The Reality of Poverty - Online Game depicts life with poor options - How long will your money last

reply to post by simone50m


You don't have a degree. You're not qualified to make "diagnoses".

So, please knock it off, m'kay?

reply to post by ErtaiNaGia

Then it throws random costly medical bills at you, accidents, HUGE bills, etc... the guy who made that game didn't want you to Win.. is the point.

It's really not the game that is the problem, but the economy. We all get it. There are NO jobs, but there ARE still medical expenses, mortgages to pay, kids to feed. So what do you do? You take three poor paying jobs, commute for hours and hope to be able to break even. In order to come close you have to make some tough choices.

reply to post by JibbyJedi

Don't hurt yourself now.

Dude... let me spell this out for you CLEARLY as CRYSTAL... ok?

The rent in the game is $700-$800 dollars, something that you would see in a larger city... or for a Really large apartment in a smaller town....

And yet the jobs salary does not reflect the City environment.

I used to live in D.C... people working at Mcdonalds got paid $11 per hour... get me?

In one MONTH, I got a heart attack, a root canal, got my hours cut in half, and basically destroyed my child's future because the game is BIASED.

IT does not reflect reality at all.

The only reason that my CAR did not break down, is because I didn't need it to get to work, choosing the "Live within walking distance" option.

And if I had picked "Live farther away" I have no doubt my car would have been destroyed by a freaking meteor.

The game is RIGGED.

In REALITY, the Economy just Sucks, and our Government isn't fixing it.....

The universe ITSELF is not conspiring to destroy us, as the game seems to think.

And he's sending that game to members of congress, hoping to "Sway them" to make better decisions?

Who exactly does he think he's trying to kid? Our representatives are PAID for, and no little Flash Game is going to make them say "Oh, you know what, maybe we shouldn't sell out to corporate hegemony and plutocracy"

Sheesh....

reply to post by ErtaiNaGia


Take it easy, no need to be so defensive. I say that to everyone who says that "my brain hurts" stuff. No one is attacking you "personally", only pointing out the aspects of some people's realities.

The game is RIGGED.

Have you been paying attention to the economy and politics and life over the past few decades/ 100 years? The game we ALL are playing in is rigged, and we can't win unless we join the inhumane society.

reply to post by JibbyJedi

The game we ALL are playing in is rigged, and we can't win unless we join the inhumane society.

So where/ how do I sign up for that society?
Not kidding I am ready to trounce anybody who stands in my way. Do I qualify?

reply to post by ErtaiNaGia

The rent in the game is $700-$800 dollars, something that you would see in a larger city... or for a Really large apartment in a smaller town....

I know the city where the designer works. I lived there for years. $800 is about average for a two bedroom apartment in a highly undesirable part of town. If you want to live in a decent place $800 gets you a one bedroom apartment.

People at McDonalds there don't make $11 an hour. If you asked for $11 they would just hire somebody else. When I worked retail in that city starting pay was minimum wage + $0.25 in most places. If you got a job at Nordstroms you could expect $9 an hour. The wages in the game reflect the help wanted section of the news paper.

The game was a little disaster prone. However, I have had months were I got a lung infection ($20 copay + $25 medicine), the roof on my house was damaged ($300), the heat in my car went out, ($450), and I had to miss two days of work because my kid was too sick to go to work. ($280) That means in one month I lost $1,075 to unexpected bills. Even with a good job I had to go to my credit cards for relief. That means interest and higher bills the next month.

Life is hard some times.

I agree though. This game isn't going to change anybody's mind.

i think people are missing the point, the point is not that this is how it is for ALL people, but how it is for 'many' but not 'all' of those on low income/unemployed.

the game just throws random things out that typical families have to pay or situations they find themselves in, you can gaurentee each scenerio matches somebodies situation, but that does not mean all people will experience all the situations it throws at you in real life, but i can bet somebody is experiencing it.

also the game for me was not even about how much money i could make/save, but the choices i had to make, the things i had to say no to inorder to have enough money for the important things.

Originally posted by ldyserenity
reply to post by JibbyJedi

 

The game we ALL are playing in is rigged, and we can't win unless we join the inhumane society.

So where/ how do I sign up for that society?
Not kidding I am ready to trounce anybody who stands in my way. Do I qualify?

