MetaTalk

A couple of years ago there was a discussion about poverty and how poor people spend their money. Someone made a comment (or maybe linked to a comment they made elsewhere) about how it makes a certain kind of sense for people with very limited means to buy cigarettes since they were an appetite suppressant, an energy booster, a mood lifter, and a recreational activity. I would love to locate this comment again. Can anyone help me out? It was such good information.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl on Jan 6, 2016 - 21 comments

There was a comment or maybe a series of comments, that described pretty eloquently why the poor and disenfranchised spend money on small, wasteful things rather than saving. Or maybe it was on smoking? I can't find it or remember the context. [more inside]
posted by [insert clever name here] on May 27, 2015 - 26 comments

Please help me find this post: An opinion piece from a larger publication about what the author would do if they were a poor (black?) kid, and wanted a good education. The author suggested they'd teach themselves using something like Khan Academy or other opencourseware. [more inside]
posted by [insert clever name here] on Sep 1, 2014 - 22 comments

Ok, bear with me, I know this is vague: I've been searching fruitlessly for a comment about how one of the greatest predictors for whether or not an elderly woman will end up in poverty is if she owns her home. [more inside]
posted by fozzie_bear on Mar 29, 2014 - 41 comments

This discussion thread is disgusting, and it's not just the poop. The practicalities of working-class poverty are subtle and insidious. Poor people generally don't do things because they're systematically stupid. Seeing otherwise reasonable users lead with a cavalier attitude of "why don't they just…" is absolutely heartbreaking. Sometimes it really feels like we haven't evolved very far from the NYT online comments section after all.
posted by Nomyte on Jul 30, 2013 - 296 comments