Ben Carson calls poverty ‘a state of mind’ during interview

[Thermodolia]

No it doesn't.

Actually, it does. Substantially. Business prices are influenced by people's ability to actually pay for them.

Ah yes the platitude uttered by everyone who lives comfortably and has never faced debt or gotten deep into debt.

Saying "that's a platitude" is not an argument. Not to mention this is just an ad hominem.

Yet saying live within their means is?

[Randsbeik]

Actually, it does. Substantially. Business prices are influenced by people's ability to actually pay for them.



Saying "that's a platitude" is not an argument. Not to mention this is just an ad hominem.

Yet saying live within their means is?

Yes. It is.

[Thermodolia]

Ah yes the platitude uttered by everyone who lives comfortably and has never faced debt or gotten deep into debt.

Because my family lives within its means. When we struggle we cut spending rather than get expensive (read 40% interest rate) loans which will put the financial situation worse than in the beginning.

Sometimes you have nothing left to cut. In the US that's something that happens often, especially when you don't live in a city. You can't get rid of the car because that's the only way to get to a job and you can't walk to anywhere because it's to dangerous. That's three things that can get you into debt. Car payment, car insurance, and gas bills. Then you add food and rent and a phone because you can't get a job without one here in the US.

That's easily $1,000 a month. If you go without a job for two because you broke your leg you are screwed.

[Thermodolia]

Yet saying live within their means is?

Yes. It is.

Oh I see can't say anything that goes against the libertarian beliefs

[Saiwania]

Ah yes the platitude uttered by everyone who lives comfortably and has never faced debt or gotten deep into debt.

If you're in debt, you need to pay off the debt as fast as you can, in order to avoid interest setting you back further. If the debt is too much, there might be no choice but to declare bankruptcy, but your credit is ruined as a result. Granted, if you have a hard time acquiring money in the first place, that can make it infinitely harder to meet expenses even if you want to pay everything off. There is a cost to living and it is harder to save when you're so cash strapped.

You might be able to dig yourself out towards financial stability but it is a brutally slow and gradual process if you genuinely are at the bottom.

[Randsbeik]

Yes. It is.

Oh I see can't say anything that goes against the libertarian beliefs

No, it's actually a way that people can cut costs.

Saying something is "platitudinous" is worthless.

[Randsbeik]

Their GDP per capita is considerably smaller than US'. This affects the prices of goods and services.

Yet their median wage hovers above our's.

Huh.

It's almost like the end result is that it's more affordable and that our GDP per capita is inflated by a small number of very wealthy individuals.

Nah. That would go against the libertarian narrative that less regulations is always good

How much is being spent on regulating university compared to the US, and what are the rates of college attendance?

[Thermodolia]

Ah yes the platitude uttered by everyone who lives comfortably and has never faced debt or gotten deep into debt.

If you're in debt, you need to pay off the debt as fast as you can, in order to avoid interest setting you back further. If the debt is too much, there might be no choice but to declare bankruptcy, but your credit is ruined as a result. Granted, if you have a hard time acquiring money in the first place, that can make it infinitely harder to meet expenses even if you want to pay everything off. There is a cost to living and it is harder to save when you're so cash strapped.

You might be able to dig yourself out towards financial stability but it is a brutally slow and gradual process if you genuinely are at the bottom.

Yes I agree. But it's not like people can just snap their fingers or cut some things and boom they are out of debt. And for some it's very hard to pay down debt while at the same time trying to live.

I've been there several times before. There have been times where I had literally no money and was excited to find $20 on the ground. This was because the only work I could find was seasonal work during the winter, so during the summer I was basically broke.

[Randsbeik]

If you're in debt, you need to pay off the debt as fast as you can, in order to avoid interest setting you back further. If the debt is too much, there might be no choice but to declare bankruptcy, but your credit is ruined as a result. Granted, if you have a hard time acquiring money in the first place, that can make it infinitely harder to meet expenses even if you want to pay everything off. There is a cost to living and it is harder to save when you're so cash strapped.

