Top all-time · #6550
Tressie McMillan Cottom
Personal blog · tressiemc.compoliticscultureeconomics
Tressie McMillan Cottom's personal blog at tressiemc.com covers politics, culture and economics. Since 2013, 12 different Hacker News readers have linked it 17 times, most often “The Logic of Stupid Poor People (2013)”. The last post was in 2017, but the archive is still widely read.
Too few sampled comments (11) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Tressie McMillan Cottom's blog, notably her 2013 post 'The Logic of Stupid Poor People' on why poor people's spending choices make sense, and her views on for-profit colleges.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 11 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
I write and speak around the world about inequality, higher ed, tech & culture.
Most-linked posts?
- The Logic of Stupid Poor People (2013)5 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2013-10-30
- The Logic of Stupid Poor People (2013)2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2019-05-05
- /2013/10/29/the-logic-of-stupid-poor-people/2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2016-06-27
- The Audacity: Thrun Learns A Lesson and Students Pay2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2013-11-20
What Hacker News says?
Here's an article which might expand your empathy for the "irrational" purchasing decisions of the poor: https://tressiemc.com/2013/10/29/the-logic-of-stupid-poor-pe...
Comment linking /2013/10/29/the-logic-of-stupid-poor-people/
on “New Cities”Submitted The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People as a story · 169 points
HN discussionThose do indeed matter. As Louis CK artfully explains, as a white male, you can't even hurt my feelings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4f9zR5yzY It's almost impossible for me, as person advantaged by society, to fathom the death-by-a-thousand-papercuts feeling that people who are less advantaged experience. I've tried a lot, for years, and I regularly fail. Just today, I read a great piece titled, "Calling the Wh…
Comment linking /2014/05/02/calling-the-white-mans-police/
on “It's Different for Girls”Submitted The Logic of Stupid Poor People (2013) as a story · 157 points
HN discussion> At least here in the US, money problems are (mostly) a money-management problem. There is a money-management problem in the US, but it crosses class lines and is a different problem than addressing/ameliorating poverty. Financial literacy would do a lot of good for a lot of people, but money management advice/lessons don't address the needs of those without money, regardless of whether they grok the message. My ex…
Comment linking /2013/10/29/the-logic-of-stupid-poor-people/
on “Ontario announces that it will begin a basic income trial in 2016”Submitted The Logic of Stupid Poor People (2013) as a story · 37 points
HN discussionYou might find this helpful: http://tressiemc.com/2013/10/29/the-logic-of-stupid-poor-peo...
Comment linking /2013/10/29/the-logic-of-stupid-poor-people/
on ““Learning to Read” excerpt from The Autobiography of Malcolm X”Submitted The Logic of Stupid Poor People as a story · 20 points
HN discussion> I don't see why "poor urban blacks" buying $200 sneakers is a "desperate wealth-singalling purchase". Far too often sending the right kind of signal is a required prerequisite[1] to e.g. being granted access to a job that might eventually become a better-than-minimum-wage career. Often wealth isn't the intended signal; it's a presentation of having accepted and converted to a group's culture or beliefs. [1] https:…
Comment linking /uncategorized/the-logic-of-stupid-poor-people/
on “The Access Economy: Why the Normal Distribution Is Vanishing (2015)”Submitted The Audacity: Thrun Learns A Lesson and Students Pay as a story · 3 points
HN discussionThe Logic of Stupid Poor People http://tressiemc.com/2013/10/29/the-logic-of-stupid-poor-peo... > I sat in on an interview for a new administrative assistant once. My regional vice president was doing the hiring. A long line of mostly black and brown women applied because we were a cosmetology school. Trade schools at the margins of skilled labor in a gendered field are necessarily classed and raced. I found one can…
Comment linking /2013/10/29/the-logic-of-stupid-poor-people/
on “Your Brain on Poverty: Why Poor People Seem to Make Bad Decisions (2013)”Submitted Lean In Litmus Test: Is This For Women Who Can Cry At Work? as a story · 1 points
HN discussion>Another interpretation, one that I prefer, is that Thrun tried something bold and novel based on a perfectly reasonable hypothesis. It didn't work, he's learning and adapting. No garden paths or greek tragic flaws required. The problem with this is that there are real (underprivileged) human beings used as guinea pigs for this "reasonable hypothesis". Thrun can fail all he wants on his own dime and time. http://tre…
Comment linking /2013/11/19/the-audacity-thrun-learns-a-lesson-and-students-pay/
on “Thrun pivots Udacity toward vocational education”What, from the police's perspective, is the alternative? If they get a credible report of a dangerous situation, they have to take it seriously. The clock starts running the moment their phone rings, so they have limited time for countermeasures. I surely hope they're doing their best to prevent obvious fakes from getting through. They have the incentive; getting pranked by a 16-year-old makes them look like idiots.…
Comment linking /2014/05/02/calling-the-white-mans-police/
on “Teen Arrested for 30+ Swattings, Bomb Threats”That's a nice site... The author has some really good points about for-profit colleges too. The $20 Principle I have written before about how $20 can change a student’s life. The $20 is slightly euphemistic but not entirely so. We talk a lot about big money in higher education but I know for a fact that it’s small money that can derail one’s educational ambitions. I was a student in a doctoral preparation program. I…
Comment linking /2016/08/30/the-20-principle/
on “Survey: 69% of Americans Have Less Than $1,000 in Savings”> ... but when you consider that a lot of luxuries are considered "necessities", you have to question things. Sometimes "luxuries" are necessities, in less obvious ways. For example, it may be very difficult to get certain types of jobs unless you display the right status symbols[1]. [1] https://tressiemc.com/2013/10/29/the-logic-of-stupid-poor-pe...
Comment linking /2013/10/29/the-logic-of-stupid-poor-people/
on “Survey: 69% of Americans Have Less Than $1,000 in Savings”"I know that people who can barely earn their living will spend money on Fairness creams that cost as much as a weeks food. ... even someone who can barely earn their living ends up spending money to buy that stuff." Interesting that an essay on this very topic is trending right now on HN front page: http://tressiemc.com/2013/10/29/the-logic-of-stupid-poor-peo... . You might want to read it. As for ads, let children…
Comment linking /2013/10/29/the-logic-of-stupid-poor-people/
on “Ask HN: Should we teach kids to avoid Ads”
