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Could people with cars be poor?

Could people with cars be poor?

  • Yes

    Votes: 45 93.8%
  • No

    Votes: 3 6.3%
  • Idk

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    48

Canell

Banned
DP Veteran
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Messages
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Location
EUSSR
Gender
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Political Leaning
Libertarian
Hi fellas,

I recall one film ("Pay it forward") where an old woman was a bum and at the same time was driving some gas-guzzler* around.

So, if one has money for car and gas, should s/he be considered poor? Should s/he receive welfare, food stamps and such? Please, discuss. :)


* (well, at least from European perspective :wink: )
 
I suspect that our standard of poor (in the US) is different from other standards around the world. Our poor live relatively comfortable lives in comparison to the areas I would consider poverty-stricken.
 
There are charities that give free cars to the poor and also charities who provide working cars for working families.

There are organizations that will repair cars for the poor.
 
Very true - poverty standards are usually linked with amount of income. Then again, someone can be driving a rusted out 1977 Plymouth Volare, with no insurance and no registration in order to still get to a job, which pays $12,000 a year. That person may live in a nice trailer park, have two televisions, cable, a pet, a wife or husband and a child AND still get food stamps, disability or other compensation. To me, that's lower income class but not "poor". To me, poverty was the people living down the street from me when I was a kid - they had ripped clothes, bathed once a month, were dirty all the time and the rest of the kids at school stayed away from them because they were "different". These people were dirt poor and squatted in a house for years because they had no where else to go. I grew up poor but not THAT poor. Poverty has a different meaning than 30 years ago, and that was different than 30 years before that. What galls me a bit is when these lower income people are singled out who have all the niceties and entertainment options and are claimed to be "suffering". Many are still dirt poor and those people need assistance ... others who are called "poor" are not and it's time we made a distinction between definitions.
 
Hi fellas,

I recall one film ("Pay it forward") where an old woman was a bum and at the same time was driving some gas-guzzler* around.

So, if one has money for car and gas, should s/he be considered poor? Should s/he receive welfare, food stamps and such? Please, discuss. :)


* (well, at least from European perspective :wink: )

Firstly, it depends on the car. There are lots of cars in Cuba, mostly models from the 50's and 60's, and I don't think anyone would claim that Cuba is a rich country.

Secondly, a state of poverty, in my view, depends on your level of secure income not so much what you may possess at any given time. If you have significant assets, such as an inheritance, that would be different, but if you simply have what is considered the "necessities" of modern day life in North America, you can still be poor and/or living in poverty.

Finally, I'd say it depends on where you live. If you live in NYC, having a car may be unnecessary and thus something that is wasting resources for someone living merely a subsistence existence, but if you live in the rural southern US, as an example, a car may be a necessity of existence and the only form of transportation available to many.

I do find the question a little judgemental, however, and I personally hate itemizing a person's possessions when truly and fairly trying to determine their level of need.
 
Hell, "poor" in the US means that your kids might have to choose between an Xbox One and a PS4 instead of getting them both.
 
Hi fellas,

I recall one film ("Pay it forward") where an old woman was a bum and at the same time was driving some gas-guzzler* around.

So, if one has money for car and gas, should s/he be considered poor? Should s/he receive welfare, food stamps and such? Please, discuss. :)


* (well, at least from European perspective :wink: )

There are some people in my country, gypsies and people we call "cocalari" (romanians who behave like gypsies) who live in shambles or some ****ty apartments but drive mercedes benz or something. Now they aren't rich, they can't afford to live in a decent place but they afford to have a car to flash to their retarded friends and look cool when they drive to the club where they know their retarded friend the bouncer so they can get in.

But sensible people who happen to live in poverty can own cars that are old or poorly maintained.
 
Hi fellas,

I recall one film ("Pay it forward") where an old woman was a bum and at the same time was driving some gas-guzzler* around.

So, if one has money for car and gas, should s/he be considered poor? Should s/he receive welfare, food stamps and such? Please, discuss. :)


* (well, at least from European perspective :wink: )

our public transportation sucks here for a number of reasons. first, geography : the country is huge. second, reluctance to commit the money, and some public reluctance to use it, though that is changing.

bottom line : you have to have a car here no matter how poor you are if you live in certain areas. for example, you cannot even get a taxi in my town. there aren't any. it's drive or walk.

so yes, around here, you can be poor and have a car. without one, you're going to have a tough time making it at all.
 
