You misunderstand what it means to be poor

Re:You misunderstand what it means to be poor by carlosjobim on Friday November 14, 2025 @04:36PM (#45932482)

I get it. Everybody gets it. For some months, even years. But after a decade or so in such a situation, you must arrive at some sort of epiphany, look at your life and say "what the fuck?".

And I don't think anybody is arguing that people shouldn't get help to get back on their feet. Rather that some people refuse to get back on their feet.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You misunderstand what it means to be poor by baq on Friday November 14, 2025 @06:26PM (#45933382)

No. After a decade the ‘what the fuck’ is just a distant memory. ‘It is what it is’, ‘nothing ever works out’, other kinds of depression just win by default.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You misunderstand what it means to be poor by seba_dos1 on Friday November 14, 2025 @09:11PM (#45934448)

Looks like you don't.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You misunderstand what it means to be poor by carlosjobim on Saturday November 15, 2025 @11:40AM (#45938615)

Unfortunately hackers made sure that the only reply below written by somebody who has actually been homeless was [flagged] and [dead]. That's the prevailing attitude towards poverty among the intellectuals. "Let's talk about them, not with them."

So I'll reply here, since I can't reply to a [dead]:

> And then what? You're 54 years old. No degree. No work history. Criminal conviction for drug possession. You're mentally ill and unmedicated. You realize for the first time you want to change your life. What's your first move? You have until your lucidity is interrupted by the next bout of mania and paranoid delusions to turn your life around.

You get medication and join the merchant navy as a mess hand. Not only do you get food, a safe bed, medical attention, safety, a salary, and companionship. You also get away from a destructive environment, drugs, threats, and all that shit that made life hell.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You misunderstand what it means to be poor by ChrisMarshallNY on Sunday November 16, 2025 @05:36PM (#45949095)

> Unfortunately hackers made sure that the only reply below written by somebody who has actually been homeless was [flagged] and [dead].

I't been my experience* that HN folks don't like reality, practicum, and personal experience. They mostly like abstractions and theory.

*See what I did, there?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You misunderstand what it means to be poor by seba_dos1 on Sunday November 16, 2025 @07:58PM (#45949960)

If you'd be actually experienced, you would realize that there's an autokill filter on HN and the comment in question contains the forbidden M word. Apparently my vouch wasn't enough to resurrect it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You misunderstand what it means to be poor by ChrisMarshallNY on Monday November 17, 2025 @06:08AM (#45952574)

Makes sense (I run showdead=no, so I never saw the original), but that doesn’t make my comment any less accurate. We all see this stuff happen on a regular basis.

A long discussion is going on, with people flinging poo, back and forth, and one comment appears, from someone actually in the industry/organization being discussed, or by someone with very relevant direct experience, and that comment gets immediately dogpiled; often by both sides. It’s happened to me, a couple of times. I’ve learned to just stay out of these shitfests, even if they are embarrassingly offbase.

With this kind of emotionally-charged, nontechnical topic, it’s even worse than things like OS or methodology dogma battles.

[ Parent | on HN ]