Hacker CinemaWaging A Living
2005 · Film · documentary · 85 min
Directed by Roger Weisberg
The term "working poor" should be an oxymoron. If you work full time, you should not be poor, but more than 30 million Americans - one in four workers - are stuck in low wage jobs that do not provide the basics for a decent life. WAGING A LIVING chronicles the battle of four low-wage workers to lift their families out of poverty. Shot over a three-year period in the northeast and California, this observational documentary captures the dreams, frustrations, and accomplishments of a diverse group of workers who struggle to live from paycheck to paycheck. By presenting an unvarnished look at the barriers that these workers must overcome to escape poverty, WAGING A LIVING offers a sobering view of the elusive American Dream.
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6 comments on Hacker News
Very right.
You might find the documentary Waging a Living eye-opening - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47971968
WTF?
Relevant:
Every American needs to watch the documentary Waging a Living to understand the difficulties of people hovering around poverty level (aka sticky poverty) - https://emro.libraries.psu.edu/record/index.php?id=2184
Video on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIXFyLXSBuo&t=6s
I just remembered; every American should watch the documentary Waging a Living - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waging_a_Living - Available on Youtube and other sites.
People from other countries may also find it useful, though the lessons would need to be adapted to their own environments.
Our Economic System and Social Conditions are so skewed that many (all?) of the rules that enabled our grandparents/parents to raise and sustain a family without too much risk (i.e. guaranteed income from guaranteed job provided you met the requirements and didn't do anything absolutely self-destructive) no longer apply. Hence of a necessity our adaptation to these circumstances must change accordingly with a greater emphasis on safety-first.
You misunderstood my comment.
I just used the US and India as examples of the developed world and developing world with which i have personal experience to assert that much much more food is wasted in the former than in the latter. It is not about sending food from one to the other but managing it more effectively when you have people desperately needing it in their own countries (eg. Charities/NGOs, Homeless Shelters, Low-Income groups, Schools etc.). It is well-known that in the developed world the economically impoverished cannot afford healthy food and thus rely on cheap junk-food with the consequence that they suffer more from Poor Health/Obesity/etc. which leads to an unmanageable pressure on the healthcare system and a downward spiral in overall economic output. Everybody suffers as a result.
The above linked documentary is pretty good about highlighting the problem in the US. Also watch this documentary Waging a Living to understand how tough life is for the economically underprivileged in the US - https://www.pbs.org/pov/films/wagingaliving/
Finally note that in 2016 France became the first country to outlaw food wastage by supermarkets which should be adopted by all other countries. See https://zerowasteeurope.eu/library/france-law-for-fighting-food-waste/ and https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/is-frances-groundbreaking-food-waste-law-working
> In the first I clearly stated that I used Khan Academy as a high school drop out and it helped me get into college.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40462419
> You didn’t bother to read it before commenting because you were too busy dumping on something that didn’t match your bias, which is wrong and incredibly depressing, by the way.
I don't have a depressing world view but a realistic one because of overcoming some hurdles in my own life and coming from a country where people overcoming hurdles is rather common (India with its huge population, economic mobility necessity etc.). But in every case (including mine) there is always one or more factors which made or broke them. Thus for example, a poor farmer's child becomes a ceo/doctor/engineer/etc. because the family sold the land to fund the child's education while the father/mother became daily wage labourers to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. The child's achievement while impressive would be impossible without the family's sacrifice. Should he/she omit it from the narrative of their achievements?
> And of course you need outside help/luck/support, but you’re pretending their is some binary threshold and then cherry picking from an imaginary slate of deceptions that you’ve accused me of, to imply I was too lucky or received too much encouragement. Those factors are a continuum and I received more than some and less than others; of course I’m lucky.
No man makes opportunity or luck or can overcome all adverse circumstances. The best he can do is be well prepared by his own efforts (and with some external help) to recognize opportunity when it comes and grab it with both hands. While opportunity can be binary sometimes you can backtrack and get a second-chance. There are plenty of people who never got the opportunity and hence could never make it. The external factor is not an addon, it is essential to success/failure and should never be discounted.
> Im sorry that you do not have faith in people to succeed, but I have plenty of examples. I am sitting across from an architect I work with who is also a dropout (who finds this amusing) and work with plenty of others who made the leap. I’m also sorry that you feel you have to try and tear others down to reaffirm your depressing world view.
You started this conversation with me and hence i am defending my views and not trying to tear you down or anybody else. I just dislike "toxic positivity"/"false advertisements" which is rampant in our society to the detriment of helping deserving people. In the context of this thread, your posts came across as "i did Khan Academy while overcoming a lot of hurdles by myself which led me to what i am today" which is of course untenable IMO.
PS: I highly recommend you watch the documentary Waging a Living here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIXFyLXSBuo
PPS: These reviews give you an synopsis of the above documentary - https://emro.libraries.psu.edu/record/index.php?id=2184 and https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455834/
Agreed.
The entire post reeks of unwarranted self-importance and posturing and contains equal measure platitudes and balderdash.
He needs to watch the documentary Waging a Living to get some real-life perspectives (this documentary legitimately made me very angry at the "American System") - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waging_a_Living and https://www.pbs.org/pov/films/wagingaliving/
Seems like it is available on Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIXFyLXSBuo&t=6s