#JAILTOTHECHIEF- Shit Just Got Real

[Brenda Archer]

Ah, got it. Yeah, I think I shy away from acknowledging that segment out of a misplaced sense of tact. It's not considered seemly to view oneself as smarter than other people, so I work hard to avoid that perspective. All the more so because I've been called out for using "big words" all my life, since I was literally a child, and it's made me self-conscious about being a literate person.

I'm related to people who fit that "semi-literate" group, and our disparities in education/intellect are partly responsible for our estrangement. I'm aghast at their prosperity gospel evangelicalism and Trumper sensibilities (I don't know for sure that they are MAGATs, because I haven't spoken to them in years, but I'm certain their Obama-is-a-Muslim views were a gateway drug to Trump). And you're right, they would be incapable of an informed debate. It's more than not having the facts, they also lack a basic comprehension of just about everything that provides a context around facts. I don't know if they're stupid, but they are incurious about anything beyond their small town.

Here in my poor West Virginia neighborhood, I'm surrounded with people of limited abilities: poor nutrition, lack of education, surplus of alcohol and drugs, scrabbling to make rent; I can't see them grasping the nuances of politics, even if they cared. On the other hand, few of these people vote, so I'm not sure they have any bearing on what is happening.

Thank you, I see. I can see this would be really difficult.

I’m in a certain tension with working class folks. I was raised by my mother and her parents for most of my childhood. My grandparents were working class, but they were also readers and their house was full of books. My grandfather never got past the eighth grade during the Depression, but he was invited into the Connecticut Genealogical Society on the basis of his work. He was also an LDS bishop in Vermont during his retirement, not usually a position working class people get into.

So I was raised by a Gradall operator who had also been a farmer, surrounded by people who had no difficulty with education. Northern New England itself has been a place where most people value literacy and the fundies can’t get much of a foothold. Both my mother and her brother got a bachelor’s degree, all the time still mostly thinking of themselves as working class rather than upper middle class. It’s a value system.

I washed out of college with health troubles (that in hindsight were more of the venous thromboembolism that has been a problem for me) and I think I’ve been dealing with undiagnosed autism spectrum, and so I’ve been struggling all along and often living among the poor, but never belonging. Getting pushed out of the family because of abuse and religious homophobia made it worse. I don’t think my grandfather would have allowed the family to exile me if he was still alive, he was my biggest supporter.

So I’ve always felt “allowed” to be a critic of willful ignorance. I’m sure I’ve rubbed some people the wrong way. It’s been a case of, “we can do it, why don’t you?” and then gradually coming to see that some people can’t.

 

[Romana]

I'm convinced Trump is manipulating the stock market so it stays at an inflated and unsustainable high. A recession is a couple of months overdue, based on historical data and patterns of recession. They occur roughly every ten years like clockwork. The fact is, as soon as Trump thinks he's about to lose his job, he'll have his "friends" sell off, cause the market to tank, and create the worst recession on record, which will be blamed on Democrats.

Mark my words.

I've said the same.

 

[Beebo Brink]

It’s been a case of, “we can do it, why don’t you?” and then gradually coming to see that some people can’t.

It's difficult for people who don't know things to understand what the world looks like to people who have a broader conceptual understanding. But the reverse is also true.

My own abilities appear "normal" to me, as just the baseline of existence. I also spend most of my time around co-workers who are at my same general level, if not way smarter than I am. And in my leisure time I'm here on VVO, where everyone is sharp as tacks. This selected exposure distorts my view of reality, so I tend to unconsciously assume that everyone is working from the same baseline. Even if all the members of my cohort were "average", that still leaves 50% of the population that is below average. I'd venture, however, that this cohort is above average (Innula alone skews us upwards) so some 75% of the population is going to struggle with concepts we all take for granted.

 

[Casey Pelous]

... (Innula alone skews us upwards) ...

Let's face it; if we were being graded on the curve here, Innula would be facing some serious heat at recess.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

I also spend most of my time around co-workers who are at my same general level, if not way smarter than I am.

Pleased that Lady Darnk Juniorette , Clara D. , and I can provide a supply of friendly dumbasses.

 

[Beebo Brink]

Pleased that Lady Darnk Juniorette , Clara D. , and I can provide a supply of friendly dumbasses.

And in my leisure time I'm here on VVO, where everyone is sharp as tacks.

And I'm now I'm feeling stupid, because I'm not sure what I said that was supposed to be insulting.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

And I'm now I'm feeling stupid, because I'm not sure what I said that was supposed to be insulting.

It wasn't at all, I was being a

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

I'm convinced Trump is manipulating the stock market so it stays at an inflated and unsustainable high. A recession is a couple of months overdue, based on historical data and patterns of recession. They occur roughly every ten years like clockwork. The fact is, as soon as Trump thinks he's about to lose his job, he'll have his "friends" sell off, cause the market to tank, and create the worst recession on record, which will be blamed on Democrats.

