Settings

Theme

This Is Why Poor People's Bad Decisions Make Perfect Sense

huffingtonpost.com

12 points by gabzuka 11 years ago · 15 comments

Reader

jareds 11 years ago

It was also not explained why this person is going to school. Why are they going to school? I would assume that if they were making the choice to put in the work for school they have not completely given up on a better life in which case I would expect them to at least consider making some other better decisions.

mjwhansen 11 years ago

Looks like she just wrote a book, "Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America" that will be available in early October: http://www.amazon.com/Hand-Mouth-Living-Bootstrap-America/dp...

Also, shouldn't this article have a (2013) tag?

WalterSear 11 years ago

No one ever explains why having children in poverty makes perfect sense. It's not that unavoidable either.

  • EliRivers 11 years ago

    No one ever explains why having children in poverty makes perfect sense.

    Perhaps because it doesn't make perfect sense? Or are you trying to look like some kind of clever "social hacker" who spots the mistakes other people make and then word your teachings as a question? Do you think you're the first person to realise that having children in poverty comes with massive problems?

  • mjwhansen 11 years ago

    She actually explains it in the article:

    - The nearest Planned Parenthood is 3 hours away

    - The college she attends has free condoms, but most people in poverty aren't college students

    - Low-cost medical clinics/clinics with sliding scales still have a co-pay

    - Sleeping with someone makes you feel valued and is free way to make yourself feel better, if only for an hour

    The last point is something that many middle class/rich people do as well -- sleeping with people to feel valued -- but most of them are able to purchase birth control methods and/or easily access free birth control (like the condom jar).

    • WalterSear 11 years ago

      You don't put it in if you don't want babies. People equate this with not having any sex, which is simply inane.

      • alexanderss 11 years ago

        So every time you "put it in," you are trying to make a baby? Poor people also know about the different kinds of sex acts available to humans, I'm not sure if you're a virgin, trolling, or just don't understand how human biology works.

  • dragonwriter 11 years ago

    > No one ever explains why having children in poverty makes perfect sense.

    Because in societies with weak social support networks, your children are your old-age/disability/etc. support system. That's why there's a pretty clear inverse relationship between strength of social support networks and birth rate. (Its why the developed world generally has lower birthrates than the developing world, and why within the developed world, the US has a higher birthrate than many other countries.)

  • Borogravia 11 years ago

    Nobody ever explains why people comment before reading articles, yet here we are.

    • WalterSear 11 years ago

      I read the article yesterday. If you don't want kids, FFS, don't put it in. Don't pretend 'you were just doing the best you could'. It's not like you have to give up sex.

      • EpicEng 11 years ago

        Yes, because that approach has been shown to be effective in the past, right? Oh, no, never? Never ever? Perhaps you just need to say it more often.

      • alexanderss 11 years ago

        The failure of abstinence-only advice and education is extremely well documented and transcends class and race.

        • stochastica 11 years ago

          Ughhh, white-privileged cishets opposing social justice for multiculturalists? Tan tipico...

  • peterashford 11 years ago

    Yeah, because the poor don't deserve human interaction.

Keyboard Shortcuts

j
Next item
k
Previous item
o / Enter
Open selected item
?
Show this help
Esc
Close modal / clear selection