the new poverty: $68K a year or less

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i spent a weekend a few weeks ago in Philadelphia and was stunned at the very visible presence of white, middle class, cityfolk, hipsters who actually are cashiers or own a vinyl record store, not people who just dress like they do.
:heart:

What part did you stay in?
 
:heart:

What part did you stay in?



umm ... our hotel was right in the middle of it all, there was even some rap star staying at our hotel on Market Street. we spent most of our time in the area between Market and Chestnut around 2nd and 3rd, i think? we also taxied way out somewhere to have Italian food with singing waiters (singing: good; food: shitty), and then wound up at Woody's which felt like i was going to die in a fire. a lot of Philly felt like that, but the chocolate covered rice krispie treats on a stick more than made up for it.

Philly has a dirtiness authenticity that shinier, more gentrified cities lacked.

we came away with this analogy:

DC : Baltimore :: NYC : Philly
 
Ah, so you were in Old City.

Did you check out South Street?

If you return, I'd also spend some time in Manayunk.



i will PM and/or FB you next time i return for advice.

we probably will make another trip up this year -- my best friend from high school has a too-cute-for-words kid, and it's always great to explore a new city.

i feel like i've been to South Street in the past, but not on this trip.

what's Manayunk?
 
I'm sure you've been to South Street before. Tons of restaurants and bars. It's the border between Center City and South Philly, and I think is the favorite of most people who visit Philly.

Manayunk is a neighborhood in Northwest Philly (very nice section of the city - one could argue it's the most suburban area) with what is supposed to be some great nightlife and a lot of very nice shops and things. My cousin lives there and a close friend from high school is moving there this summer.
 
i loved that market thing. we had awesome pork sandwiches with greens, and then this amazing Amish apple dumpling thing with cream.
 
Oh, Amish apple dumplings. :love: There's an Amish farmer who has a stand at our farmer's market and some weekends he'll have baked goods for sale too. Best piecrust I've ever tasted, it has eggs and leaven in it. Sorry, this has nothing to do with poverty...
 
Oh, Amish apple dumplings. :love: There's an Amish farmer who has a stand at our farmer's market and some weekends he'll have baked goods for sale too. Best piecrust I've ever tasted, it has eggs and leaven in it. Sorry, this has nothing to do with poverty...



i've told Memphis that he should give up his dream of pastry school and just do an internship with the Amish, "Witness"-style.
 
:lol: Well if he ever finds out what that magic leaven is, let me know. I asked this guy, what is it you raise this crust with, and he called it something that sounded like 'grumberschatz' and said, my mother makes it. He's intimidatingly taciturn and has this very I'm-not-here-to-chat demeanor, otherwise I would've pressed further. Obviously a sourdough of some kind, but it has a very special flavor.
 
I love Philly on Ryvita. :drool:

But I was gonna say, Australia is rooted too.
Charities feel pressure as prices soar
Charities feel pressure as prices soar Adele Horin
March 28, 2011
.STRUGGLING families are resorting to charities to cope with the escalating costs of essentials, including steep rises in government charges.

Gavin Dufty, the manager of policy and research at the St Vincent de Paul Society, said the rapidly rising cost of items such as electricity, rent, water, health services and food was putting huge pressure on low- and medium-income earners, and people on fixed incomes.

"The squeeze started in 2008 and it's really ramped up over the last 2½ years," he said. "The pace of change has been phenomenal, giving families little time to readjust their budgets."

Advertisement: Story continues below Mr Dufty said Australia's economy might be the envy of the world but the headline figures on unemployment and inflation disguised the real story for households that spent a high proportion of their income on essentials.

He said electricity prices for Sydney householders had risen by more than 9 per cent in a year and by 64 per cent over the five years to December. Water prices had increased more than 6 per cent in a year, and 58 per cent in five years; rents by 5 per cent and 30 per cent; and food prices by 3 per cent and 21 per cent. Public transport costs had increased 17 per cent in five years, and health services 32 per cent.

Prices had fallen for non-essential items such as furniture, electronic goods, new cars and clothing. Audio-visual equipment and computers had fallen 27 per cent in price in five years.

The official Consumer Price Index for NSW showed a rise of 14.6 per cent over five years; and wages rose by 19.8 per cent. But the CPI did not reflect the disproportionate effect of the price rise in essentials on low-income Australians, Mr Dufty said.

The Australian Council of Social Service will highlight what it describes as "the worsening plight" of disadvantaged and low-income groups at its national conference, which begins tomorrow in Melbourne.

The chief executive, Cassandra Goldie, said Australia's notion of itself as a fair and egalitarian society was under challenge.

