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Like all over used phrases, like " no worries " and " first world problem " they can sound annoying after awhile.
In that respect I agree.
Whenever my friends have used the phrase " first world problem " it is EXACTLY the way you have described it.
It is NOT mitigating others real problem, but instead pointing out how minor, spoiled and even selfish some of our complaining is.
It is a way of reminding yourself and others that, not getting the luxury hotel you wanted to book, or having to wait in line at a grocery store for more than 2 minutes, are really NOT problems when compared to the real problems many face.
I have been in line ups at grocery stores when someone behind me is huffing and puffing because it's taking a little longer than they like. Some get to the point where they feel the need to say something to me ( because I've turned around to see who's huffing and puffing ) like " this line is so slow ! ".
My response is " yes, but how many people in the world wish they could be in a line buying food ".
It's not the " first world problem " line, but it means the same thing.
Right on. Thank you for making so much sense - what a relief it is to see online - LOL.
The phrase "first world problem" is like a reality check.
Within the past four years, I've torn both my Achilles tendons and had to have surgery on both of them, which resulted in months and months of disability, pain, missed work and loss of pay, inconvenience, weight gain due to forced inactivity, and massive medical bills, even though I had insurance.
That's not a first world problem - it's just a series of PROBLEMS. Anyone anywhere with two torn Achilles tendons has problems, believe me.
The first one was bad enough - so when I tore the second one, I knew what I was in for, and it was very tempting to fall into a feeling of depression and frustration.
But I had to remind myself, "Hey - things could be worse. I could live somewhere where I didn't have good medical options. I could be the sole breadwinner in my family and be unable to pay my rent or mortgage, or feed my family. I could have a job to go back to that requires me to be on my feet a lot. I could have no health insurance and have even higher medical bills." But that wasn't the case. In spite of this serious health issue, I was safe, well taken care of, as comfortable as I could be (thanks to the availability of Vicodin!), able to go places because my friends and family helped me out, etc.
So when I got frustrated because I couldn't drive, or because the pharmacy had no record of my prescription, or because I couldn't manage to get in or out of the shower by myself, or even because my ankle hurt so badly I couldn't go to sleep - I told myself, "First world problems" sometimes.
Though of course no one ELSE told me that - that would have been callous. But I've truly never heard anyone apply that term to someone else's serious problem.
My serious problem was torn Achilles tendons. My first world problem was that I couldn't just jump in the car and go to the grocery store whenever I wanted to.
Let's see we got one place from Appalachia which is in a region that has historically been extremely isolated from the rest of the nation. The second video features a home that should be condemned. The third video showed a bunch of homes that should be condemned as well. I could hardly hear any of the videos with the audio turned all the way up on my laptop because of the audio quality of the videos so I can't comment on what all they say since I can't make most of it out. Anyway I'm seeing a bunch of condemned homes that should've been torn down or rebuilt decades ago from you posted.
^^^This. Your post illustrates perfectly why many who fall on hard times often find it nearly impossible to pull themselves back up. Once someone loses that financial edge, they're pretty much done.
Yet millions do in America on a regular basis. We have one thing in America that takes people to the cleaners on a regular basis and that is divorce. Some even going so far as to end up homeless due to divorce. Now with that said I've been down to having my clothes on my back, my thankfully paid off car at the time and $20 total cash to my name before. That did suck but I recovered from it. The majority of the millions of people that get cleaned out in divorce court recover from that as well. The idea you fall on bad times and you are "pretty much done for" is BS. Yeah it can take a few years to get back to where you were but the idea you will be in eternal poverty if you end up losing your job and being broke at 35 is not realistic unless said person gives up on life.
Okay no argument left so now it's time for whining.
Or stomping one's foot in indignation. And dismissing an argument, calling it "whining."
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Yet we have tens of thousands of small businesses in the US that are doing well. You really need to stop reading Huffington Post for a while.
And how do you know what I'm reading? Do you have a crystal ball, are you a clairvoyant?
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Most of the businesses I use are in fact small businesses. The reason why I use small businesses over big corporations you ask? Is because it's more practical and off better services that is why. I use a Credit Union that is a small business instead of a large bank because they have better services ie they find anything strange on my payments they call me immediately to find out if that payment was actually made by me or not. Try getting that type of service at Bank of America.
For my taxes I use a small business Father and Son accounting office because they do my taxes efficiently and they notify me of any problems and if for any reason some type of issue comes up that they miss they will work on it and not charge me a dime. I use Blue Ridge Communication for my Cable and Internet vs using Century Link for internet. Why do you ask that I use a regional business over an international company? It's because Blue Ridge offers much better service then my parents who have Century Link have. So no corporations are not taking over everything. It's a popular myth that is spread around but when you actually look around on who you actually deal with small business are very relevant in the United States.
