I'm poor. I deserve nice stuff like everyone else

[Sonikku]

I see entitlement all the time, but it's almost always from the people on top of the pyramid, rather than the bottom.


Ya, I know I am underage, stole booze, got drunk and killed four people in an automobile accident, but ENTITLED!

Ya, I know I basically got off scott free from robbery, DUI, reckless driving, along with about every other crime you can think of, including killing four people, but I fled the country anyway, because ENTITLED.

Ya, I know I got off scott free the first time, but I am certainly ENTITLED to get off again, right?

You see I am different that you commoners, I came out of a very special vagina.


That's real entitlement... A single mother working a full time job, yet still living well below the poverty line, and collecting food stamps is not entitlement.

but...but... iphones... :'(

 

[HeXen]

Everyone I've ever seen that considers themselves "poor" (which is relative, considering I consider "poor" to be living on the streets or unable to feed themselves, which likely isn't the topic of discussion from everyone else here) are having to go through the oh-so-harsh realities of having an iPhone 5 instead of an iPhone 6s. Oh noes!

But what do I know... I'm just someone in the upper middle class that doesn't have Cable TV / Dish and has bare bones internet access, minimum phone coverage, and have a general lack of spending (clothes, electronics, etc....). God forbid you wait 30 seconds instead of 20. Oh the HORROR!

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Go down ANY street that is considered a "poor" neighborhood by any means. You will see a satellite dish on 90%+ of the homes. You aren't suffering. You aren't lacking. You're just a scum of the nation looking for others to hand you everything in life. No one here will disprove that. I guarantee it™

Not sure what "poor" neighborhoods you go to but as a Utility worker fixing broken lines and such, I've been to many, some where every car on the block is literally sitting on blocks and no there are no satellite dishes and the coax cable TV is often abandoned by the cable company. These areas have no opportunities without traveling and they can't travel without a car.

These people in ghetto's I've been to, do not think they deserve stuff, they just want stuff. Big difference between deserve and want. Usually it's the kids that want and not all of them are little thieves either. I've talked to quite a few genuinely nice people that live in houses with huge holes in the side, dwindled foundations...basically they look abandoned and they raise their family in them and they are just regular, laid back people. Drugs and crime are always issues even with rich folks, how many millionaires do you guys think abuse cocaine?. The poor are no different, some are addicts just like anyone else, the only difference with anything is purely financial.

You really don't know jack shit about what you are talking about. Granted there are many low class area's with dishes, internet...etc and there are always people looking for handouts....you too middle class folks, don't by hypocritical or stereotype on class because some of the greediest people are the rich and middle class.

On the idea of laziness...well who isn't? What class has no lazy people? The difference of laziness is priorities and everyone's priorities are different. When you are comfortable with your lifestyle be it homeless or insanely wealthy, you adapt, you're used to it and you get lazy about it...you guy's have some fucked mentality at times.

 

[Ackmed]

Free college? That's a good idea. Let's have more of that. Let's have free education for everybody, so that the population has the opportunity to get smarter, and allow for better job qualifications.

If they're working, they deserved to get paid. If you're working, you deserve to get paid enough that you don't die at age 35, from working three jobs with only two hours sleep a day.


Lord almighty, you guys sound as if you own sweatshops.

Not everyone agrees with you on free college. Even then people would bitch, because not all colleges would be free. They would want free education at the best of colleges and not the lowly community colleges. More entitlement mindset. It is not free, money comes from somewhere. There are tons of grants and scholarships out there as it is. We don't need more Arts majors graduating from free college wasting money only to not use their degree.

Yes, everyone who works deserves to get paid. No, not everyone deserves to get paid what you're suggesting. Nobody is dying at age 35 from working, but I know you're exaggerating to support your opinion. People who you claim are working 3 jobs and getting 2 hours of sleep should keep more within their means. People deserve to get paid what they job is. Not everyone should be paid the same for every job or even at the same job. Your idea that everyone "should get paid enough" is part of the problem.

 

[ivwshane]

Not everyone agrees with you on free college. Even then people would bitch, because not all colleges would be free. They would want free education at the best of colleges and not the lowly community colleges. More entitlement mindset. It is not free, money comes from somewhere. There are tons of grants and scholarships out there as it is. We don't need more Arts majors graduating from free college wasting money only to not use their degree.