You might be able to dig yourself out towards financial stability but it is a brutally slow and gradual process if you genuinely are at the bottom.

Yes I agree. But it's not like people can just snap their fingers or cut some things and boom they are out of debt. And for some it's very hard to pay down debt while at the same time trying to live

Don't take out a loan unless you know you can pay it back. It's a preventative measure.

[Thermodolia]

Yes I agree. But it's not like people can just snap their fingers or cut some things and boom they are out of debt. And for some it's very hard to pay down debt while at the same time trying to live

Don't take out a loan unless you know you can pay it back. It's a preventative measure.

Sometimes you have no choice. Or you borrow money from your relatives both count as debt. And both can rack up quickly

[Genivaria]

Yes I agree. But it's not like people can just snap their fingers or cut some things and boom they are out of debt. And for some it's very hard to pay down debt while at the same time trying to live

Don't take out a loan unless you know you can pay it back. It's a preventative measure.

Ever heard the expression "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it?"
Sometimes the present situation is just that bad.

[Randsbeik]

Don't take out a loan unless you know you can pay it back. It's a preventative measure.

Sometimes you have no choice. Or you borrow money from your relatives both count as debt. And both can rack up quickly

Don't take out a loan unless you know you can pay it back. It's a preventative measure.

Ever heard the expression "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it?"
Sometimes the present situation is just that bad.

Nobody is forcing you to take the loans. Also, if a low-wage job is enough to cover, why do you need to use a loan like a lifeline in the first place?

[Saiwania]

I've been there several times before. There have been times where I had literally no money and was excited to find $20 on the ground. This was because the only work I could find was seasonal work during the winter, so during the summer I was basically broke.

You can't go wrong with trying to grow your passive income. I'd describe money as nearly impossible to save when you're below a certain amount but exponentially easier to grow past a certain point.

You can't go wrong with investing in the stock market provided you know what you're doing. Never sell, just buy equity in blue chip stocks which pay out dividends and take the dividends and reinvest to get even more equity which snowballs into even more dividends and you can repeat that process. You could perhaps skim some off the top and use a portion of any dividends to live off of or help meet expenses. Diversify your portfolio but don't buy more than 100 companies maximum, you'll spread yourself too thin otherwise.

With any luck, if you do that for 30+ years straight, you might become a millionaire. The stocks rising and falling doesn't really matter. You only really lose money if the companies you had shares in go bankrupt, but you only lose the amount that was invested in that one bad stock. If your portfolio is well built, you'll be able to weather a bull or a bear market. A stock market crash is the very best time to buy up all that you can if you're confident that your choices won't go out of business. That is my plan for eventually becoming rich. I sure hope it works out.

[Finium]

Perhaps this is simply a reference to stoicism?

[Thermodolia]

Sometimes you have no choice. Or you borrow money from your relatives both count as debt. And both can rack up quickly

Ever heard the expression "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it?"
Sometimes the present situation is just that bad.

Nobody is forcing you to take the loans. Also, if a low-wage job is enough to cover, why do you need to use a loan like a lifeline in the first place?

Because most low wage jobs aren't enough. And don't offer any benefits.

Also while nobody is forcing you to take a loan, the choice of not taking one is a lot lot worse. In some cases it's the choice between choosing to eat or having a job.

[Randsbeik]

Nobody is forcing you to take the loans. Also, if a low-wage job is enough to cover, why do you need to use a loan like a lifeline in the first place?

Because most low wage jobs aren't enough. And don't offer any benefits.

Also while nobody is forcing you to take a loan, the choice of not taking one is a lot lot worse. In some cases it's the choice between choosing to eat or having a job.

Low wage jobs in America are enough for even the poor in America to own a TV, car, apartment, and enough food to maintain their obesity.

It isn't a dichotomy. There are other ways to get money besides taking out a loan you know you can't pay for, although many of them are actively being countered by the state.

[Thermodolia]

Because most low wage jobs aren't enough. And don't offer any benefits.