Sure, keep on telling how you use this "private bank" or that "Father and Son accounting office,"
but should I go by your personal experience ( which is very subjective) or by objective data I wonder?
That's a tough one, particularly that it's not even from Huffington Post that I should trust, apparently.
P.S. Oh, and I wish I had your "Blue Ridge" Communication or "Ridge" of any color to counter-balance couple of major corporations that hike price every year in the area where I live.
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Sure you have a few extremely corrupt government officials in places like Haiti that live in mansions while everyone else in that country suffers so yeah someone like those corrupt government officials are more well off then your average American but that is a pretty **** poor comparison.
Why look at Haiti, not Brazil or China? That's what American/Multinational corporations have set their eyes upon, not Haiti.
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I'm not even going to bother getting into this argument since it's pointless. Globalization is here to stay whether anyone likes it or not. We've already gone down this road and there is no turning back at this point.
Of course there is no "turning back." That's the point. This whole "globalization" thing has been set in place to benefit America first of all, ( or rather its ruling class) as the ultimate locomotive of the world economy. However whether it will benefit her at the end or send her crushing down remains to be seen.
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The middle class in the US is far better off then the middle class in places like Nepal. The fact you think the middle class in a place like Nepal have it better or might have it better than the middle class in the United States tells me you have no idea wtf you are talking about.
Again - why Nepal? Is it the place where American corporations are investing their money? I think not - they choose more convenient places. And how about "lower class" in America ( since that's what we are talking about) - do you think they have it better than middle class somewhere in India, where American/Multinational corporations do invest their money?
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I guess I didn't smoke enough crack cocaine while reading your post here for this to come off as simple and logical.
Uh-oh no arguments left, so time for "crack cocaine" statements.
Well go for it, what do I care)))
Now this is hilarious and shows how ignorant you really are. I've had some...shall we say rather "shady people" in my family. More then a few with addiction problems on parole just out of prison living in hotels because no other place would take them and they didn't spend $700 on rent per month doing so. The most one of them ever paid was a little over $600 a month. This woman is getting ripped off in the extreme.
Well guess what - a "shady person" can negotiate the price with the hotel owner much easier than a woman with three children down at the bottom of the "feeding chain."
Well, you know what they say about those who assume. Apparently you haven't read as many of my posts as you seem to think, because I've made it clear on this forum many times that I have been DESPERATELY poor before - for many years - and it took a lot of effort to escape that crushing poverty.
Why would I read "as many of your posts" - do you think I took any particular interest and followed you around in all the forums you post? I know what I saw in "Europe" section whenever I was coming across your posts.
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A person doesn't rack up medical bills without receiving medical treatment. I didn't qualify how much or how effective or whatever that treatment was - but if a person has medical bills, it's generally because they had medical TREATMENT resulting in bills.
So? Some person might be better off traveling through four check points and getting a medical treatment from "doctors without borders" and be done with it, than settling with the massive debt that will be sapping life from him till the rest of his life. Or then, again, he might not get that treatment at all, since he can't afford it.
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By the way, there was a time in my life, in the United States, where I lived for about half a year in an unheated, uncooled, uninsulated storage building in Texas. I was also pregnant,with no health insurance, at that time. I literally didn't have food to eat several times during those days, and some days the food I did have to eat consisted of a slice of the cheapest bread I could buy, and some Miracle Whip.
It took me about a year to climb out of that situation and into poverty vs nearly living literally on the streets, but it took me a good six or seven years to climb above the poverty level to barely middle class. Let's just say my kids qualified for free lunches and breakfasts for a LONG time.
So please spare me the lecture (and judgmentalism) about being "sheltered by money and corporate life, being on the other side of a line, comparably to those who live behind that line."
I don't agree with the points you're trying to make - and I haven't resorted to personally judging or insulting you - I've addressed your POINTS and explained my position. I'd appreciate the same from you.
Kathryn, I didn't make it "personal." You did.
Whenever I would turn around in World/Europe sections - there were you talking about "life in America" as equivalent of your personal life. Your husband, your house, your neighbors, your family, your friends - all the points you were trying to bring across as "life in America" were revolving around it. I don't know, may be your were trying to impress Europeans/make friends with them, but I sure had no interest in following you to other forums, to read more about your personal life, including things that you've mentioned above.