Yes, everyone who works deserves to get paid. No, not everyone deserves to get paid what you're suggesting. Nobody is dying at age 35 from working, but I know you're exaggerating to support your opinion. People who you claim are working 3 jobs and getting 2 hours of sleep should keep more within their means. People deserve to get paid what they job is. Not everyone should be paid the same for every job or even at the same job. Your idea that everyone "should get paid enough" is part of the problem.

And you are exaggerating to support your opinion.

 

[MajinCry]

Yes, everyone who works deserves to get paid. No, not everyone deserves to get paid what you're suggesting.

I beg to differ; if you work, you should get paid enough to live without being thrown into debt. Real easy to say otherwise, when you're getting paid a damn sight more.

Nobody is dying at age 35 from working, but I know you're exaggerating to support your opinion.

It's called hyperbole ya dunce. Obvious exaggeration to make a point.

People who you claim are working 3 jobs and getting 2 hours of sleep should keep more within their means. People deserve to get paid what they job is. Not everyone should be paid the same for every job or even at the same job. Your idea that everyone "should get paid enough" is part of the problem.

So the problem with people not being paid enough to live, is that people should be paid enough to live?

What?

 

[Subyman]

The strange fascination with people of the middle and upper class to dump on the poor is sad. I can rattle off a ton of people I know that live below the poverty line and work full time jobs. There are also some that finance away their entire welfare check. Just like there are rich people that cheated the system to get there, yet we don't dump on all rich people calling them cheaters. Generalizing an entire portion of the US (15%, no less) as being lazy, entitled, envious, and dumb is not healthy.

 

[cbrunny]

Everybody deserves to be happy.

Our consumer culture has equated happiness with acquisition of expensive goods.

Individuals believe that happiness is ownership of expensive goods, and that they deserve that.

At a macro level, it is a systemic problem. An individual will always have the final say, but to truly make a difference the consumer culture must change at the macro level.

 

[Camilla Petra]

myth?
Most poor don't think like this?

only those worthless that work the govt safety net/hammock have this outlook?
or has a sense of entitlement trickled out to the majority of poor?

I think poor people deserve nice stuff too. I believe in equality especially when it comes to sharing of public resources and public funds. Most poor people don't realise this though. They end up giving into oppression.

 

[Jhhnn]

And you are exaggerating to support your opinion.

It's called bullshit.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Free college? That's a good idea. Let's have more of that. Let's have free education for everybody, so that the population has the opportunity to get smarter, and allow for better job qualifications.

If they're working, they deserved to get paid. If you're working, you deserve to get paid enough that you don't die at age 35, from working three jobs with only two hours sleep a day.


Lord almighty, you guys sound as if you own sweatshops.



You should actually read what I typed, rather than what you want me to have typed.

The poor already have free college in America, if they can manage the grades/exam scores.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Everybody deserves to be happy.

Our consumer culture has equated happiness with acquisition of expensive goods.

Individuals believe that happiness is ownership of expensive goods, and that they deserve that.

At a macro level, it is a systemic problem. An individual will always have the final say, but to truly make a difference the consumer culture must change at the macro level.

Why don't individuals have a say? There are still plenty of Quakers around that choose not to engage in consumer culture. No one is forced to buy prestigious brands, random trinkets and toys, etc. They choose to because they want them. You could argue that advertisement has a negative impact on society, that people shouldn't desire things you don't want them to desire, but then you're talking about moral values which aren't something you can easily regulate in a relatively free nation. Every person that over-extends their credit, spends every last dollar while jobs are good and finds themselves negative when jobs aren't so good, etc deserves all the consequences of their immoral consumerist behavior.

 

[JSt0rm]

like spending 300$ on a meal at a fancy restaurant?

no thanks, i'll just keep my money and continue to live like a poor

I would have that same attitude if I didn't spend 15 years of my life serving the .01% but I did and I've seen things. Amazing wonderful things. And I want them.

 

[ivwshane]

The poor already have free college in America, if they can manage the grades/exam scores.

No they do not. Just because you qualify doesn't mean you get it. The funds are limited and have been shrinking.

 

[NAC4EV]

These are true:

1. Money can buy happiness.
2. Poverty can’t buy happiness.


.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

No they do not. Just because you qualify doesn't mean you get it. The funds are limited and have been shrinking.

The median students at places like UCSD, U of I, and other highly-ranked public universities already receive full tuition. I personally received full tuition my first two years (at a low-ranked but cheap state university), during the time my father was unemployed and my EFC was 0. What percentage of people that qualify don't receive it? It doesn't work on a lottery system afaik.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I would have that same attitude if I didn't spend 15 years of my life serving the .01% but I did and I've seen things. Amazing wonderful things. And I want them.

