Top 5 Misconceptions About People Struggling Economically Today

reply to post by v1rtu0s0

People are lazy in general, the fact is some are just better "Tom Sawyer" then others

reply to post by peck420


How can govt interference be irrelevant? If students are the consumer, and they cannot control costs, then no it is definitely not irrelevant. It is the heart of whether a true free enterprise Capitalism is working or whether it is being interfered with by socialists in govt.

Originally posted by ThirdEyeofHorus
reply to post by peck420

 

How can govt interference be irrelevant? If students are the consumer, and they cannot control costs, then no it is definitely not irrelevant. It is the heart of whether a true free enterprise Capitalism is working or whether it is being interfered with by socialists in govt.

Your base assumption is wrong.

Students can control the costs. The question should be "why haven't they?"

And the answer to that is most likely along the lines of, too many still have it too good. For every student that dissents there is another to take their place.

When students stand in large numbers....ie: a uni in Canada 3 years ago, they can accomplish much, like in Canada where the tuitions for that university have been frozen since. (Just recently tuition increases have been announced for specific fields as demand is so high that they are able to do it.)

As for what the governments and corporations get away with (although I heavily disagree with government involvement as it is not their job to do so) is that we allow them to get away with it by continuing to use their services or products. As long as we keep allowing it, they will keep doing it.

reply to post by IblisLucifer


I wouldn't be too harsh on the lazy...

"Laziness is the mother of all invention...why would I do it if I could invent something else to do it for me?"

reply to post by illuminatislave


Right...because I'm sure that only those handful around me are the ONLY ones in the country.

reply to post by indisputable


yep. when you're at a disadvantage to begin with, the uphill battle can be insurmountable unless you're made out of something other than human flesh lol i completely hear you! i might not have, had i not been stuck in some less than ideal situations as a result of marrying a guy who's family tossed him out of the family business and disowned him for like a decade. man that was hard living. i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

i keep thinking the projects are like the continuation of life on the plantantion but without the advantages of wide open fields, fresh water, and nearby fruit trees to snag a snack from or a nice river to fish out of in the back 40.

reply to post by thedoctorswife


The struggle is only half the story most of it would be made easier if you knew what was available to you. 90% dont so watching some charity event does not mean that all poor family's know what is available. Information and eduction is the only way for us all to be on the same foot. If education was free for all from infants all the way to uni this would be the most prosperous investment for tax payers. The world would be a ot better for it .

Originally posted by peck420
reply to post by IblisLucifer

 

I wouldn't be too harsh on the lazy...

"Laziness is the mother of all invention...why would I do it if I could invent something else to do it for me?"

Thank you Tom Sawyer, but don't think of me as harsh of the lazy person since the lazy person is intelligent if all they need do is done by something or someone else

"Stupid is what stupid does"
and does what it thinks, which the Zombie people or people in general i.e. the masses don't think because their lazy in the head and want others to think for them Since stupid seeks the answers they want from others to reinforce what stupid already thinks it knows
This invented a situation of self imposed mental slavery which depending on the master could be good or bad for themselves and/or others

It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. David Brin quotes

Knowledge is power and the wise man knows that he knows nothing.

Pierces Law-- "Wealth seeks Power to protect itself"
"Wealth seeks Power to protect itself, that power attracts the Corruptible whose Power is derived from wealth giving it Authority; Authority is established by Order; Order comes from Chaos; Chaos is Anarchy; Society is only 3 meals away from Anarchy at anytime. Food is Power, for both sustaining and growing Wealth; Wealth is sustained by Growth alone anything less Falls into Decline this meaning not enough for anyone and everyone, But allows most invested in social order control through manipulating the balance"-- MHK

In the end its . Zeros fault and no 1s responsibility which makes everyone unequally part of the problem that is beyond the point . which is 0 and the only think keeping one above 1 tenth (1.1) But the intelligent point sees One both ways (1:1) playing 1 off the other 1 who both think of themselves as the One above all other 1 and that's the point of a point it atomizes processes until no one can see how they connect.

It's like Isaac Asimov's I, Robot series, in which the law prohibits the killing of human beings; the robots resolve this by breaking their plans into so many steps that no single one is illegal.

A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore....-Humorous quote by Yogi Berra

[url=http://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2011/08/willful-blindness-essay-news]http://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2011/08/willful-blindness-essay-news[/ur l]

I have been lurking for a bit but I saw this thread and it's dear and near to my heart. Having been through the economic strife of the 70's 80's and now at present, I can tell you that folks blame the same things, and have the same habits. The only difference is the present day issue of personal debt. When I grew up in the projects in the 70's, no one had a credit card. Everyone had a tab at their favorite grocer and if they wanted a high ticket item it was layaway.

