Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - A question for the older members regarding the occupy movement and poverty.

afc wimbledon · 11-21-2011, 04:44 PM

Is it just me but every time I hear the OWS people going on about how much greater the disparity is between the rich and the poor I think back to the seventies when my single parent mum brought me up with no money and times for the poor in the seventies seemed way worse than they are now.

We had no phone, no TV and no car which was in no way unusual in the UK, we generally lived on canned meat, corned beef and spam, or offal, tripe, liver kidneys etc. I don't think I ever had a steak until I moved here in my mid twenties!

There were times, many many times, when we couldn't afford to put coins into the gas or electric meter so had no heat or light and most of my friends went through the same. My mum patched up my clothes, as did every other mum.

I ask this question because obviously things were harder in the UK than in Canada, but even with that in mind it seems to me that things have never been better for the poor than they are now, my foster kids parents, most of who are 'poor' have TV's, cell phones, food in the fridge and none of them have ever had their heat or services cut off except for the pointless cell phones they seem to waste much of their welfare on, all seem to be able to afford playstations and take the kids to McD's fairly regularly.

Is it just me or does being poor now look immeasurably better than being poor 30 or 40 years ago?

11-21-2011, 04:44 PM	#1
afc wimbledon Franchise Player Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: east van Exp:	A question for the older members regarding the occupy movement and poverty. Is it just me but every time I hear the OWS people going on about how much greater the disparity is between the rich and the poor I think back to the seventies when my single parent mum brought me up with no money and times for the poor in the seventies seemed way worse than they are now. We had no phone, no TV and no car which was in no way unusual in the UK, we generally lived on canned meat, corned beef and spam, or offal, tripe, liver kidneys etc. I don't think I ever had a steak until I moved here in my mid twenties! There were times, many many times, when we couldn't afford to put coins into the gas or electric meter so had no heat or light and most of my friends went through the same. My mum patched up my clothes, as did every other mum. I ask this question because obviously things were harder in the UK than in Canada, but even with that in mind it seems to me that things have never been better for the poor than they are now, my foster kids parents, most of who are 'poor' have TV's, cell phones, food in the fridge and none of them have ever had their heat or services cut off except for the pointless cell phones they seem to waste much of their welfare on, all seem to be able to afford playstations and take the kids to McD's fairly regularly. Is it just me or does being poor now look immeasurably better than being poor 30 or 40 years ago?