Congrats, you live an unsustainable consumerist lifestyle on a planet filled with a rapidly exploding middle-class where hundreds of millions of harder-working Chinese, Mexicans, Indians, etc want nice things too.

 

[Jhhnn]

The strange fascination with people of the middle and upper class to dump on the poor is sad. I can rattle off a ton of people I know that live below the poverty line and work full time jobs. There are also some that finance away their entire welfare check. Just like there are rich people that cheated the system to get there, yet we don't dump on all rich people calling them cheaters. Generalizing an entire portion of the US (15%, no less) as being lazy, entitled, envious, and dumb is not healthy.

It's a kind of cowardice. When people can see poverty as a moral reward then their own affluence can also be seen the same way, making them "better than" poor people.

From there it's easy to believe that poor people are dragging us down rather than looking deeper to identify the forces pushing down all working people. It allows them to ignore real power relationships in the world, pretend that the powerless rather than the powerful run this economy.

 

[cbrunny]

Why don't individuals have a say? There are still plenty of Quakers around that choose not to engage in consumer culture. No one is forced to buy prestigious brands, random trinkets and toys, etc. They choose to because they want them. You could argue that advertisement has a negative impact on society, that people shouldn't desire things you don't want them to desire, but then you're talking about moral values which aren't something you can easily regulate in a relatively free nation. Every person that over-extends their credit, spends every last dollar while jobs are good and finds themselves negative when jobs aren't so good, etc deserves all the consequences of their immoral consumerist behavior.

Individuals do have a say. That's why I said "An individual will always have the final say"

At the macro level, the issue is systemic.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I guess what I'm getting at is in "but to truly make a difference the consumer culture must change at the macro level", what difference needs to be made if any and how do you change things at the macro level?

 

[cbrunny]

I guess what I'm getting at is in "but to truly make a difference the consumer culture must change at the macro level", what difference needs to be made if any and how do you change things at the macro level?

lol fuck if i know. how many problems exist at the macro level? if there were easy solutions, they'd be implemented.

Could blow up capitalism. That'd change things a lot. (not suggesting you do, just food for thought).

 

[Jhhnn]

Why don't individuals have a say? There are still plenty of Quakers around that choose not to engage in consumer culture. No one is forced to buy prestigious brands, random trinkets and toys, etc. They choose to because they want them. You could argue that advertisement has a negative impact on society, that people shouldn't desire things you don't want them to desire, but then you're talking about moral values which aren't something you can easily regulate in a relatively free nation. Every person that over-extends their credit, spends every last dollar while jobs are good and finds themselves negative when jobs aren't so good, etc deserves all the consequences of their immoral consumerist behavior.

You unknowingly just explained why we can't let the financial elite run the economy the way they have.

Americans can't afford boom/bust cycles. The financial elite thrives on them. Your morality doesn't apply to guys like Trump who'll gleefully take huge gambles using other people's money knowing they'll never miss a meal while also knowing that a lot of other people might because of their actions. It's all FYGM all the time.

Personal responsibility at the top isn't about lifestyle but about the balance sheet. They don't feel or fear the consequences nearly the way the rest of us do.

 

[highland145]

Everybody deserves to be happy.

Pursuit of...Deserve has nothing to do with it.

 

[ivwshane]

The median students at places like UCSD, U of I, and other highly-ranked public universities already receive full tuition. I personally received full tuition my first two years (at a low-ranked but cheap state university), during the time my father was unemployed and my EFC was 0. What percentage of people that qualify don't receive it? It doesn't work on a lottery system afaik.

So you think because you for a full ride that means everyone can? I'm not sure why you think anecdotal evidence makes something true.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

You unknowingly just explained why we can't let the financial elite run the economy the way they have.

Americans can't afford boom/bust cycles. The financial elite thrives on them. Your morality doesn't apply to guys like Trump who'll gleefully take huge gambles using other people's money knowing they'll never miss a meal while also knowing that a lot of other people might because of their actions. It's all FYGM all the time.

Personal responsibility at the top isn't about lifestyle but about the balance sheet. They don't feel or fear the consequences nearly the way the rest of us do.

Boom/bust cycles are part of any growing economy afaik.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

So you think because you for a full ride that means everyone can? I'm not sure why you think anecdotal evidence makes something true.

I already gave other examples; here's one source if you want it:

http://studentresearch.ucsd.edu/_files/UCSDCollegeProfile.pdf