Reply #205: Oh god yes, please spare me from the ramen-eating grad students!

[mrreowwr_kittty]

Great post, Warpy. That I've encountered this clueless attitude more than once on these lefty blogs is more than a little disheartening. Look, I know nothing of poverty and wouldn't presume to judge those who do. I spent my late teens and early 20s in the military, as an enlisted person. Those $200 bi-monthly paychecks didn't leave much room for luxuries. But I did get free room and board (such as it was) and medical and dental care. I was also young and healthy. I knew this was a temporary situation and that the training I was getting would lead to promotions and other opportunities. I cannot imagine, at age 38, struggling to get by on minimum wage, let alone with a family.

Oh, and SCREW that poverty editor! :grr: Gee, I bet neither she nor anyone she knows ever unwinds with a few glasses of wine or some other substance, smokes a cigarette, or engages in any other unhealthy habit. Yeah, they all have homes and food and healthcare because they are such pious pinnacles of clean living and moral fortitude. :sarcasm:

That meme of the poor spending all their money on booze and cigarettes is getting really old. I hear it all the time and very often from so-called progressives trying to justify yet another "sin" tax increase. These people seriously believe that hiking up the prices of these things will cause the poor to quit and join a healthclub or something. They just don't get it.