Parents didn't cave into little Jimmy for that $299 XBOX at $60 per game, and little Sally certanly didn't get the $450 dollar iPhone. Us kids were taking jobs as baggers at the grocers for tip money. Hell if we would had McDonald's all of us would have worked there. None of us got allowances. I didn't have the latest Baby Phat or FUBU clothes, but my mom always made sure my clothes were cleaned and pressed.
I guess since I was a kid I was instilled with the point that you made your own breaks, no one was going to do it for you. I grew around kids who were living in rent control yet their parents had lincolns and nice Oldsmobiles. At least 70% were on food stamps and welfare. Their parents would sit on the stoop and drink 40's and play dominos all day. My dad would point to them and tell me, you don't want to be like that because once Papi Sam was feeding you, you become too lazy to help yourself and you grow to like it. That was the 70's...sound familiar? We also had 'community organizers' that would just tell everyone that they should complain for more 'benefits"...again sound familiar?

Fast forward now..I worked hard, picked my shots, made some whopper mistakes but I blamed myself for them..not the goverment, not wall street, not Target or Apple, I did the research and picked a career that would always evolve [electronic engineering], I went to community schools always, never asked the goverment for any help, not ever a minoirty grant. If I didn't have the cash for something, I just didn't buy it or I saved until I could. I make a comfortable living. I only buy used lease return cars and keep them for at least 10 years. My cell phone is three years old. My wife went to community, took her while but she went to university and got a Master's, loan free. My kid is going to the local community college, has a 20+ hour a week job and has a Virgin Mobile pre-pay phone. I didn't suggest any of that, it was her decision.
I have a very nice house, I only bought what I could afford and moved to whre I could afford it, with a big down payment after saving for 10 years.

In summary, if you make your own decisions, you only have youself to praise/blame for your own success/failures.
Learn how to express yourself in full comprehensive language with no 'you kno wha- am sayin?" thrown in every three or four words. Look people in the eye when you speak to them. That shows pride in yourself as well as determination. This economic panic happens every 10-20 years, but it's the same folks that level things off again.

If you're mad at corporations? Stop paying for iTunes. Stop buying those $140 reebocks on foot locker credit.Do you really need the MWIII game? The economy is supposed to be really bad, yet Best Buy is packed today!
I was visiting home in lower east side a couple of weeks ago[I'm from Baruch Housing]NYC and went to see OWS,there were alot of folks with $4 Starbucks and iPods. More sleeping than protesting [it was 11AM]Nuff said on that observation.

If you're reading this and you don't have a job and it's between 9AM-5PM on a Monday..ask yourself if you shouldn't be somewhere else. Maybe volunteering at a school or taking some free webinars on technology?

Originally posted by peck420
reply to post by undo

 

I apologize for that. I should have been clearer.

My 'you' was in reference to buyers as a whole.

I have accepted the fact that I have helped create the current paradigm as both a buyer and seller. Have you accepted the part you have personally played?

no, not even remotely. i bought products to survive and maintain the laws of the land, particularly those covering quality of life issues, which have historically put a great many people on the hot seat, on the pretext that they were too poor to have children if they couldn't also provide the child with american quality standard of living.

Originally posted by indisputable
reply to post by thedoctorswife

 

The struggle is only half the story most of it would be made easier if you knew what was available to you. 90% dont so watching some charity event does not mean that all poor family's know what is available. Information and eduction is the only way for us all to be on the same foot. If education was free for all from infants all the way to uni this would be the most prosperous investment for tax payers. The world would be a ot better for it .

I never go out of my way to disagree with anyone, im quite amicable like that, but on your first point, (and im assuming your a brit) do you seriously believe that many people on benefits do not know all of whats available to them, i mean they must have a lot of time on their hands to look into it. I dont mean to unkind, but to many people in britain, being on benefits is a career.
Also when you say that things would be better if education was free from infant up to uni, well it is free up to uni, and i know that poorer people are unable to send theyre kids to uni cos they cant afford it( im one of them, i couldnt afford to send my daughter (with good a levels) to uni, so shes now doing a part time teacher training course and working part time in a shop.
Of course things would be better if uni was free, ID LOVE THAT, its so unfair to penalise those who cant afford it, but unfortunatly thats the way it is.

Originally posted by WTFover
reply to post by moonweed

 

But, did you enter into that job knowing its disadvantages? And knowing them, did you decide the advantages outweighed them?

In nearly every "job", we accept some risks, because of other benefits. The fact is, the individual is responsible.

I do hope you are able to find a job soon.

You do realize we are not cost/benefit machines? That we are in fact human?

