This is what happened when I drove my Mercedes to pick up food stamps

[ivwshane]

Please. I defend poor and belive in helping them out. But these two have no excuse. They were not raised on wrong side of tracks. They are not stupid. They just entitled babies who don't want to pay their dues. I have a brother like this. Raised in upper middle class house and total deadbeat. Just look guys hasnt worked in *years*.

Lol! Even when spelled out to you, you miss the point.

 

[Zebo]

Please explain how they are deadbeats.

Also, please explain how being raised on the "right side of the tracks" and possessing intelligence precludes one from taking advantage of assistance programs when faced with unforeseen financial catastrophes.

Guy hasnt worked in "years" should be obvious. I could find a job anywhere in a day even if its washing dishes. But naw - he's too good for that apparently even with a young family at home. Entitled to high pay or he's staying home.

Nothing wrong with taking assistance. Like others say its there when you need it. I just question their choices they made and are making to need it. Like 30K cars, like 250K houses, like 7K a month net and not saving at least half.

 

[nehalem256]

Guy hasnt worked in "years" should be obvious. I could find a job anywhere in a day even if its washing dishes. But naw - he's too good for that apparently even with a young family at home. Entitled to high pay or he's staying home.

Nothing wrong with taking assistance. Like others say its there when you need it. I just question their choices they made and are making to need it. Like 30K cars, like 250K houses, like 7K a month net and not saving at least half.

back in 2007 a 250K home was median

While a 30K car may not be the best financial decision one could make. Splurging a little for a car in your 20s before you are married doesn't exactly make you a terrible person.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Guy hasnt worked in "years" should be obvious. I could find a job anywhere in a day even if its washing dishes. But naw - he's too good for that apparently even with a young family at home. Entitled to high pay or he's staying home.

Nothing wrong with taking assistance. Like others say its there when you need it. I just question their choices they made and are making to need it. Like 30K cars, like 250K houses, like 7K a month net and not saving at least half.

It could well be that he was making more on unemployment than he could find in a job. It happened to my friend after he left the Army. If you're making $2,000+ a month on unemployment and the alternative is working a job that pays less, what incentive is there to take the job? Guilt? That's not a great motivator as compared to greed. Which is a solid argument for an overhaul of unemployment benefits (which I'm in favor of). But don't tell me that you'd take a minimum wage job and sacrifice several thousand a month in unemployment; that's economically ludicrous, much moreso than having the audacity to own a car while poor.

 

[Zebo]

I grew up in a white, affluent suburb, where failure seemed harder than success.

She says all you need to know about mentality. No planning and streets are gonna forever be paved with gold for them. Sad they still dont realize mistakes by end of article and blame the system.

I'd sell that Mercedes tomorrow and buy a chainsaw and used bucket truck and get the Prince off the couch and be cutting trees. Makes good money. Trust me my sons make about 3K a week in HS. Net about 600-1K each week during summer.

 

[Engineer]

Are you suggesting that they did deserve to be poor? She specifically says that they didn't deserve to be poor or rich. Their biggest problem was not effectively planning for a complete financial catastrophe while expecting their first child(ren). That's a forgivable sin in my book; an awful lot of people got hosed by the recession. Did they all deserve it?

Seems to me that they had a pretty good sized income and went in 'whole hog' (as they say). What did they deserve then?

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I'd sell that Mercedes tomorrow and buy a chainsaw and used bucket truck and get the Prince off the couch and be cutting trees. Makes good money. Trust me my sons make about 3K a week in HS.

First off, a bucket truck is more expensive than a used Mercedes, so they would already be behind just in that transaction. Second, where the hell are they going to cut down trees in Boston? You're displaying the exact same regional bias that you decry in her upbringing. "We cut down trees for money, therefore it is something that is applicable everywhere." Poppycock.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Seems to me that they had a pretty good sized income and went in 'whole hog' (as they say). What did they deserve then?

To quote Clint Eastwood, "deserve's got nothing to do with it." They made some mistakes in their fiscal planning and it came back to bite them. Some of the men responsible for crashing the global economy are still worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Do they "deserve" that for their performance? It's all circumstance. With a different shake of the dice, these people never stopped being upper middle class. Que sera sera.

 

[Engineer]

To quote Clint Eastwood, "deserve's got nothing to do with it." They made some mistakes in their fiscal planning and it came back to bite them. Some of the men responsible for crashing the global economy are still worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Do they "deserve" that for their performance? It's all circumstance. With a different shake of the dice, these people never stopped being upper middle class. Que sera sera.

:hmm:

As for the people at the top crashing the world and deserve, they should have been kicked to the curb...but instead, we bailed them out. They deserved to go under but we were too stupid to let it happen.

 

[Zebo]

First off, a bucket truck is more expensive than a used Mercedes, so they would already be behind just in that transaction. Second, where the hell are they going to cut down trees in Boston? You're displaying the exact same regional bias that you decry in her upbringing. "We cut down trees for money, therefore it is something that is applicable everywhere." Poppycock.

