Liz Allen knows the shame of poverty. But it has taught her 'money is about luck, nothing else'
www.abc.net.au
For Pay Day, demographer and social researcher Dr Liz Allen shares the shame that comes with living in poverty, the secrets of survival, and how this experience "grants perspective that can never be bought".

This bit resonated.

It makes me so terribly sad that in a society such as ours the wealthy keep creating new means to harm the less lucky.

That aside, Alan Kholer has also opined in the past that our economics policy is based on disdain.

I know many will read my financial experiences and see failure. I haven’t failed; I succeeded when the odds were totally stacked against me. I made good what life threw at me. I survived … with my values intact.

I can only agree.

      • funkless_eck
        42·
        7 months ago

        I guarantee that every millionaire has more outgoing expenses without counting anything spent on their children than a large family does.

          • funkless_eck
            32·
            7 months ago

            You were scorning the mother for “wasting” money on having kids, but millionaires “waste” more money on their expenditure than having kids would do.

            Also, having 7 kids does not mean you can’t be a millionaire, as millionaires are statistically actually more likely to have more kids than average.

            Hatred of large families is largely manufactured by the media residue of hating on “Octomum” - a woman who had octuplets during the global recession of 2007-8 as a way of blaming the common folk for not having good sense (despite the fact it was a result of pure chance) and not because banks couldn’t stop themselves from doing multiple crimes every single day.

            Finally, Elon Musk has 11 kids.

              • funkless_eck
                23·
                7 months ago

                Having a disability is absolutely “luck” as is potentially having kids. No birth control is 100% effective.

                  • funkless_eck
                    22·
                    7 months ago

                    why is having kids wasting money, but a medical procedure such as abortion not a waste of money? what value is generated from the abortion?

      • naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        1·
        7 months ago

        Sure whatever if you become a parasite but very, very, few people ever realistically get the choice to do so. Like long before you even have to decide between embracing evil and getting shares/property/whatever you need food, clothes, shelter, and medicine. It’s completely luck.

        If you get that chance early, or if you are an heir or whatever to fortune kids are easy. If not kids are hard.

        Having children is in no way related to the luckness of it.

              • naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                11·
                7 months ago

                Do we agree that choices are not free? That the set of choices available to someone is determined by precededing moments, a chain of which extends back well beyond anything a person could be held not merely responsible for but indeed capable of having any influence over at all?

                  • naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                    1·
                    7 months ago

                    But 7 children doesn’t influence your geographical location, the quality of your education, your skin colour, the quality of your parents’ education, your familial wealth, your health, the stability of your home life, your gender, your health, the job opportunities upon attaining your majority etc etc etc. It is negligible and largely downstream of the good luck required to be well off and does nothing to undermine wealth being all luck.