How come most Americans are poor?

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteven
Most Americans are "poor" because they insist on living beyond their means. They want instant gratification when it comes to expensive purchases. Buy now, pay later with interest!

Not just that. A lot of the poor I see around here have no real desire to be better off. They'll gladly go to their $10/hour job for forty hours a week and not do anything to improve themselves as long as they have enough to watch football in the fall and drink beer on the weekends.

 

[malG]

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: malG
Crikey! I just discovered that school dropouts working as cashiers ($19/hour) at BigW stores (Aussie Wal-Mart equivalent) get paid as much as Wal-Mart assistant managers. No wonder there are so many working poor in America :Q

Actually, here walmart managers are salary and make less than $11/hour on average when you consider their very high hours.

WOW :Q:Q:Q:Q:Q

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteven

Originally posted by: Queasy
BTW, poor compared to what? Even poor Americans enjoy a standard of living much higher than the rest of the world...including Europe.

We have the best-fed poor people on the planet.

Best-dressed too...I remember in college when I did volunteer tutoring for a "poor" grade school in Oakland.

The kids' family had to qualify for gov't assistance to participate in our program and each of the kids dressed in much more expensive clothes than I did and were picked up by parents who drove nicer cars than I did

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: KingofCamelot

Originally posted by: malG

Originally posted by: Mo0o
We also give the most in terms of aid i think

Why so much aid to Israel and why not help poor Americans?

Cause Israelis are a bunch of Jews surrounded by hostile Arab countries? I think they can use all the extra help they can get.

Also, poor Americans aren't going to get any of the foreign aid funds so pointing out which countries get those funds has nothing to do with the main argument.

I seem to recall them doing pretty decent in wars prior to us helping them out in huge amounts...

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteven
Most Americans are "poor" because they insist on living beyond their means. They want instant gratification when it comes to expensive purchases. Buy now, pay later with interest!

Not just that. A lot of the poor I see around here have no real desire to be better off. They'll gladly go to their $10/hour job for forty hours a week and not do anything to improve themselves as long as they have enough to watch football in the fall and drink beer on the weekends.

Which is perfectly acceptable as long as they are not living on welfare and are paying their taxes.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: malG
Here's another example of Australian government generosity which is unheard of in America; we get $4k for each newborn and get a sizeable allowance to take care of the child till they're 16!

Where does the government get that money? From a bottomless money pit?

You get back $4k each time you have a kid, or, if you're poor, you get $4k from your neighbors.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: ctcsoft

most americans are not poor. they are just dumb with their money.

- we live beyond our means
- we eat out ALL THE TIME.
- gotta keep up with the Jones'
- don't know how to invest or save
- lots of people think vonage is a good deal at $25/mo. - point here is that most do not shop around or look for ways to save money. most shop and pay retail prices.
- most pop out like 3-4 kids without thinking or caring. then the gov't has their back with BIG tax refunds.

Most who are poor, choose to be poor. They spend recklessly, might have a drug or gambling habit, or just a compulsive shopping habbit. Rack up credit card debt they cannot and won't payoff ever.

I agree with all of those except eating out. As a single guy, I save money by eating out.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteven
Most Americans are "poor" because they insist on living beyond their means. They want instant gratification when it comes to expensive purchases. Buy now, pay later with interest!

Not just that. A lot of the poor I see around here have no real desire to be better off. They'll gladly go to their $10/hour job for forty hours a week and not do anything to improve themselves as long as they have enough to watch football in the fall and drink beer on the weekends.

Which is perfectly acceptable as long as they are not living on welfare and are paying their taxes.

Yeah, they're welcome to do what they want.

But if an Australian thinks our poor are poor because our government doesn't give out enough money, they're quite wrong.

 

[malG]

Originally posted by: tcsenter
It is widely accepted that the homeless rate in the US is around 1% of the population at any given time, compared to .5% of the population in Australia according to your census figures (100,000 persons in 2001).

Fair enough but I think the homeless rate 1% (about 3 million people) of the world's most powerful country is way too much.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf

Originally posted by: Eli
Poor is realitive.

Even the poorest americans are rich compared to most of the World's population.

True, but that statement does fail to take into account the cost of living. I simply can't find any apartment no matter how small under $500/month here. That $500/month could fully support a dozen families in other countries.

True.. we need a better definition of "rich" and "poor", I guess.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: malG

Originally posted by: tcsenter
It is widely accepted that the homeless rate in the US is around 1% of the population at any given time, compared to .5% of the population in Australia according to your census figures (100,000 persons in 2001).

Fair enough but I think the homeless rate 1% (about 3 million people) of the world's most powerful country is way too much.

Leave our homeless alone. They made some bad decisions and now they're paying for it. No need to badger them any further.

 

[Ronstang]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman
I agree with all of those except eating out. As a single guy, I save money by eating out.

Actually that just means you don't know how to shop or cook properly. Even when I lived alone I saved money when I ate at home.

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: malG

Originally posted by: tcsenter
It is widely accepted that the homeless rate in the US is around 1% of the population at any given time, compared to .5% of the population in Australia according to your census figures (100,000 persons in 2001).

Fair enough but I think the homeless rate 1% (about 3 million people) of the world's most powerful country is way too much.

