Why are the poor...poor?

[OldWiseGuy]

One reason is that they spend too much on food.

Bottom 20 percent: $339 per month.
My average costs : $150 per month, tops.
Potential savings : $189 per month
for poor families
per adult.
Even more if
SNAP is included.

The Average Household Cost of Food in America

 

[( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

One look at my banking statement and I can attest to this.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

We should limit the amount of food the poor are allowed in order for them to increase their wealth and be able to afford to purchase more food.

 

[Sabertooth]

Why are the poor...poor?

For the same reason why the sick are sick. There is no one-size-fits-all cure.

(I highly recommend the "envelope accounting" system for those who can do it.)

Jesus said,
"For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.” John 12:8 NKJV

 

[lordjeff]

Having administered welfare programs as a large part of my work tenure, what I can tell you is that poverty is an industry because it supplies many others with jobs. Aside from those who have encountered tough times, grew up in dysfunctional families, or made bad decisions, the premise of the welfare system is not to progress people out of poverty. It is designed to make politicians look as if they are benevolent & Godlike by taking from Peter to pay Paul. However, the system neglects real-time payments that reflect the cost of living & does not do anything in the form of job training, family counseling, life skills, civics. The lifeline is a means-tested one that supplies a mere stipend--one to keep one hooked to the system for the sheer sake of staying alive but never enough to save for a rainy day nor to push one out beyond. Therefore, the poor are dependent on the class of politicians who claim to preface empathy for them while at the same time that group of lawmakers rely on the poor for their votes to stay in office. And it happens generation after generation. I found that this was the most dehumanizing practice--not to allow people to progress to some skill. Give a man a fish & he can eat for a day; give him a fishing pole & he can fish for a lifetime. But the dirtiest American secret is that a certain group of lawmakers don't want to see that lifeline.

 

[Sabertooth]

Give a man a fish & he can eat for a day; give him a fishing pole & he can fish for a lifetime. But the dirtiest American secret is that a certain group of lawmakers don't want to see that lifeline.

If you gave my ASD3 daughter (25; mental age, 18 mos.) a fish (or money, for that matter), she would have no idea what to do with it.

My ASD2 son (32; m.a., 8yo) is nearly the same way. He does not get causation. (And ASD2/3 numbers are climbing.)

ASD1s (like myself), while conscientious, are chronically unemployed or under-employed due to communication issues. (ASD1 is hereditary. We work in a seller's-market economy.)

 

[NeverL0ved]

One reason is that they spend too much on food.

Bottom 20 percent: $339 per month.
My average costs : $150 per month, tops.
Potential savings : $189 per month
for poor families
per adult.
Even more if
SNAP is included.

The Average Household Cost of Food in America

Maybe it's not that Maybe it's that humans have not learnt to share all the resources on this planet equally.

 

[NeverL0ved]

 

[Jonathan Walkerin]

My average costs : $150 per month, tops.

You were some old grandpa with metabolism of lava rock though ? And solitary lava rock at that ? Which makes it much easier to plan and execute food strategies.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

You were some old grandpa with metabolism of lava rock though ? And solitary lava rock at that ? Which makes it much easier to plan and execute food strategies.

It's true that it's easier to control the food budget if you don't have to put up with a bunch of whiney sugar-addicted kids.

 

[Jonathan Walkerin]

It's true that it's easier to control the food budget if you don't have to put up with a bunch of whiney sugar-addicted kids.

So pretty useless comparison? It is always easier to control any external payments when you only provide for yourself.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

So pretty useless comparison? It is always easier to control any external payments when you only provide for yourself.

On a family scale food would be even cheaper, especially for the poor who qualify for SNAP benefits. Of course discipline and planning is required.

 

[Jonathan Walkerin]

Of course discipline and planning is required.

If people are disciplined and plan ahead they are usually not poor in the first place.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

If people are disciplined and plan ahead they are usually not poor in the first place.

Discipline and planning would help lift many from poverty. Of course it wouldn't help those with addictions, mental illness, or those raised in 'generational poverty'.

 

[lordjeff]

Interesting to note that the large portion of my caseload over my tenure was longterm care medicaid programs & special medicaid waivers. I had the highest amount of working clientele of anybody in the office. These came from the DMR clientele (Dept. of Mental Retardation). These clients were actually trained to work into some basic jobs under supervision to make some pocket money. Jobs ranged from janitorial, restaurant cleanup crew, ticket personnel at Triple A baseball games, etc. So this was a success story.
It is impossible for equal allotment of resources. Self-preservation is always the first predisposition.

 

[loveofourlord]

well one thing that can be attributed to the higher costs is, a poor person must work 2-3 jobs with both parents to help feed their kids, which means they don't have the time to make a proper big meal, so they have to buy stuff that is quick and easy to make, as opposed to the vegitables and such to make it from.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

well one thing that can be attributed to the higher costs is, a poor person must work 2-3 jobs with both parents to help feed their kids, which means they don't have the time to make a proper big meal, so they have to buy stuff that is quick and easy to make, as opposed to the vegitables and such to make it from.

Kids have to do their part including preparing meals.

 

[loveofourlord]

Kids have to do their part including preparing meals.

Or how about the world not be run in such a way that parents have little options but to work multiple jobs.

What I find funny are those that will also complain about woman working heh.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Or how about the world not be run in such a way that parents have little options but to work multiple jobs.

What I find funny are those that will also complain about woman working heh.

With the right planning she can quit work and stay home and raise the kids properly. Or perhaps continue working from home.

 

[loveofourlord]

With the right planning she can quit work and stay home and raise the kids properly. Or perhaps continue working from home.

yeah on what planet? Not with the current climate where both parents have to work full time just to pay for rent.