Hi fellas,

I recall one film ("Pay it forward") where an old woman was a bum and at the same time was driving some gas-guzzler* around.

So, if one has money for car and gas, should s/he be considered poor? Should s/he receive welfare, food stamps and such? Please, discuss. :)


* (well, at least from European perspective :wink: )

Not in Europe where they schemed to drive up gas prices so that the poor and lower middle class could no longer afford cars. In America, yes you can still be poor and have a car.
 
our public transportation sucks here for a number of reasons. first, geography : the country is huge. second, reluctance to commit the money, and some public reluctance to use it, though that is changing.

bottom line : you have to have a car here no matter how poor you are if you live in certain areas. for example, you cannot even get a taxi in my town. there aren't any. it's drive or walk.

so yes, around here, you can be poor and have a car. without one, you're going to have a tough time making it at all.

If this is poor, what is this?

Will-work-for-food-1a-please-help-L-man-poster-L.png
 
Hi fellas,

I recall one film ("Pay it forward") where an old woman was a bum and at the same time was driving some gas-guzzler* around.

So, if one has money for car and gas, should s/he be considered poor? Should s/he receive welfare, food stamps and such? Please, discuss. :)


* (well, at least from European perspective :wink: )

Well, if you live in your car, I'd consider that relatively poor. "Poverty" is relative to when and where you live

'A linen shirt, for example, is, strictly speaking, not a necessary of life. The Greeks and Romans lived, I suppose, very comfortably, though they had no linen. But in the present times, through the greater part of Europe, a creditable day-labourer would be ashamed to appear in public without a linen shirt, the want of which would be supposed to denote that disgraceful degree of poverty, which, it is presumed, nobody can well fall into without extreme bad conduct.'

From Adam Smith. Economist's View: Adam Smith on Poverty

So if you have an old car, especially if you live in it, that is considered "poor" in today's society.
 
I do find the question a little judgemental, however, and I personally hate itemizing a person's possessions when truly and fairly trying to determine their level of need.

Yeah, but it's somewhat disturbing when you see someone puttiing 100 bucks on a repair and then whining he has nothing to eat.
 
well the usa has a huge car culture and nearly everyone here has a car (Which is quite different from vietnam) I think even if they have a car they can still be poor and need government help it's not like a third world country where a car is a huge deal
 
Yeah, but it's somewhat disturbing when you see someone puttiing 100 bucks on a repair and then whining he has nothing to eat.

Depends on your perspective. Would it be better to put that $100 on a transit pass for a month's worth of public transit rides to get to/from his/her minimum wage job? When you're hungry, spending money on shoes may seem a misplaced priority, but if the shoes you have are hurting your feet and you need to walk to/from work or you walk a lot on the job, spending money on shoes is a priority that helps keep your meager income secure. Likewise, if you need the car to get to work and if you don't have the car you don't have work and you don't have income and so you don't have money for food, then fixing the car is investing in your ability to generate income going forward.

I appreciate what you're saying but the example is a really poor one. If you said "could people who buy lottery tickets, or cigarettes, or people who gamble be poor?" I might more readily agree with you because spending what little money you have on pipe dreams or diversions is wrong. A car seems far more a necessity to me.
 
Depends on your perspective. Would it be better to put that $100 on a transit pass for a month's worth of public transit rides to get to/from his/her minimum wage job? When you're hungry, spending money on shoes may seem a misplaced priority, but if the shoes you have are hurting your feet and you need to walk to/from work or you walk a lot on the job, spending money on shoes is a priority that helps keep your meager income secure. Likewise, if you need the car to get to work and if you don't have the car you don't have work and you don't have income and so you don't have money for food, then fixing the car is investing in your ability to generate income going forward.

I appreciate what you're saying but the example is a really poor one. If you said "could people who buy lottery tickets, or cigarettes, or people who gamble be poor?" I might more readily agree with you because spending what little money you have on pipe dreams or diversions is wrong. A car seems far more a necessity to me.

Good post, CJ! I found myself shaking my head in agreement. I never thought of shoes before, but you are right. You don't have to buy $200 shoes, though, but employers do make initial judgments based on body language, and if you are uncomfortable because of ill-fitting shoes, it's going to show. Sad, but true.