You have some options.
Join the local police department/ or be a prison guard. Do the NWO's bidding and you may advance.
Join the local Freemasons. Try to have a decent bank account at the time of 32nd degree, and make sure to mingle often with the high ranking members.

You could also skip all that and just pay your way up the ladder with the Scientologists.

I think it was a bit useful. I made it one month with no money left and rent due. Then I tried again and said no to everything and ended with almost 1000 dollars and rent due. It's an interesting exercise. I could certainly tutor my own kid, this would also keep me out of trouble and I wouldn't go out so no paying a babysitter. Drive the speed limit and drive safe. One thing I don't understand is the obesity. You don't have to buy raman noodles, you can get a big bag full of pasta in these wavy noodles for like $3 and that would last almost 2 weeks, there is more food in that bag than $3 worth of Ramen noodles. Rice is very cheap, a regular bag of that would last 2 weeks between me and my kid. An apple and orange for yourself and kid each week. Your kid gets two free school meals so they will have more nutrients. Cereal isn't exactly cheap but it's healthy, hello raisin bran lol and we won't have any digestive problems. Peanut Butter sandwich taken to lunch and drink water at work, it's healthier anyway. Orange Juice from the store has little nutritional value anyway, a waste of money in this situation. The child should be ok on top of all that because of the free breakfast and lunch at school, though I'd probably want them to eat some cereal in the morning as well and fix spaghetti once a week, but stick to rice for supper as well. The kid should get meats from school. I could do without meat, at the most eat it once every 2 weeks. If I wasn't feeling healthy I might throw in a can of peas and carrots a week, well I'd do that anyway every week, we could share it. If I need more fruits/vegetables for the kid then it's ONLY like a dollar more for another can, or apple.

For these people to be obese it means they aren't only making bad health decisions, but bad financial too when it comes to food. I liked how the game points out banking fees, it is very true and sad.

BTW, it would help me out if anyone knows... is that pasta you buy in a big bag that is wavy healthy? It's called no-egg noodle pasta or something like that. I know for myself I could live off that stuff, and rice, and canned vegetables lol.

Edit: I would also not drink the coffee at work, which I bet a lot of people in this situation do. Maybe on occassion if I'm really tired, but if I take care of myself and don't drink or smoke, which I certainly wouldn't be doing in this situation I shouldn't get too sleepy. But a lot of coffee, even though it's free, it's not good for your health and it makes you more tired overall once the sugar and caffeine wears off.

Originally posted by nightstalker78
Please,when I was 19 I was making $1200 a month working in a supermarket and living on my own.Rent was $550 a month and I did just fine. Granted I didn't have kids or anything...anywhoo,long story short,I don't feel bad for the poor.Life is what you make it,there's always options out there.It's up to you whether or not you choose to take them and have a better life.


Ps... being poor isn't like it is in a video game.

ETA : Played the game. It's so unrealistic it's not even funny

edit on 26-9-2011 by nightstalker78 because: (no reason given)

Really? Because I found this game to be frighteningly realistic. So realistic that it was like reliving my life from years ago.

I thought it was pretty accurate.
After my husband lost his job of 25 years and we lost our health insurance, his truck tore up- 750 to fix it and 2 weeks later something ELSE tore up that was about 400. Each time they managed to use a whole tank of gas driving it to 'test'. And one of my teeth just decided to break in half. I've had one cavity in my LIFE and then boom, one of my teeth just up and breaks. Doc said it had a cavity up on the inside above my gum. Never knew it til it broke. And it HURT- I just had it pulled, thankful it was in the back of my mouth. KWIM? And it was my birthday month, so my tag was due.
Bah.

I made it 29 days because the po po pulled me over for having a bad tag.

About 15 years ago, I was poor...living in a barn, eating out of trash cans, paying 10 cents each for stale donuts to make it through the day, bathing under a neighbor's water hose.

I now have a 50 acre farm I bought with money I made and invested.

Help! Where did I go wrong?

This is exciting! I'm playing it right now. Posting results soon

Cheers

EDIT: #, I fail but I've made it thru the month though but could not pay the monthly rent. Overall, this game is depressing, luckily, it's just a game.

The game was loading so slowly at first I thought there's a timer going for 24 hrs before you can begin the next day, it made me reload the twice.