Boston has trees everywhere. I bet you could drive down one street and make $1000. And no you can get thousands of bucket trucks for less than 4K. Which is an asset unlike most vehicles.
http://www.commercialtrucktrader.com/listing/1992-Ford-F700-112208784

But anyway that was just an example...point is do something.

 

[Zebo]

:hmm:

As for the people at the top crashing the world and deserve, they should have been kicked to the curb...but instead, we bailed them out. They deserved to go under but we were too stupid to let it happen.

Yup but they own our congress ppl. System is terrible, stacked against you, socialism for riches capitalism for avg folk.. everyone knows this. But giving up and being a spendthrift is not the answer. Definitly cant get anywhere that way.

 

[Bitek]

Please. I defend poor and belive in helping them out. But these two have no excuse. They were not raised on wrong side of tracks. They are not stupid. They just entitled babies who don't want to pay their dues and live large. I have a brother like this. Raised in upper middle class house and total deadbeat. Just look guy hasnt worked in *years*. Pisses me off. Have everything and piss it away. Worse than coming from nothing and being broke.

What are you talking about? Did you actually read the whole article, or are you just projecting your feelings about your brother on to them?

You (and several others) are doing exactly what the article is about. Making poverty into a morality judgment rather than a confluence of choices, circumstances and bad luck.

Are some people endlessly foolish and lazy? Sure. Is that true of everyone who ends up poor? No. But much of the rhetoric is "poor people are poor bc they are greedy and lazy and deserve what's become of them. I am not, so it cannot happen to me."

Point is most of us could have found ourselves in a similar situation if our cards played a different way. Maybe not Zebo, who is thrifty as the Pope, but far less compassionate.

They had savings they burned away trying to ride out unemployment in a dying industry in the worst financial crisis in 70 years. They were young, with one trying to build a new career by taking low pay, but experience valuable jobs. Then they had premie twins on top.

But the husband has condemned his family to destitution and ruin bc he bought and paid for a hotshot car while he was single in his 20s. Gee that's soooo rare. You'd think he was trying to get laid or something...

 

[unokitty]

Poor lady. Life has just been so unfair to her.

I mean, you can't really expect a victim to accept any consequences for their decisions.

Can you?

Uno:whiste:

 

[Zebo]

What are you talking about? Did you actually read the whole article, or are you just projecting your feelings about your brother on to them?

You (and several others) are doing exactly what the article is about. Making poverty into a morality judgment rather than a confluence of choices, circumstances and bad luck.

Are some people endlessly foolish and lazy? Sure. Is that true of everyone who ends up poor? No. But much of the rhetoric is "poor people are poor bc they are greedy and lazy and deserve what's become of them. I am not, so it cannot happen to me."

Point is most of us could have found ourselves in a similar situation if our cards played a different way. Maybe not Zebo, who is thrifty as the Pope, but far less compassionate.

They had savings they burned away trying to ride out unemployment in a dying industry in the worst financial crisis in 70 years. They were young, with one trying to build a new career by taking low pay, but experience valuable jobs. Then they had premie twins on top.

But the husband has condemned his family to destitution and ruin bc he bought and paid for a hotshot car while he was single in his 20s. Gee that's soooo rare. You'd think he was trying to get laid or something...

Sure it could happen to anyone. we could be be sued tomorrow and lose almost everything and many other reasons. Point here they lived as if no tomorrow it's common. All I was saying is a couple lessons in frugality and savings goes a long way. Beyond that not working in "years" is only thing I really hold against the so called man of the house.

 

[bozack]

Sure it could happen to anyone. we could be be sued tomorrow and lose almost everything and many other reasons. Point here they lived as if no tomorrow it's common. All I was saying is a couple lessons in frugality and savings goes a long way. Beyond that not working in "years" is only thing I really hold against the so called man of the house.

they should have sold the car, period. Justifying keeping it with this article just shows they know that they had guilt over it.

 

[WackyDan]

how is it piss poor planning?

Unplanned family from the sounds of it. Yeah, shit happens, but the whole pregnancy thing was probably unplanned and compounded their issues... On the other hand, they became a family of four so their food stamp amount shot up.

 

[Zaap]

Although some of their original choices may have been slightly suspect from the story they didn't do anything egregiously wrong.

First off, I personally don't give a crap about the car(s), I'm just pointing out how people make up facts to make the story sound sadder, when in reality, there's virtually nothing all that bad about any of it. It just amazes me how people fall for symbolic drek- if she had focused on something else, and titled the stupid article differently "I took my Prada Bag to pick up food stamps!" then all the sob sisters would be whining about Prada bags.

It's just a stupid prop- an angle to the story to try and make it somehow remarkable, when there's *NOTHING* remarkable at all in any of it. People have simply made up facts she never stated and run with it. It's all pretty silly. I don't see their choices as wrong either- I just don't see anything in her story as remarkable, pitiable, an example of living in poverty or understanding anyone else's poverty or circumstances... nothing. It's just an average tale of LIFE happening to someone. As I said before- whoopidy.

