Anyone ever browse the subreddit "poverty Finance"?

“Scarcity mindset” takes more than a few years to set in, but once it has, practically never leaves the individual.

I do volunteer casework. If charities didn't set limits, 5% of the clients would suck up 95% of the resources.

Most people come once, or occasionally. Then you get one or two who hit up charities for a living and would show up every day if they could. You'd think hunger would be a motivator but for some people it isn't.

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What exactly is scarcity mindset?

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Tons of literature out there, but the gist of it is that the brain reaches a state in which it believes there will never be “enough”, and anything that isn’t immediately spent/used/consumed will be taken away. Simple concept with extremely far reaching implications that explain why many poor people seem to make such “objectively bad” financial decisions.

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Then you get one or two who hit up charities for a living and would show up every day if they could. You'd think hunger would be a motivator but for some people it isn't.

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I’ve always found it fascinating how hard some individuals will work - meaning the effort they will expend - in order to not actually work.

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Tons of literature out there, but the gist of it is that the brain reaches a state in which it believes there will never be “enough”, and anything that isn’t immediately spent/used/consumed will be taken away. Simple concept with extremely far reaching implications that explain why many poor people seem to make such “objectively bad” financial decisions.

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Low IQ coupled with...remember how that thread the other day said that Africans don't have a concept of the "future" because they can't immediately touch it?


Something like that.

It's the reason why poor people who win the lottery almost always end up poor again in short order.

It's not the money, it's the man

Even animals store for the winter. That’s just a basic survival instinct. Scarcity mindset is a fancy way of avoiding what is really occurring. They are 1. Selfish as frick or 2. they have mental problems.

No squirrel is smarter than a human.

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browse the subreddit "poverty Finance"

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How TF do these people live for years in poverty and not have the motivation to better themselves to climb out?

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It’s a generational thing. You grow up with your parents living that way and it’s instilled you

It amazes me as to how these people spend what little money they have. They buy lottery tickets , bet on sports, eat at barbecue and catfish places on Friday night, etc. It is OK to do those things but makes no sense if you get less than a thousand dollars a month to live on. These folks show up at churches wanting their utility bills and rent paid on a regular basis.

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It amazes me as to how these people spend what little money they have. They buy lottery tickets , bet on sports, eat at barbecue and catfish places on Friday night, etc. It is OK to do those things but makes no sense if you get less than a thousand dollars a month to live on. These folks show up at churches wanting their utility bills and rent paid on a regular basis.

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Scarcity mindset. Their brain says they are never going to work themselves out of scarcity. So, they give themselves a shot at lucking out of scarcity (lottery, betting). And when that fails, when they have a few extra dollars lying around, they “treat themselves” before those dollars get sucked away to something that doesn’t bring them immediate pleasure.

Then when something does go wrong that would have sucked away the money (car breaks down, etc), there is no money left to suck away, so they have to ask for handouts. Most of the time, they get it in some form or fashion. So instead of having “enough” to pay for necessities, they now have enough to pay for necessities and luxuries. If they don’t get the handout, they crash and burn (repossession, eviction, etc) and start over.

Rinse and repeat forever.