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May I Please Speak to the Complaints Department (![[info]](http://www.journalfen.net/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ladybirdsleeps) wrote in ![[info]](http://www.journalfen.net/img/community.gif){kind=small} otf_wank, |
The strong reaction is due to the stupidity of the statement.
I wouldn't call someone who makes minimum wage, only makes rent by having roommates, survives on cheap store-brand food, and can't afford to go to the doctor anything but poor. But that person could also have $15 to spare each month to spend on things to make their lives a little more enjoyable, and choose to spend it on internet access.
Saying that people aren't poor because they own a computer and can get on the internet is offensive. It's reminiscent of the attitude that poor people's only priority should be to save every last penny they can in order to make themselves not poor, at the cost of their quality of life. It's dehumanizing.
Also, what's within our means to possess is dependent on our society. Would you call an African subsistence farmer who can barely feed his family not-poor because he owns a little land, whereas many American poor can't?
I wouldn't call someone who makes minimum wage, only makes rent by having roommates, survives on cheap store-brand food, and can't afford to go to the doctor anything but poor. But that person could also have $15 to spare each month to spend on things to make their lives a little more enjoyable, and choose to spend it on internet access.
Saying that people aren't poor because they own a computer and can get on the internet is offensive. It's reminiscent of the attitude that poor people's only priority should be to save every last penny they can in order to make themselves not poor, at the cost of their quality of life. It's dehumanizing.
Also, what's within our means to possess is dependent on our society. Would you call an African subsistence farmer who can barely feed his family not-poor because he owns a little land, whereas many American poor can't?
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