[muhfuhkuh]

If you've ever been poor (I don't mean "I can't afford the new iPhone" poor, but rather "I have to light candles or not flush the toilet until the 15th when I get my check" poor), then you'd know you can't move if you don't have money. Where would you move to? With what capital to move out? What about breaking your lease (which obviously you pay rent because poor people don't own anythign, you're too poor), and the financial ramifications therof? Now you're "sent to collections" and "final notice red envelope" poor, on top of everything else.

That poor.

[paulhauggis]

I was unemployed and this poor for almost 2 years. Craigslist has rooms for rent in almost every major city in the US, which is very affordable. Public libraries can also provide the computers and the free high-speed Internet access (which I considered my 'office' during this time because I didn't have cable or Internet at home).

While this won't work if you have absolutely no money and no job, it's certainly an option for many people that want to get to a better area..but can't afford an apartment.

When you are poor, you need to get creative if you want to survive.

[muhfuhkuh]

>I was unemployed and this poor for almost 2 years

How about born this poor? How about 2 generations of this poor? How about "there are no bootstraps" poor? That is 24% of Alabama and 20% of West Virginia (I always preemptively point those two out to be fair to both major American races, so that no "it's all the Black folks fault they're poor" shenanigans come out here as they do in other discussions about poverty, as West Virginia is nearly 95% white).

>While this won't work if you have absolutely no money and no job

In other words, the very definition of poverty.

So, be born with nothing, with a single mother that works 3 jobs, never sees you for more than 2 of your waking hours as you get tossed from one strange neighbor in the trailer park/projects to another, you can't concentrate on studies because teachers don't care that you're hungry at home (not at school, I know they have free lunch programs) because they get paid nothing, you share textbooks in class and can't take them home, you hear gunshots or people fighting next door or carousing all night so you can't sleep, and now you're supposed to graduate, get into college, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, and get that juicy Android dev ops manager job in Silicon Valley? Or, as JoeAltmaier says, walk to a better life with rosy opportunities?

Is that how they're supposed to do it?

[JoeAltmaier]

Well, that's the kind of thinking that ties people down. In fact, if you have no credit rating then you can just hitchhike to someplace better, or catch a ride with a friend, or start walking. Right? Nothing from nothing leaves nothing.

[muhfuhkuh]

What kind of talk is that? "Just walk away"? To what, exactly? Homelessness? So, now you're poor, no job, AND homeless. That's not "the kind of thinking" that's needed, either.

Let's all agree that education is the key here, right? Bootstraps and "teaching them to fish", right? Well, how are you going to get anyone to teach in the poor areas when it's losing people to "hitchhike to someplace better"? So, the key to improving the shitty and fraud-filled situation in, say, West Virginia or Alabama, where poverty is like a 1 out of 4 situation, is to leave by foot?

[JoeAltmaier]

You can move to Alabama if you think that's such a good idea. But I'm guessing its easier to just ask those folks to stay.

If you're young and ambitious, you can go anywhere, try anything. Tent in the state park while you interview. Visit the food bank. A poor job in a wealthy area is yards better than a poor job in a poor area. The services are better to start with.