BenjaminMu
88050
2321
39
My 12 favorite 4 years ago. Still true today.
Feb 23, 2021 5:43 AM
BenjaminMu
88050
2321
39
My 12 favorite 4 years ago. Still true today.
sickandtired365
My sons father uses my poverty against me constantly to indicate I’m not a good enough mother. It’s honestly so degrading when it happens.
NearHereThere
This situation is the result of political choices. It is not inevitable.
FabergeBurrito
Funny that one of the richest countries has people as poor as the poverty stricken we have. But not ha-ha funny. Not ha-ha funny at all.
nitur
"It's called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it." - George Carlin https://youtu.be/ishhDXdYAnc
softsuit
You will read about this in history in 30 years. Hopefully in English. Just enough education to do the jobs. Not enough to revolt.
Pdizzle124
After taxes, you walk away with less that 70% of your income. Now add in the living expenses which in itself is another large chunk gone.
TrueFireduck
Yep, and when people get desperate enough they turn violent, and once it's the majority the rich and the comfortable pay for it.
megazord666
https://www.google.com/amp/s/fivethirtyeight.com/features/higher-rates-of-hate-crimes-are-tied-to-income-inequality/amp/
megazord666
Something to think about. It’s easy to create divisiveness when resources seem scarce.
Psycho3968
Watching loved ones starve, freeze to death, unable to access Universal Healthcare, NO living wage..THATS SOMETHING GO TO THE CAPITOL FOR!
Nandabun
And yet. No one will.
squintish
Honestly, this and climate change should have had us rioting in the streets decades ago.
Mythmatic
“It’s a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps.” -MLK
A1V1
Yet, people are voting themself to the bottom. Not even towards middle class. No, the bottom of life... But have our guns/small government..
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Nachro97
What's fucking scary is that it's the only thing they'll get mad about and riot over. And worse, they might even get what they want
failingmajestically
I always found it ironic that car insurance is a requirement but if you cant afford it you get a hefty fine for a lapse. Another one 1/
failingmajestically
Affordable care act allowed access to healthcare but it wasn't always free. If you didn't have healthcare you got a fine at end of year
CangodCreateAStoneItCannotLift
Lol, "livable wages". You egotistical maniac!! What about the bonuses for managers? Have you ever thought about them? /s
WoofBastard
Well, let's see ... one former Republican among what, 76 million? Great. Glad you figured it out. Tell your brethren.
TheHorseDivorce
As a new yorker I'm losing my mind trying to figure out where this is
yippee4x42000
It’s the $10 boots versus the $100 boots theory
BigManSam
You cant pull yourself up by your boots if you have no arms cos you lost them in a tragic lumberyard accident and you are wearing flip flops
kilo38
A great explanation of why Fight Club resonated with so many.
aCoolBreezeOnAHotSummerDay
So, so many jobs are the low paying hourly jobs bc we don’t manufacture anymore. Offshoring to China has killed blue collar, middle class
saithvatar
Pognant - evoking a keen sense of sadness or regret.
zfournier16
My favorite line is just get a job....
StepOnTheSun
I'm disabled. Part of my family thinks I'm lazy. I have CRPS, Fibromyalgia, migraines, and pancreatic cancer. I hear this all of the time>
StepOnTheSun
As I wait for my SSD. They've even gone as far as to say that I've wasted my life. Like I chose these issues and not to be able to work.
itzujones1
So true
erroniousmaximus
Ever try walking someone though this process? It’s painstaking and sometimes even when holding their hand they still won’t get it. Like 1/
erroniousmaximus
“Oh they should get a better job” really? Why kind? Who’s hiring that’s better than that now? “They should just go to school and get 1/
caduto11
Getting a better job is such a shitty thing to say. People who work 35+ hour weeks should be able to support themselves and live comfortably
erroniousmaximus
A higher skilled job” oh really? When will they go to school? What money will they use to pay for it? “They should save some money first” 3/
erroniousmaximus
What money will they save? It just goes on and on.
ThisHeretic
not to mention the job market is already flooded with people who already have those qualifications in most cases.
erroniousmaximus
And it’s a long term investment that may not pan out. Today’s field in demand might be next years field that’s over filled. So picking a 1/
Diinosaurus
The struggle is depicted pretty well in The Jungle by sinclair
BenjaminMu
I have Heard about that book several times. Really need to buckle down and read it
kindpanda
"I aimed for their hearts and hit them in the stomach"
SansAandAnguS
I'm Australian and I watch the situation in the US with such despair. I know it's not perfect here in Oz, but by comparison Americans have
SansAandAnguS
it so much worse (I believe exacerbated by Trump). I truly hope your new administration makes some tangible positive change asap!
EchoWhiskyBravo
Don’t believe everything you see on social media. For example, when I think of Oz, I think of giant fire spiders.
SansAandAnguS
Yeah those are tricky, but it's the bunyips that you've got to watch.
Nachro97
And people wonder why I love Australians, comments like this
goodisunpopular
Probably the thing most people don't understand about being poor is how expensive it is. It's literally impossible to save money sometimes.
sykoticflaw
Being poor charges interest.
Elvirana
This quote by Terry Pratchett: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/72745-the-reason-that-the-rich-were-so-rich-vimes-reasoned
DoorbyTheHouseShelf
Yeah being poor is really fucking expensive. Put it in terms of percentage of income, and things fit into perspective much clearer
LadyLink
Yesss. I hear thinking the other day, oh we're doing ok, I can treat myself to a few things, why am I complaining? 1/?
