I did. But I'm still street-wise, I always will be.
It's a thing. Frugality. Or is it thriftiness? See, thrift is a curse, frugality is a virtue. Well, that's the semantic divide here. "A dollar saved is a dollar earned." Famous saying, and I think it was Ben Franklin. "Waste not want not." Same idea. But thrift can be a curse. It's like Jimmy Stewart in "It's a Wonderful Life," complaining that he didn't want to spend his life trying to "save 25 cents on a piece of pipe."
In large part it comes down to mental health, another term for sanity.
Last edited:
Muse
Lifer
- Jul 11, 2001
- 40,874
- 10,222
- 136
Muse
Lifer
- Jul 11, 2001
- 40,874
- 10,222
- 136
shortylickens
No Lifer
- Jul 15, 2003
- 80,287
- 17,081
- 136
Lost_in_the_HTTP
Lifer
- Nov 17, 2019
- 13,308
- 7,884
- 136
Property taxes here have been in the $300/YR range (no typo), but in another year, I'll be able to claim a homestead property tax exemption which will take it to near zero. Like they say, location, location, location. Most city dwellers couldn't live out here in the sticks, but some of us city transplants made the switch just fine..
- Sep 25, 2001
- 29,391
- 2,738
- 126
First secure a private income, then practice virtue - Greek proverb (or so I keep being told).
Jaskalas
Lifer
- Jun 23, 2004
- 35,765
- 10,074
- 136
I figure that scenario is a death sentence.
WAY too many of us, and WAY too little unclaimed land for 100s of millions to survive off of it hunter gatherer style.
The only way to actually survive is to maintain our supply lines to farmers, and from the farmers to our people. Stores or not.
Your other point is spot on. It takes a HUGE income to overcome rising housing and medical costs.
6 in 10 Americans don't have $500 in savings. Most of us are "poor".
- Dec 11, 1999
- 16,695
- 4,658
- 75
The study I saw said it only takes a day on paper; three on plastic. Plus, the virus is mainly transmitted person-to-person anyway.
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