Now since you've brought to my attention "the other side" of your personal experience, this is what I have to tell you regarding it. American system is set in very intricate way, where it gives sometimes an impression that it's all about "one own's ability to pull himself/herself by the bootstraps," once down at the bottom, but it can't be further away from truth. It all depends. For some the lucky break is not that far away - it comes in a form of a good job offer, a distant relative with money, a "case worker" ( whatever "case worker" it might be,) that makes the right reference, and in case of women sometimes - a "right kind of man." One can follow the lead, taking an opportunity even if it requires an effort and some grinding to make it through to a desired destination point. But for some this break comes too late, or sometimes it doesn't come at all. And in this case the system is set to grind that person to no end, delivering one blow after another, or just keeping him in a perpetual state of suffocation, where he has to accept the inevitable. So those who got that "lucky break" often mistakenly believe in their own resilience and "greatness" and often present their success as a proof that the system is set the "right way," praising it and finding fault with those who see things differently. However my opinion is such, that these people never had it really all that harsh to begin with; at least the misery was not long-lived enough, when quantity already turns into "quality" ( or rather luck of thereof,) and when the damage is already irreparable.
Yet millions do in America on a regular basis. We have one thing in America that takes people to the cleaners on a regular basis and that is divorce. Some even going so far as to end up homeless due to divorce. Now with that said I've been down to having my clothes on my back, my thankfully paid off car at the time and $20 total cash to my name before. That did suck but I recovered from it. The majority of the millions of people that get cleaned out in divorce court recover from that as well. The idea you fall on bad times and you are "pretty much done for" is BS. Yeah it can take a few years to get back to where you were but the idea you will be in eternal poverty if you end up losing your job and being broke at 35 is not realistic unless said person gives up on life.
Yeah, I'm not buying any of this. The evidence seems to point in the other direction with the ever shrinking middle class and growing poverty.
Yeah, I'm not buying any of this. The evidence seems to point in the other direction with the ever shrinking middle class and growing poverty.
I've got to agree. I've lived among developing world communities around the world, in quasi-shanty towns without proper sanitation, and still some of the levels of poverty in the USA shock me.
Or stomping one's foot in indignation. And dismissing an argument, calling it "whining."
Be honest it was you whining.
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Originally Posted by erasure
And how do you know what I'm reading? Do you have a crystal ball, are you a clairvoyant?
Funny thing here is you didn't deny reading Huffington Post.
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Originally Posted by erasure
Sure, keep on telling how you use this "private bank" or that "Father and Son accounting office,"
but should I go by your personal experience ( which is very subjective) or by objective data I wonder?
That's a tough one, particularly that it's not even from Huffington Post that I should trust, apparently.
Now see here is where you need to learn how to pay attention. You stated that "everything is taken over by corporations". Clearly that isn't the case just based off my example I gave. As far as my claim about tens of thousands of small business still doing well...not seeing how from your link how they all went to hell and got taken over by corporations. You know...since you claimed everything is taken over by corporations.
Also the US has tens of millions of small business. It's definitely not all doom and gloom for small business either.
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Originally Posted by erasure
Why look at Haiti, not Brazil or China? That's what American/Multinational corporations have set their eyes upon, not Haiti.
Why not? You brought up third world countries in comparison of people there doing better then people in the United States so why not talk about the definition of a third world country which is Haiti.
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Originally Posted by erasure
Of course there is no "turning back." That's the point. This whole "globalization" thing has been set in place to benefit America first of all, ( or rather its ruling class) as the ultimate locomotive of the world economy. However whether it will benefit her at the end or send her crushing down remains to be seen.
Bringing this up is beating a dead horse. NAFTA was 20 years ago the world has moved on.
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Originally Posted by erasure
Again - why Nepal? Is it the place where American corporations are investing their money? I think not - they choose more convenient places. And how about "lower class" in America ( since that's what we are talking about) - do you think they have it better than middle class somewhere in India, where American/Multinational corporations do invest their money?
Actually yeah the lower class in the United States have it better then people in the middle class in places like China. At least 15 years from now there will still be drinking water in the United States where in China they are going to run out of water in 15 years.
If you think that video is biased or the guy is an idiot well here is another video discussing how toxic China is done by a former reporter from China state run news. The Chinese Communist Party censored the video after it was up for 1 week.
As far as India or other countries in South Asia go there almost just as bad off with the pollution. So yeah just off pollution I would give it to the American lower class since they don't have to wear face masks constantly whenever they venture outside.
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Originally Posted by erasure
Uh-oh no arguments left, so time for "crack cocaine" statements.
Well go for it, what do I care)))
To understand your logic I would have to smoke more crack cocaine then you do so that is why I brought up smoking crack.
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Is it the place where American corporations are investing their money? I think not - they choose more convenient places. And how about "lower class" in America ( since that's what we are talking about) - do you think they have it better than middle class somewhere in India, where American/Multinational corporations do invest their money? 
