Five myths about poverty

[micky]

Even if you are not convinced of all these, they are certainly something to think about.

Five myths about poverty

I see flaws: "And what about rising from rags to riches? In the United States, 1 in 25 children raised in the bottom quintile of the income distribution are able to climb to the top quintile, while the figure in Denmark is nearly 1 out of 6. In our popular rhetoric, we celebrate the success of that single individual to the exclusion of the other 24."

I don't think that's the best measure. I pay attention to this and I observe many cases where someone goes from the bottom quintile to the

4th or 5th but it takes two generations. One generation to get to the 3rd, and another to go higher. I think most people who start off in the bottom 5th and make it to the middle one are satisified, that is, until something goes wrong and they're back down in the second or first again, and there are many things that can and do go wrong. The pandemic has ruined lots of businesses, and caused many people to be laid off even from businesses that aren't bankrupt. That's just one example.

I like to tell about the boy who mowed my lawn when he was in HS. Now he's VP of a Fortune 100 company and president of one of its subsidiaries, one that on its own is probably as big as a F500 company. His mother still lives near me in a modest house. I'm sure he'd buy her something much fancier if she wanted. His parents had decent jobs, but I can't tell if even together they were 2nd or 3rd quintile, and I haven't nerve enough to ask about their parents.

[micky]

....

Another personal comment. I accepted at least one applicable myth when I was in college, and when I took a break and drove a cab for a year, I would see this drivers at a cab stand, outside a downtown hotel, or a longgg cab line at the airport, while I was cruising and finding fares. And I wondered why they didn't do what I did. Did they like to relax in sitting in their cabs. One I finally noticed that for most of these guys, driving a cab was their second job. They can't work as hard as I did, when it was my only job.

And of course the tips from someone at a v. good hotel are on average higher than what I got, and the fares and corresponding tips from the airport are high and much of the travel is on expressways, so they pay better.

[gfretwell]

I suspect our bottom quintile is far lower than theirs. I bet the poorest of kids in Denmark still values going to school and doesn't think drug slinging is a viable career.

[gfretwell]

They also were not wasting gas driving around. Sometime you have to give pros credit for knowing what works best, even if it doesn't make sense to you.

[Clare Snyder]

And they were not burning a tank of gas cruising around looking for fares so they likely ended up MAKING more money than you did chasing all over town.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Oh no, you mean. . . . Biggest problems I see is lack of education (and the desire for one) Getting high marks is not being one of the cool kids.

Then you have drugs, both use and sale.

Sure, there are exception but Myth #4 is a big factor.

[micky]

That's a good point.

I didn't have to pay for my gas. I never ran out either, even when I drove for 12 hours. But actually, on an 8 hour shift even with crusing, I only drove about 100 miles. I was very surprised at that. I didn't check every day, but several times and it was more or less the same.

[Jim Joyce]

Speaking of driving a cab, isn't one of the first things you learn is how to get to any of the local airports? I once took a cab from lower Manhattan (NYC) to JFK airport and when I looked up we were cruising slowly through a residential neighborhood somewhere in Queens. The driver was thoroughly lost and asked to use my smartphone to get directions.

[micky]

Hey, what's wrong with Queens? Donald Trump was from Queens.

I drove in Chicago, and to get a hack license, in addition to the drivers license, you had to pass a test on where the airports were, where the concert halls and stadiums were, where the train stations (several of them) were, where the big hotels were, where the biggest tourist sites were. I knew most that stuff anyhow becuase I'd lived in Chicago for almost 4 years, had a car for one or two, and I like to know that stuff whether I'm a cabdriver or not.

But someone new to town would have to do some learnin'.

[jimmy]

Chicago has a few areas of racist black people who really hate white people.

Traveling those areas will get you killed...especially if your car breaks down.

Even Mayor Lori Lightfoot has a taxpayer-funded armed security service protecting her.

[rbowman]

The first time I was in Chicago was for the National plastics Exposition in '72. The hotel clerk said 'Welcome to Chicago. Enjoy your stay. Don't go south of Roosevelt'. A friend was at the University, a little enclave in South Chicago so I did drive through deepest, darkest Chicago. Unfortunately, she was in South America on a dig so it was a wasted trip. I don't want to think what it's like 50 years later.

[Wade Garrett]

In the early 70's, I used to frequently travel to Chicago on business. It wasn't much of a culture shock to me though as I was based in Detroit at the time.

While I lived in the lovely lake country in the NW burbs, my office was right downtown at the foot of Woodward Avenue.

A real adventure going to work, especially during the gas crunch when I was reduced to commuting a 70 mile round trip on my motorcycle.

[gfretwell]

That girl I was dating there in the 60s used to say there is the near south side and the far south side. Keep your windows rolled up and your door locked until you get to some street I forget. Down where she lived was all Irish and Italians. The Catholic church was big down there ;-)

[Jim Joyce]

What's wrong was that we were in a residential n'hood when we should have been at the airport, but it's fine because he still got me there on time. I usually have no problem with the scenic route.

Thanks. Makes sense.

[rbowman]

I drove up to the Detroit area for the Ford museums. I like Greek food so I had supper in Greektown. I walked around afterwards down past the RenCen, which I think was empty, and along the river. The helos flying overheard with searchlights added to the ambiance.

[gfretwell]

Was this a medallion cab or a gypsy?

[Wade Garrett]

In the early 70's, Coleman Young, had just been elected Detroit's first black mayor- thouigh any real administrative/management experience.

I was working in the Detroit office of one of the world's largest international professional services firms back then. In a civic-minded gesture, the office managing partner offered the services of the firm's highly regarded municipal government consulting group pro bono to help Young make the transition to executive life.

A few of us from the firm went over to city hall to meet with hizzoner to discuss how we could help him. Amazingly, he immediately ended the meeting and dismissed us- and the offer of free help- because there were no black folks in our delegation!

[Tekkie©]

On Mon, 29 Mar 2021 20:15:38 -0500, Jim Joyce posted for all of us to digest...

You ain't pay'n

[bruce bowser]

But, there are dangerous weapons.

[gfretwell]

No, just inanimate objects that can be misused by evil people. Box cutters and airplanes spring to mind.