Most americans are poor because most americans are god loving hippies who have no concept of credit balance.
I guess it depends what you are making. I can cook a good healthy meal in less time than it would take me to drive to the restaurant and get my food, including the time it takes me to clean up.
Granted what I cook won't taste nearly as good, but I go for nutrition over taste, generally.
The US government collects taxes too, why can't they give most of it back? e.g. help the homeless Americans?
SarcasticDwarf
Diamond Member
- Jun 8, 2001
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Originally posted by: b0mbrman
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
Yes and no. First, the wages are certainly lower there. Second, the area would almost certainly not have positions in my specialization.
Any so what? When somebody is being fed in a foeeign country do they care if our 100,000 tons of grain came at a lower per capita than the 1000 tons from Italy?
Aid is aid, our lower per capita money buys more aid than anybody else.
Since when does per capita income mean that there are less poor people per capita? supposedly the gap between rich and poor is wider than it's ever been
Eating out, I can call in my order to the taqueria down the street so it'll be ready when I get there. Pay my $3.25 for a carne asada burrito and go...also, the cashier is super-hot. (Latin men :thumsup
Making it at home, I'd need about a quarter of a tomato, 1/8 head of lettuce, 1/4 cup of rice, handful of beans, 1/4 pound of flank steak, and 1 big tortilla. I could either eat the same meal 4 times a week so that I don't waste anything, buy everything canned and in tiny, expensive portions, or throw away a good portion of each ingredient...
Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
Originally posted by: b0mbrman
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
Yes and no. First, the wages are certainly lower there. Second, the area would almost certainly not have positions in my specialization.
Yup...and that's the tradeoff. We probably would pay comparably for specialized work though. A gigantic chunk of our local economy is service, so there's not a lot of competition on the consumer side for housing -- that's what makes it cheaper.
Wow, it looks like a lot of replies to this thread are based on stereotypes, probably created by hip hop or something. Where's the evidence that poor people are poor because they drive Chevy Suburbans and Escalades? Glad to know how objective ATOT is. :roll:
Partly because US has to play world police all over the world, reflective on the military budget. Aussie just have to deal with Indonesia & East Timor, and still wield very little influence.
US has to play world police because they stick their noses in everyone's fvcking business and stir up the sh!t pot and cause more trouble than what originally existed in 99.999999% of the cases.
Factor in gas, time to drive, and the time it takes to sit down and eat a decent meal at a decent restaurant and your assertion has little merit. Fast food is neither variety nor food. There are lots of ways to cook that don't take a ton of time and you can actually do other things while your dinner is in the oven, on the stove, or on the grill. If you care about your health at all even if cooking at home took more time and was more expensive it would still be worth it.
ViviTheMage
Lifer
Why do you think most Americans are poor? That is not the case, and even our poor are much better off than most of the poor elsewhere in the world.
SarcasticDwarf
Diamond Member
- Jun 8, 2001
- 9,574
- 2
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Originally posted by: b0mbrman
Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
Originally posted by: b0mbrman
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
Yes and no. First, the wages are certainly lower there. Second, the area would almost certainly not have positions in my specialization.
Yup...and that's the tradeoff. We probably would pay comparably for specialized work though. A gigantic chunk of our local economy is service, so there's not a lot of competition on the consumer side for housing -- that's what makes it cheaper.
So in the end, I don't really choose to live in the area, I have to unless I want to change careers (which is not financially feasable).
IMO your poor are poor is not because your government doesn't give handouts (although they should). I believe the cycle of poverty is harder to break for Americans since there's no subsidised college tuition, no free healthcare, lack of public housing and pathetically low minimum wage.
It takes 10 minutes round trip and is 6 miles round trip (maybe 1/4 gallon of gas). And there are is one hoagie shop, one seafood place, one Italian place, one great Mexican place (and one crappy Mexican place
), and more than a few good ol' home-cookin', country spots. All of them happily take my sexy phone-in orders.I could do something while the food is in the oven, but could I do something while I'm chopping vegetables (because yes, I care about my health)? While I'm sautéing potatoes? While I'm doing dishes?
Mind you, I love cooking. Why, tonight, I'm making lamb with spinach and garlic mashed potatoes on the side. Now, why does it make sense tonight? Because I'm inviting three friends over and it's a Sunday so I have time to make the marinade, let the lamb marinate, rotate it, boil potatoes, roast garlic, and so forth.
Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
Originally posted by: b0mbrman
Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
Originally posted by: b0mbrman
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
Yes and no. First, the wages are certainly lower there. Second, the area would almost certainly not have positions in my specialization.
Yup...and that's the tradeoff. We probably would pay comparably for specialized work though. A gigantic chunk of our local economy is service, so there's not a lot of competition on the consumer side for housing -- that's what makes it cheaper.
So in the end, I don't really choose to live in the area, I have to unless I want to change careers (which is not financially feasable).
Then it must be your best option, financially, to stay in your area. The way you talk, it sounds like it's still very much a choice. You can be forced into $500+ apartments making $100k or you can come here, make $50k, and rent $200 apartments...
It's only a cycle if you let it be one. I'm the first person in my family to go to an American college. The college grants, work study, scholarships and student loans are there for anyone who needs them and is willing to work for them.
And tell the family in my building on HUD that no public housing exists...
As for minimum wage, would you rather our teenagers made $5.15 an hour, or had no job because they didn't have enough skills to get a $7.25 an hour job?
Originally posted by: malG
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
Is that a result of the White Australia policy and trying to get white Australians to breed more?
The US has a high birth rate for a developed country. Usually countries that have bonuses for having children are low birth rate countries.
theeedude
Lifer
- Feb 5, 2006
- 35,787
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Bottom line is Americans are selfish. Just read some of these medical system threads in P&N. Typical response is. I like my insurance, I don't care if 40 million have none.
And when they aren't selfish, they actually are more worried about billionaires paying too much taxes than they are about the poor going without proper healthcare.
And when they aren't selfish, they actually are more worried about billionaires paying too much taxes than they are about the poor going without proper healthcare.
SarcasticDwarf
Diamond Member
- Jun 8, 2001
- 9,574
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Actually not even close. The field I am entering is VERY limited (library science, emphasizing information architecture and digital management). The only positions are in larger cities (most are actually at universities).
What I am saying is that in the US the absolute minimum cost of living is rather high in most cases (regardless of what your profession is). Just to survive in most places you need at LEAST $1100/month (takehome).
The Aussie unemployment rate for Feb 2007 is officially at 4.6%, which is a 30 year low. Most Aussie that I know that don't hold a job are by choice since you can be on the dole for almost all your life. Going by your logic, how is that possible when our Aussie minimum wage is $16/hour (i.e. much more than US min wage)?
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