adigal (1000+ posts) Sun Jun-26-11 11:31 PM
Original message
People complain about the economy, but still have lots of unnecessary crap
I just commented on another thread to someone who gets WIC but can afford an ipod. How many people do you know who are poor, or getting federal assistance, who have more than one TV and have expensive cell phones and Ipods.
The consumer society has trained us all that we have to have the latest and the greatest. I wonder how many people who are foreclosing on their houses stood in line for the latest Ipad. We are our own worst enemy, I keep writing here and other places that we don't need to buy all the junk we buy. Brand new clothes are at my local charity center, I am starting to grow food, I have one TV, which we may cancel soon. It is $100 a month for satellite TV,and I don't want to waste money on it anymore. When I go down to Albany, NY, the restaurants are packed!! The stores are packed. It makes me think there is no recession, although I know there is, because I have many unemployed friends who can't find jobs.
But really...if you are complaining about the recession and how hard you have it,and have all of the newest things, you are not really hurting. I know people who are hurting, and they don't have this stuff anymore.
We are our own worst enemies, I think.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1369335Mimosa (1000+ posts) Sun Jun-26-11 11:34 PM
Response to Original message
1. I have a middle class income but can't afford I-Pods and toys
Sorry, DUmmy Mimosa, but if you can't afford cheap trinkets you are not middle class. But this is America. Someday, you can be.
nadinbrzezinski (1000+ posts) Sun Jun-26-11 11:42 PM
Response to Reply #2
7. The people you are talking about don't have access
to health insurance... they work at jobs that simply do not offer it.
Here is one thing you are not thinking about and it is sociological...
1.- Many of these doodads are bought USED at the good will store... yes they sell electronics too... or second hand or even third hand... they are not new.
2.- They are needed to "fit in" and be part of the society, or at least feel they are.
Having worked as a medic in places like the ciudades perdidas it was always jarring to see people who were sleeping on the dirt, with walls made from scrap metal, who didn't have enough to eat, or blankets, or clothes, but had a TV running from a car battery. So one day I asked... it was shared... like a community TV... and it was a way to belong.
The same went for the Radio by the way... it WAS the place all got together to listen to the soccer game on Sunday.
At times it is best to ask why... and not judge.
Ciudades perdidas = cardboard and tin slums of the third world, favellas, hells on earth no American experiences because they do not exist here.
But how many hoodrat members of the democrat base bought their Jordans at Goodwill? None.
adigal (1000+ posts) Sun Jun-26-11 11:46 PM
Original message
I know of many people who buy this stuff new
and can't afford to put gas in their cars. Or pay the car insurance.
I am not judging, I am evaluating how we set up our priorities.
stevedeshazer (1000+ posts) Sun Jun-26-11 11:49 PM
Response to Original message
15. You ARE judging.
Your post reeks of judgment for those less well off than you
For DUmbasses, there is no greater sin than "judging". I've never been able to understand that.
Right is right, wrong is wrong, good is good, and bad is bad. But it's a democrat mortal sin to say so.
I guess it's because so much of what they stand for is both wrong and bad.
Bonobo (1000+ posts) Sun Jun-26-11 11:40 PM
Response to Reply #3
6. Not buying an ipod is not going to make you able to afford health care at $1,000/month.
That would justify lighting your cigar with a $100 bill.
nadinbrzezinski (1000+ posts) Sun Jun-26-11 11:43 PM
Response to Reply #3
9. Average cost of insurance is 1200 USD \ month
tell me how are people making 12K \year gonna afford that health care? Hell people making 25K who pay for rent can't afford it either.
Tell me how they keep an inventory of crack, and wear gold chains.
Bonobo (1000+ posts) Sun Jun-26-11 11:48 PM
Response to Reply #9
14. This comes from the same spirit as those pukes who think welfare recipients shouldn't be allowed
to buy cigarettes or beer or have $20 bucks in their wallet.
I find it repulsive and unrealistic.
A $150 iPod as a gift to your child that has never had his own room or his own house and has to live in a terrible neighborhood or ride buses all day long -is NOT an extravagance they should have to explain to privileged internet posters.
And 20" spinners on your ride are okay, too.
adigal (1000+ posts) Sun Jun-26-11 11:52 PM
Response to Reply #14
20. Welfare recipients should not be allowed to buy cigs or beer
with their welfare money. Those are luxuries. And they are bad for you, also. How can we justify those on charity buying luxuries with others' money? I am very liberal, I believe that we should take care of everyone, this was not about that at all. It was about being suckers for consumption.
Uh oh, DUmmy adigal is Jim Rob's mole.
Bonobo (1000+ posts) Sun Jun-26-11 11:54 PM
Response to Reply #20
22. Controlling what people do to make their lives happier is NOT "very liberal".
It is not up to you to decide for others how they should live or how they should place their priorities.
adigal (1000+ posts) Sun Jun-26-11 11:57 PM
Response to Reply #22
28. If you can't feed yourself, you don't have the freedom
to decide how to spend your money in our country. It is decided for you. That is the reality. And I think it is fair. You shouldn't be able to get beer or cigarettes with food stamp money, and I don't think you can.
Jim Rob is sure to be tombstoned.
Please, nutcase nadin, tell us what to think. We're all confused.
nadinbrzezinski (1000+ posts) Sun Jun-26-11 11:59 PM
Response to Reply #28
31. Alas beer is not just empty calories
You may want to read on the deserving poor of seventeenth century England. That is the kind of world you wish we lived in.
adigal (1000+ posts) Sun Jun-26-11 11:42 PM
Response to Reply #4
8. What don't I get? If you are getting WIC, how can you afford
an ipod?? If you saved your money, instead of having 3 TVs and $100 cable every month, maybe you could afford the down payment on a house.
nadinbrzezinski (1000+ posts) Sun Jun-26-11 11:44 PM
Response to Reply #8
10. Most of these people have OLDER electronics
less than you think... and many do NOT have cable.
Nutcase is right. Bobo the Hobo has an iPhone 3G, NOT the new iPhone 4.
She being forced to suffer with outdated electronics. What is wrong with this country?
adigal (1000+ posts) Sun Jun-26-11 11:50 PM
Response to Reply #12
16. Cut your cable, don't have a cell phone, buy clothes secondhand
It is all about priorities. Again, if you are in WIC, why do you have an ipod? Here are some ways we can save:
Cancel cable - $100 per month
Cancel cell phone - at least $100 per month
Buy clothes at Goodwill or from local charities - quite a bit of money
Eat at home - can save lots each month, depending on how much you eat out.
That is probably at least $300 per month, just doing those things, you have a 10K down payment in 3 years.
And BTW, you really need to learn some manners. You are very rude.
nadinbrzezinski (1000+ posts) Sun Jun-26-11 11:55 PM
Response to Reply #16
23. Alas you could also use that IPOD for a job search
I am betting you did not think of that angle...
Or for a graphing calculator APP that your school will not provide your child, but will provide the kids in more privileged neighborhoods, and that can be used for many a book readying assignment.
You really do not realize why people may need this stuff. Keep on judging.
I have no idea what nutcase is talking about.
dkf (1000+ posts) Mon Jun-27-11 12:01 AM
Response to Reply #23
34. Good grief are you talking about an iPod touch?
I was thinking of a nano. An itouch is $200 for the cheap version.
I'd be more interested in what a child is deprived of since WIC is for women with kids.
Celine Dion agrees with nutcase nadin.