 

[OverVolt]

First off, I personally don't give a crap about the car(s), I'm just pointing out how people make up facts to make the story sound sadder, when in reality, there's virtually nothing all that bad about any of it. It just amazes me how people fall for symbolic drek- if she had focused on something else, and titled the stupid article differently "I took my Prada Bag to pick up food stamps!" then all the sob sisters would be whining about Prada bags.

It's just a stupid prop- an angle to the story to try and make it somehow remarkable, when there's *NOTHING* remarkable at all in any of it. People have simply made up facts she never stated and run with it. It's all pretty silly. I don't see their choices as wrong either- I just don't see anything in her story as remarkable, pitiable, an example of living in poverty or understanding anyone else's poverty or circumstances... nothing. It's just an average tale of LIFE happening to someone. As I said before- whoopidy.

Something like 1/3 or 1/2 people wind up on foodstamps at some point in their lives I read somewhere, so I guess Zaap knows whats up.

 

[Zaap]

Something like 1/3 or 1/2 people wind up on foodstamps at some point in their lives I read somewhere, so I guess Zaap knows whats up.

LOL. Source that.

We'll wait.

Heck in this country now, dead people get food stamps!
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/07/louisiana_food_stamps_dead_peo.html


I'm now waiting for the article from a zombie on how they rolled their coffin down to collect food stamps.

 

[theeedude]

Driving a used Mercedes is no big deal. That's what it's there for.
Getting food stamps when you fall on hard times is no big deal either. That's what they are there for.

 

[fleshconsumed]

I am not quite sure why you are fixating on $5k. I posted that number because it worked with the posters mention of 50 years. Again I would point to the $800/yr spent on alcohol and tobacco, $2600 on eating out and $2500 on entertainment as low hanging fruit to increase the $5k contribution towards retirement

I was simply pointing out that the notion "if only you save a couple hundred dollars a month then you can retire a millionaire and live a sweet sweet worry free life in your final years" is simply not true. Practically no one can do that for 50 years, 40 years is the optimistic version, and most people do not start saving until their 30's which leaves them only 30 years of account growth. And even saving $5000 a year for 40 years or $417 a month can be hard on one's finances, not everyone has that kind of disposable income. And in the end that "million" dollar retirement account of yours can only sustain $20,000/year withdrawals in today's dollars. As I said, I'm simply pointing out that saving $5000 a year, a figure that not everyone can afford, is simply not enough to have a comfortable retirement.

 

[realibrad]

As someone who is not usually in favor of government assistance, I can at least think of a situation where helping a wealthy person could turn out to cost less to society.

When someone takes a lower paying job after being let go, they tend to command lower wages from there on out. The people who get laid off, but find a job making higher tend to command higher wages in the long run.

So if the government assistance was below the difference of what would have been lost in tax revenue, in theory it could be a net good. I have no idea if this happened but it is very possible that it could.

 

[BoberFett]

:hmm:

As for the people at the top crashing the world and deserve, they should have been kicked to the curb...but instead, we bailed them out. They deserved to go under but we were too stupid to let it happen.

:thumbsup:

 

[desy]

Seems we have to drive the point home
"Poverty is a circumstance, not a value judgment"
There but for the grace of God, go I

Hindsight on every decision they made was not the point for all you armchair financial planners out there. I'm sure they made lots of smart decisions too. It should be of value to every 'entitled' starting out couple 'she pointed out they were' as to how your imagined life can go off the rails in a heartbeat.
She's not saying poor me she saying wow, it happened to me!

 

[JockoJohnson]

Yes, it's a fundamental difference.
Kicking someone when they are down by stigmatizing and shaming them vs giving them a helping hand to get back on their feet and avoiding long term negative consequences by making sure their children get proper nutrition in the meantime.
But even aside from that, these people have either paid or will pay enough taxes over their lifetime to pay for temporary food stamps many times over. They don't need to feel ashamed when they benefit from programs they pay for. Even their kid is going to benefit society more and pay more taxes if it gets proper nutrition as an infant. So my advice to her is ignore the haters, and do what's best for your family, and don't be ashamed of doing it.

And that is the inherent problem with your thinking. People shouldn't feel entitled to it just because they pay taxes into it. I pay into unemployment -- I am not planning my next few months to sabotage my job and get laid off in order to collect what I put in. SSI is an entitlement that we should get paid on when we retire, no shame in that. Medicare is an entitlement that we should get paid on when we retire, no shame in that. People collecting food stamps should feel enough shame to get back to work.

The problem is that you and your ilk don't want people to feel ashamed. You want them to be so comfortable on welfare and food stamps that they stay on it. If you pay people to not work, guess fucking what -- they won't work. There has to be incentive to get the fuck back to work. I know, it's Bush's fault that there are no jobs and the dumb fuck Republicans are preventing people from getting good jobs. People need to stop making excuses and fix their own problems and stop depending on others so much. But if they do that, then Democrats and Republicans can't buy their votes.