Also while nobody is forcing you to take a loan, the choice of not taking one is a lot lot worse. In some cases it's the choice between choosing to eat or having a job.

Low wage jobs in America are enough for even the poor in America to own a TV, car, apartment, and enough food to maintain their obesity.

As some who has held low wage jobs no they are not.

[Gauthier]

If there's anyone who can succeed at making Trumpvilles sprout up in Washington D.C. it would be Ben Carson.

[Gallia-]

If there's anyone who can succeed at making Trumpvilles sprout up in Washington D.C. it would be Ben Carson.

-ville is Clinton's turf.

The correct terminology is "Trumpton".

[Gauthier]

If there's anyone who can succeed at making Trumpvilles sprout up in Washington D.C. it would be Ben Carson.

-ville is Clinton's turf.

The correct terminology is "Trumpton".

As in Hoovervilles.

[The Lone Alliance]

He does have a certain point. If one does not put them selves in to the mind set of "I don"t want to live in poverty" then they wont easily get out of it. Now, I"m not defending Trump's bill, or Ben"s exact words, but his logic has ground here.

If they lack the will to work them selves out of poverty, then it's the person's fault, no one else's.

See my above comments. It is unfair for European Americans to comment on it. We don't live in the inner city and we don't know the terror of seeing people be killed. I also would like ot say that a lot of African-Americans DO want a way out. That's why they deal drugs. Drugs is a commodity that you can literally cut what by half or fourths and get more money. Let's take heroine. Let's say he paid $500 dollars for a pound of heroin. He cuts in fourths either with a dangerous chemical or non-dangerous one. now, he is dealing with a $2,000 amount of heroin. Now if they weren't entrepreneurs and they had no interest in profit, why would they do that ? Drug dealers and prostitutes should be seen as capitalists.

Do you realize how utterly racist this post is?

It's quite clear that you Lincolnopolis, know nothing about poverty, poverty is a whole lot more than poor inner city minorities.

[Greed and Death]

If there's anyone who can succeed at making Trumpvilles sprout up in Washington D.C. it would be Ben Carson.

It would free up some prime urban real estate.

[Genivaria]

Sometimes you have no choice. Or you borrow money from your relatives both count as debt. And both can rack up quickly

Ever heard the expression "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it?"
Sometimes the present situation is just that bad.

Nobody is forcing you to take the loans. Also, if a low-wage job is enough to cover, why do you need to use a loan like a lifeline in the first place?

Then you clearly haven't ever had to worry about rent.

Also, if a low-wage job is enough to cover

It's not.

[Thermodolia]

Nobody is forcing you to take the loans. Also, if a low-wage job is enough to cover, why do you need to use a loan like a lifeline in the first place?

Then you clearly haven't ever had to worry about rent.

Also, if a low-wage job is enough to cover

It's not.

I also forgot about the second most debt maker behind medical bills, car repair. Oh your car broke down? That will be $5,000 please

[Randsbeik]

Low wage jobs in America are enough for even the poor in America to own a TV, car, apartment, and enough food to maintain their obesity.

As some who has held low wage jobs no they are not.

You held a minimum wage job? Nonsense - surely you would have died of TB and rotted in the streets long ago, right?

In 2015, just 2% of full-time workers lived below the poverty line; or, of those beneath it, just 11% were working full-time. In actuality, the poverty income of the poor in America is comparable to the median income of Italy and Belgium.

Of the poor:

76 percent have air conditioning.
66 percent have more than two rooms of living space per person.
97 percent own at least one color television.
62 percent have either cable or satellite television.
Almost 75 percent of households own a car (30 percent own two or more).
73 percent own microwave ovens.
More than 50 percent have stereos.
33 percent have automatic dishwashers.
99 percent have refrigerators.
Virtually none lack running water or flushing toilets.
46 percent own their own home, the average of which is a three bedroom house with 1.5 baths, that has a carport and porch or patio, and the average value of which is 70 percent of the median American home.

As far as living standards go, it isn't too bad.

The inability to access necessities such as healthcare because of cost are not a result of laissez-faire policy.