Mark my words.

I am convinced that Trump is way too dumb to manipulate the stock market successfully, nor that he has enough money to do so.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

I am convinced that Trump is way too dumb to manipulate the stock market successfully, nor that he has enough money to do so.

The architects of the last meltdown are his Cabinet, tho.

 

[Casey Pelous]

I'm convinced Trump is manipulating the stock market so it stays at an inflated and unsustainable high. A recession is a couple of months overdue, based on historical data and patterns of recession. They occur roughly every ten years like clockwork. The fact is, as soon as Trump thinks he's about to lose his job, he'll have his "friends" sell off, cause the market to tank, and create the worst recession on record, which will be blamed on Democrats.

Mark my words.

I'm convinced Trump THINKS he's manipulating the stock market, much the same way I think my cat understands, "Leave the dog's food alone!"

 

[Fionalein]

Look at Trump's new buddy.


Guess like and like go well together

 

[danielravennest]

Does the US government still use paper cheques to make social security (or any other) payments?

If for some reason you can't, they'll give you a pre-paid debit card you can use to withdraw your entitlement from various outlets, but that's very much the contingency plan if all else fails.

Social Security started requiring people to use direct deposit in 2011 if they were new beneficiaries, and existing beneficiaries by 2013. There are some people who can't get a regular bank account for various reasons, and they can get a debit card as an alternative, which gets refilled monthly. The Internal Revenue Service will still issue paper checks for tax refunds, but most people use direct deposit, because it is faster and safer. Direct deposit in the US means it goes to a designated checking or savings account, where you have given them the bank routing number and individual account number.

 

[Brenda Archer]

It's difficult for people who don't know things to understand what the world looks like to people who have a broader conceptual understanding. But the reverse is also true.

My own abilities appear "normal" to me, as just the baseline of existence. I also spend most of my time around co-workers who are at my same general level, if not way smarter than I am. And in my leisure time I'm here on VVO, where everyone is sharp as tacks. This selected exposure distorts my view of reality, so I tend to unconsciously assume that everyone is working from the same baseline. Even if all the members of my cohort were "average", that still leaves 50% of the population that is below average. I'd venture, however, that this cohort is above average (Innula alone skews us upwards) so some 75% of the population is going to struggle with concepts we all take for granted.

Yes exactly!!

 

[Kara Spengler]

She does. Though she does joke about how she can't hate him completely because she sort of made some good money when he said something stupid that effected GM stock, she's too old school progressive to like him.

Now, if she'd stop assuming that people my age and younger are as bothered by 'Socialism' as her generation and Boomers are.

I always find them hilarious. Many boomers and silents think socialism is an automatic boogey monster. Meanwhile more in X and younger are debating the minutiae of different parties that include the word socialist (like is Sanders actually a Democratic Socialist or a Socialist Democrat).

 

[Kara Spengler]

I'm convinced Trump is manipulating the stock market so it stays at an inflated and unsustainable high. A recession is a couple of months overdue, based on historical data and patterns of recession. They occur roughly every ten years like clockwork. The fact is, as soon as Trump thinks he's about to lose his job, he'll have his "friends" sell off, cause the market to tank, and create the worst recession on record, which will be blamed on Democrats.

Mark my words.

Yes, if donnie were even passingly familiar with businesses and finances he would know financial types have been planning for a fundamental shift in the economy any time now for awhile. While the exact changeover date is always unknown until it happens it is hard to argue the clear cycle when looking at historical data.

 

[Kara Spengler]

Does the US government still use paper cheques to make social security (or any other) payments?

Serious question, because HMG hasn't used cheques for years -- the assumption is that everyone should have a bank account, and you're expected to open one if you hope to receive government payments of any sort.

If for some reason you can't, they'll give you a pre-paid debit card you can use to withdraw your entitlement from various outlets, but that's very much the contingency plan if all else fails.

The last I knew they did but you could do direct deposit as an option.

 

[Kara Spengler]

Last I checked, no they do not still issue paper checks and expect to be able to direct deposit. The system is quite similar here.

Ah, thanks, I thought otherwise but it looked like they stopped in 2013.

Is It Time To Write Off Checks?

In the age of Venmo and mobile deposits, checks are fading. That's having a wide impact, from the Postal Service to check-printing companies. But many still find room for checks in their lives.

www.npr.org

People without bank accounts do exist though.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

“make me hate them”

"make me hit them"

 

[Kara Spengler]

the bank routing number and individual account number.

"I will take 'what do I need to start passing bad paper' for 100 please Alex."

Ok, it is not quite as easy as that but still it is scary what someone can do with them.

 

[Kara Spengler]

“make me hate them”

"make me hit them"

Ok, I will bite, what in the WORLD does hating donnie have to do with homelessness?