No benefits?

Well, yeah, but that wasn’t one of the choices here. We can add the Hopeless Welfare Class, Working class, and the Trust-Fund Class. I’m not an economist, but I’d say that you need over 90% of a society to be ‘working class’ in order to support itself. I mean, even LeBron James works for a living so that class has a…

Having read Henri Pirenne’s Medieval Cities I know the etymology of the word “bourgeoisie.” But I also understand 1.) words and phrases often have multiple meanings, 2.) the meanings of words and phrases change over time, and, most important, 3.) words are not immutable tokens for immutable Platonic forms, they are a…

Exactly this. I sell cars, and I have so many customers who just need a way to get to work and back. They’ve lost a job because of an illness or injury, maybe to take care of a sick parent or child. They have another crappy job that doesn’t pay a living wage. They maybe can scrape together $200 for a down payment, and…

And punishment. Never forget how the fundamental principle of the puritan ethos is a craving for punishment, particularly the kind that’s applied to other people.

Pratchett’s work was consistently genius. But every now and the he managed to transcend even himself. The Vimes ‘Boots’ theory was one of those times.

That’s basically the point of the financial industry, credit scores and their advertising in general... Their business is your debt, and they’ll shame you through a bullshit fabricated metric and get everyone else to buy into it since everyone is terrified of getting screwed and through being screwed, ending up in…

lol republicans are all just billionaires down on their luck.

Wow, thanks so much for this. Gonna share it far and wide. It’s particularly glaring after Wilbur Ross’ comments this week. Poverty is so much different than it used to be, too. People who grew up poor in the 60's and 70's faced a totally different set of circumstances than those who deal with it now, at least in the…

We have an Alexa-enabled remote control for our tv so my 3 year old can come downstairs and tell Alexa to “Turn on Disney Jr.”. It works out pretty well. 

Impossible with my 3yo,

alas that I have but the one star with which to mark your invocation of my maybe-favorite bit of Sam “blackboard monitor” Vimes' copper-hued wisdom...

“Poverty doesn’t just take your money, it eats your TIME. Everything’s always breaking. Especially cars. It can destroy any ability to make & keep plans, including the ones that make your life better.”

you are working class.

Poor and lower middle class: You sell your labor for an hourly wage.

middle class: your wealth comes from owning land, factories, banks, railroads, or other means of production.

Yeah...we’re not talking about the kind of people who have enough money to buy and rehab a used boat here. Not even close.

I try not to judge people when I don’t know their circumstances. I get it that maybe you’re having an overpriced meal because you got a gift card for Christmas, or you bought your fancy car before you got downsized at your job.

I live in Westchester County and take 287 to get to work. I’ve noticed a difference in the traffic at 8:15 (quick and easy commute), 8:30 (normal rush) and 8:45 (GET THE FUCK OUTTA MY WAY! I’M LATE TO WORK YOU FUCKING MORON!)