Comment by goggles99 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by goggles99 | Hacker News Reader

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Id be interested to see if even better effects would be realized if television was cut off from a group like this for a generation or two.

Why did the parents of these poor kids do a terrible job of parenting before the stipend? They were drunk half of the time (literally 10-12 hours per day). They drank mostly because they felt sorry for themselves. Why? they felt disadvantaged and envious, they were basically pouting. Why? because their lives were not like those they saw on television. Also because they had "learned" by watching television that they were poor and worthless and could never get a leg up in the white country they lived in. Once they started getting money and buying more worthless crap from Walmart, they felt like they were keeping up with the Jones' thus they felt less sorry for themselves and drank less. The rest is self explanatory...

Simple really.

This is the truth, Self pity is the biggest enemy of the minority. Nothing does more to promote this than The visual media. How do I know this is true? because my wife was one of the children in this story. She and her family told it to me long before I read it here today.

>Self pity is the biggest enemy of the minority. Nothing does more to promote this than the visual media

Politicians who seek to exploit racial groups by scapegoating them and promulgating stereotypes do a pretty good job too.

Could it be that it's primarily the feeling of being stuck, of not being able to move ahead, that causes this self-pity and self-destructive behavior?

I've found in most of my interactions with people, including the very poor, the feeling of control, the feeling of being able to shape your destiny, is what differentiates those who remain poor from those who work their way out of it. It differentiates those who spiral into depression or addiction from those who don't.

Alcoholism, self-pity, and/or ridiculous amounts of television watching are a problem, but seem to be a symptom more than a cause.

I was not referring to the amount of time being wasted on television. If this were the case I would have mentioned video games as well as half a dozen other things.

The question is this. Why are people in the US wealthier then they have ever been, yet they act poorer and more depressed than ever? Comparing quality of life access to education and health care and relative wealth, "poor" people today would be considered in the middle (or even upper middle) class during the first third of 19th century. They ARE considered upper class compared to the majority of the people in the world today. Why they are they the laziest and have far more self pity then the fore mentioned groups?

The answer is that they FEEL disadvantaged and lacking opportunity relative to what they perceive as "everybody else". They FEEL helpless and hopeless. But this is really an illusion. This perception is formed mostly by watching visual media (television, movies, news ETC).

See really the stipend is a bailout of sorts. Something causes them to pity themselves (the false reality of media), and the money causes them to feel better about themselves. More aligned with that illusion.

What i am saying is - rather than a bailout, I wonder if just eliminating what caused the problem in the first place would be even better. I know that this is a fantasy because you can't just tell people to stop watching television.

The television thing is really just a symptom of a larger problem though. The main problem is the loss of Christianity and family. Even atheists cannot disagree with the fact that every legitimate study ever done about those with a strong belief in God concludes that they are harder working, far less depressed, commit far less crime, and stick with their spouses more ETC. (the same types of thing that this stipend seemed to help with). Take that away and of course there will be a big difference in crime, employment, divorce rate ETC. and how that affects future generations (the kids).

I completely agree with you. Having spent a lot of time in a developing nation and one of the wealthy nations in the world, television and 'comparative wealth' are only a piece of the puzzle. Family plays a huge role, as does 'locus of control'.

So many people I met were very happy having a huge extended family, close ties with neighbours, and some scrappy shop that was just an extension of their home. Happier than most of the affluent managerial class I interact with on a daily basis nowadays. And yet they had televisions on, 24/7, that broadcasted this wealth. It affected them, and many were lured to a life they hoped would be better, but clearly it wasn't the decisive factor in their level of happiness.

I'm still very much trying to figure out how this works, but my deeply conservative Christian background often seems to provide answers, however uncomfortable that realization makes me at times.

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