Poverty isn’t just a game

BDBoop

Platinum Member
Jul 20, 2011
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Don't harsh my zen, Jen!
Poverty isn

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — You’ve lost your job. You’ve lost your house. You’re down to your last $1,000. Can you make it through the month?

I've filled out the petition to have everybody that represents me play the game, and see how well they do.

SPENT

Play the game, share your score.
 
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I made it through the month with $279, but rent is due tomorrow, I don't have a job because I talked to the union organizer, and I cried when I had to take my pet to the pound.
 
Actually that game brought back some depressing memories for me.

Several years ago I participated in a half-day exercise for high school kids called "Welcome to the Real World". We set up several stations i.e. employment, housing, banking, food/clothing/medical, etc. and gave them a set amount of cash to start. Also a stack of 'wild cards' that they drew so we could throw them a curve (wreck car/get sick, etc). It was interesting to see how they each handled different situations and how much money they had at the end of the month.
 
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Actually, it brought back memories to me of raising my daughter, and all the times I had to tell her 'no', damn near no matter what the question was.
 
I made it through with $945. In real life I would have lied to the landlord and kept the pet.

Reminded me of my sister, back in the day. She bought my nephew two cats. Now, they were allowed to have cats, but it was really cost-prohibitive, so she just flat-out didn't tell the landlord. Then one day, she was bringing the cats in for their shots, so they were in two cat carriers in the back window - when she drove past the landlord ....

He never said a word. Never confronted her, never charged her, and she knows he saw them.
 
I sincerely wish this game could teach me something I didn't already know.

I mean if you have to play this game to know what the working poor face on a monthly basis, you have been blessed.

FWIW I went down on the 23rd day thanks to that speeding ticket.

And in my experience, it is usually the unplannable things that happen to us which make it nearly impossible for the working poor to ever get out of working poverty.

Now we all know that the unhappy surprises are inevitable, but preparing for them usually means having money in the bank to be prepared.

Which is basically impossible if your income isn't high enough for you to have disposable income every paycheck after you pay your KNOWABLE BILLS.
 
...the 23rd day thanks to that speeding ticket. And in my experience, it is usually the unplannable things that happen to us which make it nearly impossible for the working poor to ever get out of working poverty...
Speeding tickets are prevented by obeying laws and by not driving a car.

Most 'poor' own cars, tv sets with cable, air conditioners, microwaves. None of that is necessary. Food, clothing, and shelter are necessary, as is being honest and obeying laws.
 
I would keep the television, but do without cable, air conditioning a microwave is not necessary and I would take the bus to save on gas, insurance, and car maintenence. I have had to do it before and would do it again if need be..oh and I wouldn't pay over $600 for an apartment either.
 
I sincerely wish this game could teach me something I didn't already know.

I mean if you have to play this game to know what the working poor face on a monthly basis, you have been blessed.

FWIW I went down on the 23rd day thanks to that speeding ticket.

And in my experience, it is usually the unplannable things that happen to us which make it nearly impossible for the working poor to ever get out of working poverty.

Now we all know that the unhappy surprises are inevitable, but preparing for them usually means having money in the bank to be prepared.

Which is basically impossible if your income isn't high enough for you to have disposable income every paycheck after you pay your KNOWABLE BILLS.

It's not actually meant to teach We, the People. It's meant to teach the arrogant ones who honestly believe poor people are "just dumb" and "need to learn how to manage their money."

By the way, first time through? I, who type 75 wpm, flunked the typing test from nerves and had to go to work in a factory.
 
I would keep the television, but do without cable, air conditioning a microwave is not necessary and I would take the bus to save on gas, insurance, and car maintenence. I have had to do it before and would do it again if need be..oh and I wouldn't pay over $600 for an apartment either.

You presume that's an option. For me to find an apartment for less than $600, takes me off any form of public transportation. AND supposing my daughter is a child in this reality - puts me in a building I wouldn't feel she was safe in.
 
I sincerely wish this game could teach me something I didn't already know.

I mean if you have to play this game to know what the working poor face on a monthly basis, you have been blessed.

FWIW I went down on the 23rd day thanks to that speeding ticket.

And in my experience, it is usually the unplannable things that happen to us which make it nearly impossible for the working poor to ever get out of working poverty.

Now we all know that the unhappy surprises are inevitable, but preparing for them usually means having money in the bank to be prepared.

Which is basically impossible if your income isn't high enough for you to have disposable income every paycheck after you pay your KNOWABLE BILLS.

I got through the vet, the speeding ticket, and even shopping, because I have been poor and understand how to economize. In real life you can make payments on speeding tickets, you do not have to pay them all at once. In real life you can sleep in the car, get a gym membership, and save the $800 in rent that this scenario forced you to pay up front. The added bonus is you do not have to pay extra for the membership to get exercise.

By presenting these choices as either/or this grossly over simplified the choices people make to save money and better themselves. If anyone learns anything from this it should be that people who design these things are incredibly stupid.

By the way, I did not talk to the union organizer because my experience is that unions make my life worse. I was not afraid to talk to him, why should I be. That blurb that in real life many poor people are afraid to talk to union organizers is bullshit.
 
I would keep the television, but do without cable, air conditioning a microwave is not necessary and I would take the bus to save on gas, insurance, and car maintenence. I have had to do it before and would do it again if need be..oh and I wouldn't pay over $600 for an apartment either.

Me either. Even in the suburbs the rent was over $700. Since I had a car anyway, which I did not know until it broke down, I would sleep in it and find a cheaper place somewhere.
 
I would keep the television, but do without cable, air conditioning a microwave is not necessary and I would take the bus to save on gas, insurance, and car maintenence. I have had to do it before and would do it again if need be..oh and I wouldn't pay over $600 for an apartment either.

You presume that's an option. For me to find an apartment for less than $600, takes me off any form of public transportation. AND supposing my daughter is a child in this reality - puts me in a building I wouldn't feel she was safe in.

Having a child does complicate things. I would have bought more groceries, and different food, if I had known up front I was supposed to be feeding a child. I think the kid starved to death because I spent about $50 bucks on enough to get me through the month.
 

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