Scarcity Mindset Post?

April 25, 2019 3:05 PM

I got a message yesterday from a friend of mine asking about an article I'd sent him about a particular sort of scarcity mindset that "was about being poor, and spending money when you have it. Covered topics like spending the money before others can take it from you, etc."

I'm about 99% sure that I found it here, but it could have been any time in the last six or seven years, and my searches aren't turning up anything that looks familiar.

Does his description ring a bell for anyone? It would have been an article/think piece/write-up rather than a forum post or discussion thread.
posted by Kreiger to MetaFilter-Related at 3:05 PM (11 comments total)

This, maybe? I think there's been a couple posts on similar topics

https://www.metafilter.com/174160/If-I-go-to-bed-before-the-hunger-hits-then-half-a-bagel-is-enough
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 3:18 PM on April 25, 2019

Or this was the other one I had bookmarked:

https://www.metafilter.com/111801/When-youre-poor
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 3:20 PM on April 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

When You're Poor, an FPP about a Cracked.com article that doesn't seem to be hosted on that site anymore.
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:21 PM on April 25, 2019 [3 favorites]

Archive.org copy of the Cracked article.
posted by mbrubeck at 3:33 PM on April 25, 2019 [6 favorites]

Mayor Dinkins, when he was still Mayor of NYC, told a story on the radio one day about when he and his wife were just starting out and were poor. Could not pay all their bills every month. He would get collection phone calls, He would tell them that they had two choices. One, if they stop calling they will remain in the hat. If they keep calling they will be taken out of the hat and when at the end of the month they drew names from the hat they would pay that month they would get nothing. The other way, at least they had a 3 in 8 chance.
posted by AugustWest at 5:03 PM on April 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

Isn't this (MeFi's own) John Scalzi's Being Poor?
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 7:19 PM on April 25, 2019 [3 favorites]

There's this thread discussing a Linda Tirado piece.
posted by the duck by the oboe at 8:00 PM on April 25, 2019 [2 favorites]

a Cracked.com article that doesn't seem to be hosted on that site anymore

Yeah, I am willing to bet they have had to deep-six most of John Cheeses work, as he is an asshole. (I generally liked his writing, it had some insights even if he was personally nasty - an ever increasing challenge in a more self-aware world - reconciling historic material with the underlying individual(s) producing it)
posted by jkaczor at 5:47 AM on April 26, 2019 [12 favorites]

Thanks everyone, it was the Cheese piece. This place is amazing, as always.

That's genuinely disappointing and gross to see that he's such a piece of shit.
posted by Kreiger at 8:51 AM on April 26, 2019 [2 favorites]

Wayback link

I guess he and his kids are probably not not poor again now...
posted by amtho at 9:57 AM on April 26, 2019

Not that you asked, but if you’re interested in reading more on this topic, I recommend A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Dr. Ruby Payne
posted by slipthought at 7:35 PM on April 26, 2019 [2 favorites]