Real Poverty Exists in America, Let There Be No Doubt

He pulled equity out of his home to invest it?


He's a fucking MORON.

If the editorial assistant is only making $15 an hour in NYC, mebbe they should consider a more lucrative line of work.

No wonder they're sleeping on the trains.

What he fails to note is that the editorial assistant is a foot in the door job, not a life time career. They aren't going to live in Manhattan for that, but with roommates, Brooklyn is an option.

Being poor when you are young ain't so bad, and is temporary for most.

Indeed. Been there and done that.

Yep, and I have a lot of good memories from that time period.

My wife laughs at me because, occasionally, I'll eat what I refer to as "Passover Meals". Ramen noodles. Totinos frozen pizzas. Cheap, cheap food.

"We eat these bitter herbs to remind us of bitter times..."

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You forgot the tuna casseroles

Kraft Mac & Cheese
Cream of Mushroom soup (condensed)
can of tuna fish


The "Starving Students' Handbook" still holds a place of honor on my cookbook shelf.

How else would he have gotten any money? It not like he had a mortgage on the house at the time anyway.

For the record, he didn't invest it at all. Wouldn't settle for starting with a smaller house and work his way up, and now we're all the worse off for it.

Well, POTN did just that. And he's pretty damn well-off for it.

That said, POTN isn't everyone. It does take money to move (especially to places like CA and NY, where the opportunities are). 'Tis why most of the refugees of Katrina haven't moved back to NO and the other places the hurricane hit.

I had way too many tuna casseroles when I was a poor kid growing up.

I haven't had one since childhood.

Just egg noodles...not Mac & Cheese.

Making M&C into tuna casserole was a waste of good M&C.

I do belive that The Pasta Gambit is in effect.

Same here, but we still have it every now and again, aleit a fancier recipe.

Now, the liver on the other hand is nothing but an ancient childhood memory.

^
I never had liver until I was an adult.

Periodically, I'll eat it for lunch at a nearby cafeteria.

More people are beginning to recognize that college degrees are not the currency they once were, although data still show college grads make more than their non-grad counterparts, and that people with a HS degree make more than people without, etc.

A parent with the means, or someone prepared to borrow, will often still play the better odds by getting as much of an edumacation as possible.

But from what I've read, career counsellors and think-tankers are starting to put more emphasis on education opportunities like vocational training etc. as likely to provide a better return on society's investment (or an individual's personal return on investment), and are more often discouraging getting a degree just for the piece of paper. The swelling workforce of people employed, e.g., in the higher growth industries in the US - such as health care/nurses - often don't benefit at all from the standard 4 year liberal arts crapfest, and there're other examples, but it's time for me to call it a night. Possibly Mr. Dib has some input?

Yeah, for anyone wanting to be a nurse or any other high-demand job, what's the point in going to a 4 year college and taking two years of rubbish that doesn't help you? The reason I can think of is just to be able to say " :lookatme: I went to a 4 year college!!!!!"

If I were going into nursing or computer tech-type stuff, it wouldn't be worth it to me.

LOL.... whereas I eat them because I love the taste of them. Ramen noodles with a little hamburger tossed in, or a Totinos combination pizza for $1.25.... Yummy!

Just moved back to near the El Taco restaurant (well, I use that term loosely, place the prepare food is better). Got me through college - at the time it was $1.75 for the El Taco Dinner - Taco, refried beans, chips and chili. It's up to $2.35 now... LOL. Toss on a combination burrito for $1.15!

I'm a man of simple tastes - and high cholestrol.

Ramen with ground beef or ground pork sausage mixed in = dirty ramen

Meh! Fuggetabout cooking the ramen. I eat it hard as a crispy snack!

It is when it's grows out of control.

Reagan was right about that.

True, but it also depends on who wants to do the controlling. If it's the rich plutocrats who already have too much power, then let it be out of their control. Extremely so.

Let me tell you someting sweetcheecks. Just about everybody running the government wether they are a Democrat or a Republican are just as fucking rich as the evil business owners that Liberals despise.
Every year both parties get together and do the only thing that they can totaly agree on, give themselves pay raises. Government exsist to grow more government. They throw out these war on poverty, drugs, terrorism, ect, ect to make people think they really care about you, especially every election year.
It makes thing worse when you have people who are to indifferent to vote out these carreer politicians who you wouldnt buy a used car from let alone vote for dog catcher.
Dont like the way things are now? Just wait. In time things will more likely get worse.

6 months ago I was diagnosed with type II diabeties and eating properly is part of the cure. I can honestly say that in a 2 week period I may eat properly 5 days out of 14. This is because I can't afford to eat the 2 servings of fresh fruit and 3 servings of vegatables, along with lean fresh meat or fish a day.
Sometimes in order not to eat the wrong things I'll fast. But, this is not a good thing. And debilatating, too.

Chicken Teriyaki Ramen

And I love cheese Totinos.

Judging from recent years, you may be right.

I'm judging from recent decades.

But, we live in a representative government. That is, it is acting on somebody's wishes. The phrase "tyranny of the majority, tyranny of the minorty" comes to mind and it is the people that are pushing the government to act on their interests. It is the people that the anger and resentment should be directed to.

There should also be a trial period for new legislation and a way to make it easier to remove old obsolete or unpopular laws.

It's fundamentally true that arguments both in favor of any against majoritarianism are insufficiently developed so that there is only one dispositive answer on which virtually everyone agrees. On some issues, most people are majoritarian; on others, some of the same people may be anti-majoritarianism. The only way to attempt to resolve disputes, then, appears to be through reasoned discussion in a calm manner through which rules of fair play and other widely agreed-upon rules are reasonably applied. This is the way of civilization, and it is one that makes the greatest amount of sense to most people in the world today.