Was Malthus ever poor?

[CountDeMoney]

My brother in law comes from a prominent Midwestern family, one with a shit ton of money.  Some of them lead a playboyish lifestyle without a care in the world, some--like him--actually decided to be responsible, get advanced degrees and work for a living even though they wouldn't otherwise have to, and some simply do the weirdo commune-farming-new-age-homeotherapy-in-a-thatched-hut somewhere.

But even for those batshit fruitcakes who pursue the goofball Birkenstock artsy-fartsy lifestyle of selling pottery made by retard Mongo kids to increase awareness in renewable energy on the Moon, the money's never too far away when they actually need it.

So there's poverty, and then there's poverty.

[Legbiter]

Back in the day on EUOT, I saw Malthus eat out of a dumpster.

What brought this on?

[PDH]

Back in the day on EUOT, I saw Malthus eat out of a dumpster.

What brought this on?

He thought he was in Kentucky?

[Josephus]

No.  Jews in North America just aren't poor.  Not in any of our lifetimes, anyway.  Except maybe grumbler's.

If only they would take out subscriptions to support their local Jewish press. Cheap bastards.

[Camerus]

I can see Malthus' point.  But on the other hand, growing up in a well-to-do highly educated family and then spending a few years leading an alternative lifestyle before going back to school to become a successful lawyer is not really what is associated with being "poor".  It's a conundrum.

My own background was an odd mix of very high education but almost no money, to the point of often not being able to afford supplies such as toothpaste and being in constant panicked danger of losing the house.  On the other hand, I learned valuable educational, thinking, and middle class social skills from my family, which I could then leverage into a comfortable life after university.  Contrasted to most of my old schoolmates (who lived in the same neighbourhood and thus also had little money, but generally poorly educated parents), I've done much better for myself.  Don't know if that counts as being poor or not, either.

[Legbiter]

Back in the day on EUOT, I saw Malthus eat out of a dumpster.

What brought this on?

He thought he was in Kentucky?

Surely Cal can point to gourmet gas station food. 

[grumbler]

What brought this on?

DG discovered that he didn't really understand what the term "poor" meant in a discussion with Malthus, and now is trying to build an argumentum ad populum that it is Malthus who doesn't understand the word poor.

[crazy canuck]

Malthus' theme song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuTMWgOduFM

[crazy canuck]

What brought this on?

DG discovered that he didn't really understand what the term "poor" meant in a discussion with Malthus, and now is trying to build an argumentum ad populum that it is Malthus who doesn't understand the word poor.

Actually, Malthus took that position that after having grown up in a highly educated family and after having taken his undergraduate degree free of charge because his father was a professor at the university he attended, he should be considered as having been poor because in the brief time between his upper class livestyle and law school he spent four years earning insufficient money to match the lifestyle to which he had become accustomed.

Its not all his fault though.  After hanging around with all those trustaferians Malthus may not have realized that this a fairly normal transition that most all people go through after leaving home.

When this was pointed out to him he also argued strenously that the risk that he might have suffered a form of downward mobility was proof that he was in fact poor and he did live like the common people.  Of course, the point Malthus missed is that if he had been poor then downward mobility would not just have been a risk but a fact.  The poor dont risk downward mobility.  They are already there.

[Josephus]

Malthus needs to spend a couple weeks living paycheque to paycheque in a rent controlled apartment building where Mayor Ford buys his crack to know what poverty is.

[Monoriu]

I suppose Malthus is richer than me every step of the way in his life. 

[Malthus]

What brought this on?

DG discovered that he didn't really understand what the term "poor" meant in a discussion with Malthus, and now is trying to build an argumentum ad populum that it is Malthus who doesn't understand the word poor.

Actually, Malthus took that position that after having grown up in a highly educated family and after having taken his undergraduate degree free of charge because his father was a professor at the university he attended, he should be considered as having been poor because in the brief time between his upper class livestyle and law school he spent four years earning insufficient money to match the lifestyle to which he had become accustomed.

Its not all his fault though.  After hanging around with all those trustaferians Malthus may not have realized that this a fairly normal transition that most all people go through after leaving home.

When this was pointed out to him he also argued strenously that the risk that he might have suffered a form of downward mobility was proof that he was in fact poor and he did live like the common people.  Of course, the point Malthus missed is that if he had been poor then downward mobility would not just have been a risk but a fact.  The poor dont risk downward mobility.  They are already there.

As I pointed out in the other thread, it is surprisingly difficult for even the experts to agree on what constitutes poverty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_Canada

http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/licos.htm

According to the above, the cut-off in the 1990s was around $18K, though not an "official" measure. I can't remember how much I earned, but I'm pretty sure it was less than that.

Of course, if CC is right, income-based measures are pointless because one isn't "really" poor unless one takes into account what one's parents make.   

Perhaps, CC, you ought to contact Statistics Canada and tell them what being poor "really" means - it evidently has nothing to do with how much you earn per year, but must also take into account one's family circumstances; all those 20 and 30 year olds complaining about the fact that there are no jobs for college graduates are not really "poor" at all, because look - they are educated. Even if they are making minimum wage washing dishes, that doesn't count. 

[DGuller]

What brought this on?

DG discovered that he didn't really understand what the term "poor" meant in a discussion with Malthus, and now is trying to build an argumentum ad populum that it is Malthus who doesn't understand the word poor.

I'm not trying to build an argumentum ad populum, the sizable majority agrees with me.

[Malthus]

What brought this on?

DG discovered that he didn't really understand what the term "poor" meant in a discussion with Malthus, and now is trying to build an argumentum ad populum that it is Malthus who doesn't understand the word poor.

Yup. On a forum in which my tag-line is that I buy $2000 strollers, no less. 

[Malthus]

What brought this on?

DG discovered that he didn't really understand what the term "poor" meant in a discussion with Malthus, and now is trying to build an argumentum ad populum that it is Malthus who doesn't understand the word poor.

I'm not trying to build an argumentum ad populum, the sizable majority agrees with me.

Please tell me this is a joke.