DoorbyTheHouseShelf
Don't not treat yourself occasionally, just because money is tight. Doesn't have to be big, like a candy bar, but its important for moral.
LadyLink
I did this time. We had a bit of extra money and untreated myself hard at my husband's very loud insistence. O lot of that extra money 1/2
LadyLink
Went to immediate needs though and it went QUICK. But I got some nice skin care and we did get a washing machine so it's not so bad
DoorbyTheHouseShelf
In the words of the great Tallahassee: "you gotta enjoy the little things." Maybe you can't save. Doesn't mean you can't enjoy life a little
LadyLink
Then my washing machine stopped spinning and I need to do large loads, my dryers bearings gave out, I discovered I need to pay out 1800 2/?
LadyLink
For a crown on a front tooth, service my car, get my special needs son a decent bed and we have no savings and I was like oh yeah. Nvm.
CritterrCatcher
Ugh I’ve had those “ oh yeah, nevermind” moments too
OtterOfDoom
Things like car repairs have to be put off which often causes more serious things to fail meaning you spend even more than you would have.
johneventually1
Health and dental issues, education, quality products, etc
AnythingMuchShorter
I was just thinking that, now that I have a good job and some savings it seems like random expenses actually hit less often.
TheSecondPiewackit
Was realizing this the other day. Used to have my accounting down to the cent, and $30 left in the bank meant I might be able to actually..1
TheSecondPiewackit
... enjoy a beer or a steak. Now I never have less than $150 in there "Just in case some random bill comes out." 2
FoamingToad
So much this. During the 1990s I was broke all the time. Overdraft fees. Bounced cheque fees. Fees everywhere. Now sorted but damn.
AnythingMuchShorter
yet back when a $100 parking ticket could ruin my whole month, stuff like that happened all the time.
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AnythingMuchShorter
Also worse apartment that didn't come with parking, it required street parking. Similarly in a worse part of town and parking on the street,
AnythingMuchShorter
my car got broken into more, which would cost a few hundred dollars. Plus whatever was taken.
goodisunpopular
Back when I was making $10/h, 40+h/wk, after my rent & car I'd have like $100 to budget for utilities & groceries for the month.
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goodisunpopular
Fortunately water/sewage was included in my rent. I was *very* conservative with electricity, bill was $35-$75 depending on season. For food
bunnynamednelson
I feel the biggest reason for that is, because you can afford a little more, you can invest in durable things. Like say you buy 1/3
bunnynamednelson
a new pair of jeans, you can afford to buy one from a decent brand. As it is more decent, you might wear it just as often as your last 2/3
bunnynamednelson
pair, but it won't rip as fast. You won't have to buy a new pair soon. This way your expenses will be spread a lot more. 3/3
Flodos
"Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" is actually telling them to do the impossible. Which often is what it takes to get out of poverty.
Chumbawhumba
It's true, the term was first used to describe a nonsense scenario. This video explains it https://youtu.be/nHOBjsRrLZY
DrWhy9
I always found it kinda fitting that that was americas unofficial motto
psa0k
Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness.
DrDoALittleMoreThanBareMinimum
Thank fucking bilingualism...This phrase never made sense to me and I thought maybe I just dont get it but alas it was them who didnt get it
OldSchoolNewRules
You basically need absolutely nothing to go wrong for about 10 years.
Burke616
*And* for a lot of things to go right. Just coasting with no surprise problems for 10 years is what we call a holding pattern.
IPoopOnCompanyTime
My clock keeps getting reset.
TarrkertheNewt
It didn't used to be so impossible. That's part of the problem. Some people think the world still works like it did when they were young.
Excludos
No, it's always been a metaphor for the impossible. People just misinterpreted it
ArdentSlacker
Is it a misinterpretation, or just cruelty?
Quid739
Born into inhibitory circumstances.
Excludos
ChloeRed
No, physics says it's always been impossible to lift yourself up by just pulling on a lower part of yourself...
FreebooterFox
Getting out of poverty is what they're claiming didn't use to be impossible. The bootstrapping idiom is at least ~200 years old.
bazookasoup
So you are saying we need Bethesda to run the economy? Bucketfly to the mooooooon
SilverHornet
Or giant-based catapult, turboyeet into the cloud district.
Quixus
I don't get the Bethesda connection. Please explain.
ChloeRed
Their games often have really weird physics issues, like plants sticking through walls, or hitting someone and making them fly into orbit.
imgonnahurtu
The analogy has always been impossible, but America used to have a strong middle class and decent upward mobility.
Nachro97
Resulting from the root of republican rot, Ronald Reagan
GerberLegalTeam
The phrase was originally written as a kind of satire pointing out the flaw in that mentality. Now people use it literally, which is crazy.
Frederf
It's figuratively insane!
CaldariBob
...nerd...
ArdentSlacker
The usage hasn't really changed tho. They are cruelly demanding people do the impossible. And they make it even harder as they do. 1+
ArdentSlacker
2/2 with "conservatives" cruelty is the goal, not side effect, of capitalism. Make people die if they can't afford meds/rent/food.
Quid739
It's what follows when you think Capitalism is just and produces a fair outcome.
MyRespectableAlterEgo
it's taken from Baron Munchausen's Marvellous Travels, in which the author claimed he pulled himself free of a swamp by his own hair. (1)
MyRespectableAlterEgo
It was published as non-fiction but was full of insane tall tales like that, and it's where we got the name for Munchausen Syndrome. It (2)
MyRespectableAlterEgo
was only later that people realised Munchausen was a character created by Rudolf Raspe. Just a couple fabulous facts to furnish our fun.