What is Japan's homeless rate? I hear they have a very high literacy rate compared to the other developed countries also.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Mo0o
Because we spend a lot of money on national defense because everyone hates us.

We do spend an assload on defense (or offense as the case may be). As much as the next 14 countries combined or something like that. That's enough to make everyone else wonder what we're up to.

Aliens

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf

Originally posted by: Eli
Poor is realitive.

Even the poorest americans are rich compared to most of the World's population.

True, but that statement does fail to take into account the cost of living. I simply can't find any apartment no matter how small under $500/month here. That $500/month could fully support a dozen families in other countries.

You choose to live in that area (or choose not to move). Take a $50 Greyhound bus ride to my little Texas town and you can get 1BR/1BA for $200. Under $500 will get you 2 BR/1BA. Squeezing just north of $500 will get you an extra half-bath and a townhouse design.

(Also, in all these situations, you'd get the added bonus of having me as your landlord )

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: b0mbrman
I agree with all of those except eating out. As a single guy, I save money by eating out.

Actually that just means you don't know how to shop or cook properly. Even when I lived alone I saved money when I ate at home.

Actually, it means you're not taking the cost of your time into account...nor the value of variety.

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman
Best-dressed too...I remember in college when I did volunteer tutoring for a "poor" grade school in Oakland.

The kids' family had to qualify for gov't assistance to participate in our program and each of the kids dressed in much more expensive clothes than I did and were picked up by parents who drove nicer cars than I did

I think its more cultural influence in that instance.

 

[malG]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: malG
Here's another example of Australian government generosity which is unheard of in America; we get $4k for each newborn and get a sizeable allowance to take care of the child till they're 16!

Where does the government get that money? From a bottomless money pit?

You get back $4k each time you have a kid, or, if you're poor, you get $4k from your neighbors.

It's called the baby bonus, this was introduced to counter our aging population. It's currently at $4,000 and will increase to $5,000 in July 2008. The baby bonus is not means tested, but there are eligibility requirements, such as Australian residency.

Just imagine if you can make 10 babies

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: b0mbrman
Best-dressed too...I remember in college when I did volunteer tutoring for a "poor" grade school in Oakland.

The kids' family had to qualify for gov't assistance to participate in our program and each of the kids dressed in much more expensive clothes than I did and were picked up by parents who drove nicer cars than I did

I think its more cultural influence in that instance.

Perhaps, but my point is that although they were, by definition, poor, they still had pretty nice stuff.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: malG

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: malG
Here's another example of Australian government generosity which is unheard of in America; we get $4k for each newborn and get a sizeable allowance to take care of the child till they're 16!

Where does the government get that money? From a bottomless money pit?

You get back $4k each time you have a kid, or, if you're poor, you get $4k from your neighbors.

It's called the baby bonus, this was introduced to counter our aging population. It's currently at $4,000 and will increase to $5,000 in July 2008. The baby bonus is not means tested, but there are eligibility requirements, such as Australian residency.

Just imagine if you can make 10 babies

Err...that's not what I was getting at...your government doesn't synthesize money; It collects it from you and then gives it back to the people who make babies.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: malG
Here's another example of Australian government generosity which is unheard of in America; we get $4k for each newborn and get a sizeable allowance to take care of the child till they're 16!

How is it generous to give somebody else money away?

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: b0mbrman
Best-dressed too...I remember in college when I did volunteer tutoring for a "poor" grade school in Oakland.

The kids' family had to qualify for gov't assistance to participate in our program and each of the kids dressed in much more expensive clothes than I did and were picked up by parents who drove nicer cars than I did

I think its more cultural influence in that instance.

Perhaps, but my point is that although they were, by definition, poor, they still had pretty nice stuff.

True, but you can't take that instance and extrapolate it across millions of people.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: b0mbrman
I agree with all of those except eating out. As a single guy, I save money by eating out.

Actually that just means you don't know how to shop or cook properly. Even when I lived alone I saved money when I ate at home.

Actually, it means you're not taking the cost of your time into account...nor the value of variety.

Are you saying it takes longer to cook than to drive to a restaurant, order a meal, eat it, and drive back home?

 

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: Mo0o

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: Mo0o
Because we spend a lot of money on national defense because everyone hates us. Not to mention Australia isn't as diverse as the United States, less conflict of interest within the nation

I think we've got to. It's the fear of our military that keeps other countries from attacking us. True, it would be difficult to mount an invasion of the US from Europe or Asia, but a strong military will make people think twice about messing with our interests.

Of course, this only applies to people who have a reasonable fear of death. We've got to re-tool for the kind of non-conventional combat that we're going to keep seeing more and more of.

Yeah. We also give the most in terms of aid i think

We give less than other western countries per capita.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: b0mbrman
I agree with all of those except eating out. As a single guy, I save money by eating out.

Actually that just means you don't know how to shop or cook properly. Even when I lived alone I saved money when I ate at home.

Actually, it means you're not taking the cost of your time into account...nor the value of variety.

Are you saying it takes longer to cook than to drive to a restaurant, order a meal, eat it, and drive back home?

It takes longer to do prep work, cook, and clean, yes