Are you broke?

[82_28]

Caesar will just toss you into the arena and let the lions out of their cage. Go from there. Animals get a bad rap. Starve them and then let them eat your political or religious enemies in front of a sold out crowd.

[brekin]

Some people are so poor, all they have is money. The poor fuckers.

Cue obligatory Country & Western song.



I'd like to have a problem like that

I'm not a wealthy man, don't pay for my suntan
I work out in the heat and the cold
Sometimes I'd like to be the big, bad wolf
'Stead of just another sheep in the fold
I hear the rich man holler 'bout the shrinking dollar
And cry about a luxury tax
They won't let him write off his lil' eighty-foot yacht
I'd like to have a problem like that

Yeah, I'd like to have a problem like that
Should I buy the Porsche or the stretch Cadillac
Do I wanna drive fast or just ride around in the back
I'd like to have a problem like that

I saw a celebrity talkin' on the T.V.
He looked like a tall Tom Cruise
He's seeing Sheila and Bambi, Linda and Candy
They're burning both ends of his fuse
He says he's suffocating, he needs a vacation
From all the kissing and hugging, the sweet talk and loving
I'd like to have a problem like that

Oh, I'd like to have a problem like that
Be a one-man woman juggling act
How many can you keep in the air before you lose track
I'd like to have a problem like that

I'd like to be too rich, I'd to be too thin
I'd like to be too young, I'd like to be too in
Should I kiss and tell, write a book on my life
And how much can I get for the movie rights

Oh, I'd like to have a problem like that
Be a tabloid star at the checkout rack
Should I drag 'em through court
Or tell 'em to kiss my fax
I'd like to have a problem like that

Give me those problems
I think that I could solve 'em
I'd like to have a problem like that

[Cordelia]

I try to imagine what sacrifice someone must feel when following a budget means declining artisinal ice at a favorite boutique bar.

[Luther Blissett]

I have no debt and will never get a credit card other than to run it up and not pay it. But yeah. Broke.

I had this idea once to get the entire neighborhood onto a single credit card or account and everyone would pay into it. Clearly that went nowhere. I also would go around my old building and knock on all the doors asking if they wanted anything from Costco and we'd all split it up. Yeah, nobody wanted anything to do with it. I'm kind of an idiot when it comes to sharing. People look at me like I'm a retard when I want to share and people who have absolutely nothing look at me as though I am an asshole when I have no cash or change on me. Hate to say it but capitalism needs to be banned or modified in some way.

You should move to my neighborhood. People love sharing.

One trope of the hood is that you'll often see someone walking down the sidewalk with some hand-thrown bowl of curry and chopsticks or wat from their neighbors, just eating and walking. Lots of tool sharing and ridesharing and stuff like that.

[Luther Blissett]

To answer the question, as of last summer for the first time in my life, I'm not really. I've come close a couple times since then. It's amazing what having one's wages garnished for most of their adult life will do with their debt. My partner still has a bankruptcy so technically I do too. But I feel slightly safer, which just makes me donate and give more away.

[seemslikeadream]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS_yRy5EYQk

[slimmouse]

Broke ( financially speaking) and very fukn proud of the fact

[Wombaticus Rex]

Would your politics be different if you weren't broke all the time?

[slimmouse]

Would your politics be different if you weren't broke all the time?

Okay, so I say Im broke, but im not so broke as I cant afford to earn a living sticking it to the man. Standard accomodation, decent food, the opportunity to experience and enjoy life, which is probably well within the budget of the 7 billion of the rest of us, were they not getting fucked over by the psycopathic few.

[Freitag]

My net worth has been negative my entire life until late last year. I used to want to cry when Social Security sent those pamphlets showing my life's earnings. But I busted my ass getting out of debt and now I've built up a large emergency fund. My lifestyle is spartan so money piles up quickly. If anyone needs help getting out of debt I recommend listening to the Dave Ramsey podcast.

It's strange, but now that I have some breathing room financially I find myself really resenting my job. It gets in the way of the books I want to write and the golf I want to play. I'm trying to figure out how to retire within five years.

[conniption]

My net worth has been negative my entire life until late last year. I used to want to cry when Social Security sent those pamphlets showing my life's earnings. But I busted my ass getting out of debt and now I've built up a large emergency fund. My lifestyle is spartan so money piles up quickly. If anyone needs help getting out of debt I recommend listening to the Dave Ramsey podcast.

It's strange, but now that I have some breathing room financially I find myself really resenting my job. It gets in the way of the books I want to write and the golf I want to play. I'm trying to figure out how to retire within five years.

What books do you want to write, Monster?
(You were Monster? Right?)

p.s. I'm broke...in more ways than one.

[Dioneo]

I find the term "white privilege" kind of troubling, but, nevertheless, I wonder how much of that we're seeing in this thread (making assumptions as to the race of most participants here). I'm pretty sure "broke" means going without food.

I'm not broke. I'm really happy to not be broke. Right now I'm doing pretty well (relative to chosen career and mostly idiotic choices I've made in life). Spent years pretty damned close. No longer being close to being broke has not really changed my politics as far as I can tell, Wombat--still chaotic neutral.

ON EDIT: All of which is beside Elihu's real point, which is "quit paying the war tax, you schmucks!" Like Leon, I wish, but I don't want to be thrown in an iron cage. It makes me sad. I try to contribute to groups that actively work against war and for peace, but that pales in comparison to how I enable war. I'm thinking hard about leaving Amerikkka, but, if I do, I'll just go to another NATO country, so not really sure if even that would make a difference. It all makes me feel really powerless.

[Luther Blissett]

I took broke to mean running out of money at the end of the month. I haven't gone more than 36 hours without eating since I was about 20.

[divideandconquer]

If broke means living paycheck to paycheck without savings, retirement, or any kind of safety/security net, then yes I am.

What's even more disturbing is that as the "broke" population continues to grow, the crackdown on, and the cultivation of a mean-spirited attitude toward the "broke" continues to escalate, especially against the truly broke, those without food and shelter, as attempts to criminalize street living are succeeding all across the nation.

[Dioneo]

Sorry, Luther; I was being a little bit facetious. That said, I do think black folks and white folks in the US would probably have very different definitions of "broke."

IWhat's even more disturbing is that as the "broke" population continues to grow, the crackdown on, and the cultivation of a mean-spirited attitude toward the "broke" continues to escalate, especially against the truly broke, those without food and shelter, as attempts to criminalize street living are succeeding all across the nation.

Yes to this. The lack of--what? civility? humanity? compassion?--in our society is tragic and disturbing.