Greetings, CJ. :2wave:
 
Good post, CJ! I found myself shaking my head in agreement. I never thought of shoes before, but you are right. You don't have to buy $200 shoes, though, but employers do make initial judgments based on body language, and if you are uncomfortable because of ill-fitting shoes, it's going to show. Sad, but true.

Greetings, CJ. :2wave:

Good afternoon Lady P - hope all is well with you.
 
Like with the wealthy, I'd say there are some levels of poverty in this nation -- not to mention, being poor in a nation like America is different from some third world nation that is still developing. That aside, a car is not a luxury for many Americans, it's a necessity.
 
Hi fellas,

I recall one film ("Pay it forward") where an old woman was a bum and at the same time was driving some gas-guzzler* around.

So, if one has money for car and gas, should s/he be considered poor? Should s/he receive welfare, food stamps and such? Please, discuss. :)


* (well, at least from European perspective :wink: )

Poor does not necessarily mean broke.
 
There are some people in my country, gypsies and people we call "cocalari" (romanians who behave like gypsies) who live in shambles or some ****ty apartments but drive mercedes benz or something. Now they aren't rich, they can't afford to live in a decent place but they afford to have a car to flash to their retarded friends and look cool when they drive to the club where they know their retarded friend the bouncer so they can get in.

But sensible people who happen to live in poverty can own cars that are old or poorly maintained.
I was always taught to not judge someone by their car. In America, or at least South Florida, you will see lower middle class Americans with a brand new, shiny Lexus in the driveway. YET, you can pass by a mansion with a few years old Ford truck and a Toyota Avalon.
 
With a small handful of notable urban exceptions, not having a car in the United States is the equivalent of not being able to work, so it's not fair to equate owning a car with a higher class status anymore than owning pants or shoes.

It's a circular problem for poor people: if you don't own a car you can't work, and if you do own a car then the insurance, registration, gas and, god forbid, the maintenance costs will kill you. And let's be 100% honest here: if you're poor, your car sucks and you're blowing thousands of dollars a year on repairs.
 
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I was always taught to not judge someone by their car. In America, or at least South Florida, you will see lower middle class Americans with a brand new, shiny Lexus in the driveway. YET, you can pass by a mansion with a few years old Ford truck and a Toyota Avalon.

It's a funny thing: there is this reptilian part of my brain where every time I see someone driving a Jaguar I just assume he's rich, even though I'm perfectly old enough to know better. That person could be living in a studio apartment and the payments on the Jag could be killing him, but nope, the part of my brain that says "he's rich!" lights up anyway.
 
There are charities that give free cars to the poor and also charities who provide working cars for working families.

There are organizations that will repair cars for the poor.

Yes there are. I am such an organization.

A couple of years ago my business was in danger of not being able to survive the winter. Things tend to slow down in auto repair here during the winter. So I approached a friend who makes silly money as a defense contractor to ask if he would loan me a couple thousand to weather the cold season. But he came up with an even better idea. Rather than loan me the money he made a (sizable) contribution to our church and created an emergency repair trust. So people in need would go to the church, the church would send them to me and I would assess the car. Then the church would pay for the needed repairs. The investor got a tax break, my work load increased and I had nothing to pay back, and a LOT of people were able to keep driving. One of the vehicles was a Chrysler 300 that got a new set of 4 18 inch tires. Not cheap. But the lady who had it was upside down in the car and couldn't sell it and her husband was in cancer treatment so they were down to her part time income. He recovered, went back to work, they donated the amount of the tires to the church to continue the program. But it took them a year. Don't be too quick to judge. It doesn't mean the people's situation had not taken a major turn after they had bought the car.

I have also seen a family in line at the food distribution center in an Escalade. Just to make the point, yes, they were black. They came in several times over the course of a few months. Same kind of story. Family illness, job loss, etc. These days you can still see them at the food depot... on the other side, bagging food for others and contributing to the program with money for more food. These programs are intended to be temporary, and I have no problem with them being used this way, particularly when their situation improves and they come back to help which is very common in this area.
 
There are charities that give free cars to the poor and also charities who provide working cars for working families.

There are organizations that will repair cars for the poor.
Yes there is. But only if the car is worth it.

I've volunteered many hours doing auto mechanic work for a local charity that caters to homeless women who are fleeing abusive relationships.

Helping them get safe, reliable transportation is very important in their quest to take their life and independence back.
 
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