It’s not the little things
by digby
This storyify essay by Helaine Olen about the alleged “latte factor” which says that if we only stop buying those little “extras” we’ll all be rich, rich, rich — the implication being that we’re all a bunch of spoiled brats who don’t understand how to save a buck.
Olen’s essay blows that up by showing that what’s killing us isn’t the “extras” it’s the essentials. It boils down to this:
Now it’s true that you could save a little cash by not drinking those lattes every day. I stopped doing that a long time ago simply because I realized I could make my own coffee cheaper and more conveniently at home. But I still buy high quality coffee when I’m sure I could save a few more pennies by buying Folgers at the grocery store. In fact, I could give up coffee altogether. And I could live on a pot of beans and rice all week as millionaire Sean Hannity advises and put the extra money in my retirement account. Lord knows it needs it.
But as Olen points out, it won’t make much of an impact because the real problem is this:
Remember this next time some joker remarks that poor people shouldn’t have cell phones and TVs. What they are really saying by perpetuating this myth of the profligate poor is that poor people shouldn’t have housing and food.
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