The Poorest People

[jaideeguy]

WHY????

Edited November 3, 2008 by Boo

[bruceboy]

Trouble reading your post jaideeguy.

[Koo82]

Future is not important to them.

[jaideeguy]

Sorry, tried to edit the title which should read 'The Poorest People', but couldn't figure out how. My typo error [new keyboard] sorta takes the punch out of it....but it seems in many cultures it is always the poorest people that waste the most money on making noise with freworks, abusing alcohol and gobbling junk food. Maybe that's why they are poor???

[thesunset75]

Future is not important to them.

Agree :-)

And they enjoy today on things they like, worth what they waste.

Just difference ways of rich people wasting thier money on somehting they thought its worth.

[Koo82]

Sorry, tried to edit the title which should read 'The Poorest People', but couldn't figure out how. My typo error [new keyboard] sorta takes the punch out of it....but it seems in many cultures it is always the poorest people that waste the most money on making noise with freworks, abusing alcohol and gobbling junk food. Maybe that's why they are poor???

I agree with you. I've seen people like that. They seem to feel they're so unhappy and they must drink to forget their problems.

[Carib]

It is short time fun, they will never be able to buy anything more expensive what will give them the same amount of pleasure.

It is, an accepted behaviour in their circles ( no pun) and also a way of being more "popular" or showing of, because of having the largest firecracker or the biggest bottle of whiskey or the longest hangover.

It is the equivalent of driving and showing of an altis versus a porsche, which at their level of income is not possible. Everybody has a reason for saving money, or even making debts for things he or she thinks are worth it. Whiskey and fireworks and the party around it, are worth it in their life.

They are " down there" and unless they win the lottery most of them will stay down there, so lets live it up with some fun.....

junk food is a thing of all levels in society, regardless what one can spend.

[jaideeguy]

After living in Asia for 15+ years, I find it hard to pitty the poor!!!!

[Dave the Dude]

Sorry, tried to edit the title which should read 'The Poorest People', but couldn't figure out how. My typo error [new keyboard] sorta takes the punch out of it....but it seems in many cultures it is always the poorest people that waste the most money on making noise with freworks, abusing alcohol and gobbling junk food. Maybe that's why they are poor???

Hi jaideeguy

Where exactly have you experience this?

I live in a poor village in Isaan and see none of it.

They are too busy wasting their money on Lao Cao

Dave

[Misplaced]

After living in Asia for 15+ years, I find it hard to pitty the poor!!!!

I pitty you for making that statement.

[Carib]

After living in Asia for 15+ years, I find it hard to pitty the poor!!!!

I pitty you for making that statement.

The statement does indeed sound " not nice" But the OP asked the question, maybe he will learn something.

[thesunset75]

After living in Asia for 15+ years, I find it hard to pitty the poor!!!!

You dont have to :-)

They will live the way there are, you can not change anything.

Lets it be.

[Colonel_Mustard]

WHY????

I very much doubt they waste more money on those items than wealthier people, though it may account for a higher percentage of their income.

Perhaps they (probably correctly) realize that the future isn't going to offer many opportunities and so have learnt to live for the present.

[jaideeguy]

I feel that i am highly qualified to make that statement, having lived among the poorest in asia and seeing how much they waste. Alcoholics drinking their entire month's paychecks on a single night's drunk and only having enough money left to buy some plastic wrapped junk food for their hungry children. No pitty from me, except for the children that they breed that will grow up to be just like them.

[Colonel_Mustard]

After living in Asia for 15+ years, I find it hard to pitty the poor!!!!

I doubt they would have much use for your pity anyway.

[thesunset75]

I feel that i am highly qualified to make that statement, having lived among the poorest in asia and seeing how much they waste. Alcoholics drinking their entire month's paychecks on a single night's drunk and only having enough money left to buy some plastic wrapped junk food for their hungry children. No pitty from me, except for the children that they breed that will grow up to be just like them.

Where in Asia by the way ?

Did you mean Thailand ?

[jaideeguy]

Mostly in Thailand and the Philippines....where there is a large gap between the rich and the poor and few middle class.

[Carib]

I feel that i am highly qualified to make that statement, having lived among the poorest in asia and seeing how much they waste. Alcoholics drinking their entire month's paychecks on a single night's drunk and only having enough money left to buy some plastic wrapped junk food for their hungry children. No pitty from me, except for the children that they breed that will grow up to be just like them.

And within that answer which no doubt will be based upon your "high qualifications", you answered a part of your own question.