Cheers

Judging by some of the posts I wonder if any of you know any poor people? I know people that would love $1200 a month, it would double what they make now and most of these people have a couple of kids.

The main problem in this country is people are out of touch, like the queen that said let them eat cake when the populace was starving.

I know lots of people that attempt to get by on less than a thousand dollars a month, with kids and I'm including food stamps in that number.

There are not enough jobs for everyone, there isn't even enough jobs for the people to be underemployed, yet many wish to bash people for accepting government assistance.

Try to survive with no furniture, no car with $674 a month plus $200 a month in food stamps. This is the plight of most disabled people in this country today.

excellent game, it really opens peoples eyes, lifes choices are that difficult, and usually much more difficult than what is shown on the game, but it's good for others to get a small clue in the life of someone in poverty. I find myself in a lot of these positions at times.

reply to post by The Sword

I will not "knock it off". That was a mean thing to say. I AM --qualified-- to have posted so.

I was born into poverty and raised like an unwanted pet. No one spoke to me about how it's supposed to be between men and women, no one showed me how to cook, etcetera. I have things 'wrong' with which went undiagnosed until I was 42. I kept making wrong choices and wrong choices and more wrong choices, because I was trying to survive, and could not, because I kept putting myself with places and people who were totally wrong for me, out of my own ignorance. Finally, I went homeless for a number of years, until a Doctor diagnosed me.

I had to steal from my kid, ignore outstanding loans & accept a hand-me-down coat from a neighbour, but it was worth it.

Originally posted by LDragonFire
Judging by some of the posts I wonder if any of you know any poor people? I know people that would love $1200 a month, it would double what they make now and most of these people have a couple of kids.

I work retail, and am paid roughly $2 above minimum wage and I don't make $1200 a month, personally, as a part-time manager. I generally make 400-700 a month (with two pay periods), and when I'm lucky, I have a 600-1000 month (3 pay periods). We couldn't make it depending on my income.

I have an assistant manager who occasionally makes 1200 on the 3 pay period months, and has 2 children and food stamps. I know she works at a bar Saturday nights for cash, and I know she sometimes wins pool tournaments, and is a fixture at another bar for her pool skills--sponsored. She and her kids, up until this past month or so, had been crashing at a friends home, but now that she's got a place for them, a couple of coworkers have been bringing her to work (one coworker might be getting a little cash for gas, because he's in a similar bind, and I won't take anything, since I'll be someone other than I am to take money from a single mom). She's getting a truck donated to her by a friend who is moving out of the area, only has to pay for the paperwork. Since she's too darn proud, there's occasions where I buy her food under the guise of both of us needing to eat. ("Oh, we're working truck, we ought to get something so all that lifting won't make us sick.") She won't ask for it--the food stamps are for the kids, so if they only cover what the kids are eating, she'll do without. So with the retail job, the pool tournaments and the weekend bar gig, she's already got 3 jobs, and without help, she'd be forced to take on another. What she deals with terrifies me, and she in no way did this to herself--that ball lies firmly in the court of her ex.

So, simply put, I didn't need a game to make me aware of a very harsh reality out there.

reply to post by Maluhia


What game? It's just life today. I just did what I normally do.

But I do have to say it is a pretty sad state we are in when fiat currency which has no intrinsic value at all is worth more than your pets life, your health, your pride almost.

To be honest, we need to take the guys that did this and hold them accountable not let them keep the money they stole, and keep re-electing the others. Where is the anger these days?

reply to post by The Sword

You don't have a degree. You're not qualified to make "diagnoses".

Excuse me? Who do you work for? The Department of Dumbing Down (Education)? Or perhaps the American Guesswork (Medical) Association. For my money and from my experiences with the medical community - nearly lost my daughter to the addiction they put on my ex-wife - if you are a Medical Doctor you are probably not qualified for making diagnoses. And even if you were, you do not have the inclination or the time to "spare" to diagnose, it is better to treat the symptoms and not be late to the "club" for dinner tonight. As far as I am concerned a medical degree these days is just very bad toilet paper, at least in the US, and a license to steal.

So, please knock it off, m'kay?

How rude can you be? Some of the less combative religions in the world believe that there is a spark of God inside each one of us, and that would be what Christians barely notice as the soul. So you were just rude to...

What a harsh, unthinking, unfeeling post you made here. Humble Janitor my butt!