The accelerating cost of living pressures were behind a surge in demand for emergency help from charities during the Christmas holiday period, Dr Goldie said. St Vincent de Paul and Anglicare had recorded jumps of about 30 per cent in requests for aid against the usual rise of about 10 per cent.

Preliminary figures from the 2011 Community Sector Survey indicated a 47 per cent increase in the number of people charities had to turn away from emergency relief services that help with such items as food and electricity vouchers. The pressure on relief services had been worsened by the floods.

The cost of electricity really gets my goat. Integral energy can go fuck itself. Like the article points out, a 64% increase!!! Barry OFarrell better get his game on or something very fucking awful is going to happen to someone to state governments in Aus... NSW is so utterly ballsed up that it's not even something you can make flippant jokes over.

Hell, I think I'd rather sell my soul and move to the US. At least your cost of living is affordable, even if your wages don't allow you to actually do just that.
 
At least your cost of living is affordable, even if your wages don't allow you to actually do just that.


it all depends on where you live in the US, though. if you want a sane, rational blue state near a desirable big city, you'll pay for it. :wink:

thanks for your Aussie advice, btw, those many months ago. we actually took several of your Queensland suggestions, like the Daintree tour.
 
Irvine, not sure if you know the comedian Wil Anderson, but he touched on the differences between waiters and ordering in a restaurant in America and Australia when I saw him Tuesday night.

America: "Hi, excuse me, can I get a chicken salad, but can I have my salad on the side?"
"Of course you can! This is America!"
Australia: "Hi, excuse me, can I get a chicken salad, but can I have my salad on the side?"
Young Australian waiter hears "Can you rub your dick on my food? This is my fucking job and they come in here and want their fucking salad on the side. Fucking seppos. Think they can come here and order us around. Go back to your own fucking country."

Very funny, and quite accurate (though obviously it's been exaggerated :lol:).
 
Incidentally I just found out why we say "seppo". It's rhyming slang. Yank = septic tank.


i was just going to ask this question.

that's quite a chip on y'all's shoulders, no?

my response would be to start quoting lines from Crocodile Dundee.
 
That reminds me of Don Cheadle's character in Ocean's Eleven. "We're in Rubble! .... Barney Rubble, rhymes with trouble!"

Or whatever that was.
 
Irvine511 said:
i was just going to ask this question.

that's quite a chip on y'all's shoulders, no?

my response would be to start quoting lines from Crocodile Dundee.

Yeah it really is :lol: bit offensive actually!
 
New York Times (Economix blog), April 19
There’s a movement afoot to mail every taxpayer a “taxpayer receipt,” a breakdown of how the government spends its money. The goal is to educate people about where their taxes go, since Americans are famously unaware about such matters. But as long as we’re talking about educating Americans about fiscal policy, why not start with what they actually pay in taxes, and what they earn, relative to their fellow Americans?

I am constantly amazed by how little Americans know about where they stand in the income and taxing distribution. The latest example is evident in a recent Gallup study, which found that 6% of Americans in households earning over $250,000 a year think their taxes are “too low.” Of that same group, 26% said their taxes were “about right,” and a whopping 67% said their taxes were “too high.” And yet, when this same group of high earners was asked whether “upper-income people” paid their fair share in taxes, 30% said “upper-income people” paid too little, 30% said it was a “fair share,” and 38% said it was too much. So members of a group that is, statistically speaking, “upper income” are very unlikely to think their taxes are “too low,” but are five times as likely to say that “upper-income people” as a group pay “too little.” [i.e., the 6% vs. the 30%]

I blame this disconnect on the fact that upper-income people don’t realize they’re upper income. It’s the “Middle Kingdom” effect. Everyone thinks they’re middle-class partly because of cultural reasons, and also partly because of the way the income distribution is skewed. The greatest income inequality is at the very top. As a result, people who are rich but not the richest—in the $250,000 zone, say—see they have more than lots of poor people, but also much less than a few very visibly rich people. Then they conclude they’re in the middle, so they must be middle class. As a result, many Americans are misinformed about how reliant the country is on their tax contributions, and what kinds of additional sacrifices they might have to make to help get the nation’s fiscal house in order, at least if they hang onto their previously professed beliefs about who should shoulder this burden.

As with the “taxpayer receipt,” I’m not sure it’s really the Internal Revenue Service’s duty to notify Americans about where they stand in the pecuniary pecking order (or the best use of IRS funds, for that matter). I would probably place that responsibility with the media and the nation’s education system. So far both have done a miserable job of enlightening Americans about their good (or bad) fortune.
 
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