[livinseoul]

I feel that i am highly qualified to make that statement, having lived among the poorest in asia and seeing how much they waste. Alcoholics drinking their entire month's paychecks on a single night's drunk and only having enough money left to buy some plastic wrapped junk food for their hungry children. No pitty from me, except for the children that they breed that will grow up to be just like them.

It's a pitty I have no pitty for you because your spelling is pitty bad.

[Misplaced]

I feel that i am highly qualified to make that statement, having lived among the poorest in asia and seeing how much they waste. Alcoholics drinking their entire month's paychecks on a single night's drunk and only having enough money left to buy some plastic wrapped junk food for their hungry children. No pitty from me, except for the children that they breed that will grow up to be just like them.

apparently ignorance is bliss with you. You should remove the name "jaideeguy" from your name.

Smoking marijuana, snorting coke, shooting Methamphetamine while your children watch as they are starving for food in the metropolis like LA, Detroit and NY is different?

This happens all over the world not just in Asia. These people are missing something called opportunity and education, so blaming and condemning them because of they are a product of their environment is utterly pathetic.

Edited November 2, 2008 by Misplaced

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

you forgot gambling

[Heng]

The well to do certainly do their share of 'wasting' as well... probably many many times more so in fact. Fortunately for them though, they earn first and waste the trimmings and excess later... not the other way around (which doesn't really work out too well).

[Dave the Dude]

also forgot....

drinking too much

and sitting on your Fat @rse instead of providing for the family

robbing taxpayers by claiming benifits for 'Micky Mouse' ailments

in the metropolis like LA, Detroit and NY is different?

please dont forget the UK too in that scenario.

JDGuy your beef is with the world and not just LOS

Dave

[jaideeguy]

My observations are that most of the fact that the poor are poor money managers. I've known and heard of many who make lifelong saleries of 20k+THB/mo and have nothing to show for it when retirment time comes. That is simply poor money management, especially when they drink and gamble. again...no pitty!!

[soundman]

Sorry, tried to edit the title which should read 'The Poorest People', but couldn't figure out how. My typo error [new keyboard] sorta takes the punch out of it....but it seems in many cultures it is always the poorest people that waste the most money on making noise with freworks, abusing alcohol and gobbling junk food. Maybe that's why they are poor???

Hi jaideeguy

Where exactly have you experience this?

I live in a poor village in Isaan and see none of it.

They are too busy wasting their money on Lao Cao

Dave

Exactly. I can't work out whether the OP is having a go at Thai's or farungs, because his description perfectly describes me when I was in my (late) twenties on holidays to Thailand.

[Jingthing]

Well, the junk food part. Junk food is cheap and greasy and fills you up and easily accessed. If you are poor you don't have your own kitchen. I would call fried bugs junk food for poor Thais. This could be a healthy food but they fry them in disgusting old smelly oil (cheap I imagine) making it junk food. Also a good stomach buffer for the cheap whiskey. Good times!

Edited November 2, 2008 by Jingthing

[Carib]

My observations are that most of the fact that the poor are poor money managers. I've known and heard of many who make lifelong saleries of 20k+THB/mo and have nothing to show for it when retirment time comes. That is simply poor money management, especially when they drink and gamble. again...no pitty!!

Well, I am beginning to wonder why you even asked the question ??

You have all the answers, but you don't see them..nor do you acknowledge how they came about and why these problems will stay.

Pitty or not, but it is hard to blame people for things they never learned. Don't be that harsh on fellow human beings.

[jitagon]

Future is not important to them.

The 'future' is not important to them because they are much more concerned about how they will feed themselves and their families TODAY. That's the first thing on their minds each and every morning as soon as they wake up. And getting a bit pissed up and watching some pretty gunpowdered light show now and then to alleviate the stress and boredom of this fact of their lives, is all they can afford.

[GuestHouse]

While there are of course exceptions the question being asked relates to behaviours of poor people, behaviours which are seen to perpetute poverty and while it might feel good to make a moral judgement on these behaviours, they are in truth learned, just like the behaviours that we might find morally acceptable.

A mistake many make is to believe that if the poor did not spend their money on fags, booze or whatever, that alone would be a path out of poverty - It would not. Attitudes and access to education, access to oportunity are far more important in helping people move out of poverty.

It might be argued that the reason why the poor spend the way they do (seeking instant gratification rather than the middle class model of delayed gratification) is because they, the poor, know too well where their lives are going.

Eitherway, I don't see that someone not having been raised to take care of money and spend wisely is reason enough to abandon compassion.

[wayfarer108]

The most clueless farangs ....

waste time and bandwidth moaning on this forum about things they can't change.

WHY??

Is it possible that worrying about these things is what perpetuates their cluelessness?