Maybe not

reply to post by HunkaHunka


In a way, we really are, even on a subconscious level. If not, then every decision we make, on a daily basis, is simply impulsive. And it would be a dangerous thing to have 7 billion of us acting strictly on impulse.

Besides, what do you see so wrong with making educated decisions?

Everyone's situation is different and to assume everyone struggling is lazy and not taking ownership for their decisions is just as erroneous as to assume that everyone struggling is motivated, hard working and not trying to blame others. Forget everyone and just realize there are a lot of unemployed people, some of which are victims of the economy and some caused it themselves. The truth of the matter is the jobs aren't there anymore and McDonalds isn't a solution. It's possible that the system is just evolving or in need of evolution and no one is to blame but the time we are living in, lack of adjustment to the global economy and technological innovation. It's just important in this time not to blame people who are struggling for being lazy and worthless because in many cases they are far from it. It's equally important not to pass all the blame on wall street, the government, people who did well for themself and make a lot of money, etc. What's important is to figure out how we move forward and find a way to work together to make it happen. Wild judgements and blanket assumptions get us no where.

Ah yes, student loans. I am currently racking them up, as a nontraditional student (39yo).

Here's what I did to lessen the sting: I moved to Idaho, and am attending a school where tuition is a whopping $2500/semester.

I also identified the my core values before choosing my major. I wanted to work outside, preferably in a non-city environment, in a science-related field. I researched my options, and chose a path that incorporated my desires AND MOST IMPORTANTLY had a promising economic outlook.

A bell curve of the age of professionals in my field peaks at ~57 years old. People haven't picked up on that, and schools are only graduating the usual ~2000 students/year nationwide. What that means is industry needs more and more folks to backfill the retiree's slots, and the demand is only increasing for the foreseeable future.

When I graduate next year, barring Yellowstone erupting or WWIII, I am absolutely confident I can get a great-paying job straight out of school. I just shake my head when I see kids majoring in psych or english or (lol) business. Don't they get it that there's about a billion folks who hold those same degrees fighting for the same jobs they are ultimately after?

reply to post by indisputable

I believe in you, but I suggest you use small comments. The devil has always been in the details.

I agree with all of your 5 misconceptions, one thing i want to add to #4. Lots of the posters above are making the point that yea Mcdonald's isnt the best. But it's money and people need to stop wanting to get to start at the top and accept what they can get. I just want to add that Mcdonald's or places like them are actually NOT always hiring. I am a teenager so these are about the only places I can work as of now, that and retail. Maybe it is just my area, but i kid you not i had to fill out at least 120 Applications to various places around my city and make just as many follow-up calls before i so much as got a SINGLE interview... To hell with complaining about wanting to work at the top and make $ 85,000 a year...it's hard enough to find a job that pays $15,000 a year. Now that i have one, I'm sure not going to complain about it. But i will continue to look at opportunities to move up. Also, i agree with above posters, it is an individual's choice to go to school or an expensive university to further themselves. They accept these student loans by choice. I read an article a while back, i'll see if i can find the link. This was a MSM article on MSN.. Anyways, the article had surveyed about 50,000 post-grad college students. About 60%-65% of these students were not satisfied with what college had done for them and regretted taking out student loans in the first place. 40% - 45% of these students could not even find any work in the field of their degree!! Personally, i don't think it is even worth it anymore. (college) 15-20 years ago sure....Now? i dont think so. I'm good with my high school degree and finding the work that I can without having massive debts. Seems now, more often than not, people are stuck paying off student loans that are way more than they are making...Just my 2 cents.
Peace

reply to post by Epirus


More excuses. Seriously.

Thats all you types of people do is make excuses.

There are two types of people in this world

Those of us who fight hard and work hard to get the things we want

and those of you who set around in parks in big cities bitching that you have nothing.

There's actually a 3rd type: Lucky.

My wife & I went grocery shopping yesterday. In the parking lot, a family pulled up next to us as we were getting out driving a Bently Continental GT.

Coincidentally we were behind the same family as they checked out.

They paid with LINK card (Food stamps)

The price of their car could have bought a house, and they're using food stamps.

You want to blame someone for the state of the economy? Blame those people, and those in our society who support it.

reply to post by blamethegreys

We live in a debt based world. It's not honest, nor just...but it makes a whole lotta money for a very few.
Some of us are from families who aren't overly fond of these pedofiles.

reply to post by Epirus


This is true for some, but I don't think there's ever been any significant science put into investigation how a poor person got there.

Personally, I think the majority would be bad decisions. Ad while that is a perfectly legitimate reason to be judgmental if you made better decisions (after all, it's natural selection), there is no humanity in that argument.