Who Are You Voting For?

[Burinn]

Debate tonight!

Debates on!

[Burinn]

Sanders won that debate so hard!

[CTheRain]

I'm all for not artificially raising the minimum wage to $15. I'm not for legalizing tons of undocumented workers combined with the $15 raise. I'm for removing the aid we send to Mexico which is what Trump talks about when he says "Mexico will pay for the wall". And the US military is equipped to build the wall.
In terms of poverty... People put themselves in them situations. Sure some can't find jobs but its mostly laziness or poor spending habits in the end. Can't help the stupid. But we're gonna try! Give each person $1m and they'll have it spent within a few weeks. Just like lottery winners.

[jordancoles]

People who are low income that receive large amounts of money usually blow it quickly because they're used to money coming and going the second that they get it

I guess if you've never had the chance to save you just won't know what to do when that time comes

[Jalpha]

It's a complicated issue unlikely to be solved in a single generation and throwing money directly into the pockets of the poor isn't the best way to go about it.

[barra]

It's a complicated issue unlikely to be solved in a single generation and throwing money directly into the pockets of the poor isn't the best way to go about it.

Moving money out of one pocket and throwing it into another is literally the point of government. If it's meant to help the poor, why not put it directly into their pockets where they have the most control over it? We have means-tested cash welfare in Australia and it isn't exactly a disaster. What's a better way to go about it?

[TeckXKnight]

It's a complicated issue unlikely to be solved in a single generation and throwing money directly into the pockets of the poor isn't the best way to go about it.

Moving money out of one pocket and throwing it into another is literally the point of government. If it's meant to help the poor, why not put it directly into their pockets where they have the most control over it? We have means-tested cash welfare in Australia and it isn't exactly a disaster. What's a better way to go about it?

Our welfare system is borked to hell and back and that's the way most people seem to like it. We prefer if the poor can't afford to eat in many cases, because this is America and they don't deserve to eat if they're poor. I had to go on unemployment for a couple of months when the place I worked for went out of business and let me tell you they will make you fight tooth and goddamn nail for a few dollars.

[Jalpha]

Welfare is a good thing. The poor here in Australia live very well compared to those in the USA for example, aside from those with mental health issues too great for them to be able to acquire welfare.

The problem isn't so much that they are poor, it's why they are poor that is the real problem. When you start to unravel the why of poverty you can see how complex it is, and it becomes obvious that there is no easy fix. Even the poor don't really understand how best to help themselves, if they did they wouldn't be in their set of circumstances. Poverty is on the surface a financial issue but the crux of it is social.

As for fixing it that is too big a question for me to solve alone. These people need a lot of support to become capable of not being poor, and for some of them even that may not be enough. Even here it's quite easy to become stuck in a poverty trap if you put your feet wrong. It also carries from generation to generation. Poor parents are unable to provide an environment conducive to their children being able to escape poverty. Certainly not easily, if they are suffering from mental health problems or they don't understand how to succeed in life and are thus unable to pass those skills on.

It's a nightmare it really is. I don't even think you can save everyone.

[jordancoles]

If you've ever applied for university or a government loan you would know how many hoops and unwritten things you need to jump through and figure out just to get the ball rolling

If you don't have the mental capacity or time to wade through legal forms and to call around and ask questions then you are just sort of fucked

[GenghisKhan44]

The problem isn't so much that they are poor, it's why they are poor that is the real problem. ... Even the poor don't really understand how best to help themselves, if they did they wouldn't be in their set of circumstances. Poverty is on the surface a financial issue but the crux of it is social.

This is sadly true. We are the society of the WalMart and the Big Mac. But there's a problem not just with America's poor, but with American culture from top to bottom. If support does come, I think it will have to be from much more frugal cultures. American culture is incredibly luxurious - that is, incredibly wasteful and frivolous. And it informs almost every American's thoughts, actions, and maybe even their subconscious actions.

I think it can be said without much doubt, to begin, that most rich people do spend prodigally - at least to some degree. No one needs mansions, yachts, and many of the affects of the morbidly rich. It would be easy to blame them for impoverishing the country. But they're only the grossest display of waste. To some degree, all other levels are like this, too.

Even on the proletarian, wage-slave level of things... we treat ourselves too much. I mean, I look at myself. I used to eat out at least twice a week when I had a ten dollar an hour job. (I still do on $70/week. Thanks Mom for giving a roof over my head.) I would buy games from Steam. Sure, they were on sale, but I just viscerally wanted something new - even though I have many dozens of games I've hardly touched or never, ever quite explored to their full potential. And free games, too. My own family members have wasted their monies on such luxuries as an incredibly comfortable $1200 bed, over $1000 to mud jack a sidewalk, $800 for LeafGuard gutters, a barbecue and a picnic table we never use...

In the world outside of my family, who has a car? Who has the latest and greatest, even though they're going to be in debt for years? Why is brand name in any field still so popular, even though it's identical to store brand? And someone must be keeping the infomercial business alive for all of the useless crap that gets advertised. The flip side of customer service becoming THE big industry in the United States is that there are a lot of customers SPENDING THEIR MONEY on things they expect others to maintain for them.

All this in mind, who could deny that THE problem with American culture is that we're money-aholics?