[Marxism] [Pen-l] Chase Manhattan late fee

[Ruthless Critic of All that Exists]

On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 6:59 PM, michael perelman
<michael at ecst.csuchico.edu> wrote:
>  To
> make matters even worse, their food costs more because they lack
> convenient access to grocery stores.

Barbara Ehrenreich noted in "Nickel and Dimed" that the poor are often
forced to stay in motels (per-day payments) because they can't afford
to make the security deposit that landlords ask for, for renting. In
the long term, living in motels ends up causing much more than
renting.

But on the other hand, keep in mind that in surveys it has been found
that the American poor consistently overestimate what income bracket
they are in ... i.e. they think themselves to be much less poor than
they actually are. Many (most) also believe that their poverty is
temporary and they will soon move into a higher income bracket.

Is this delusion on a grand scale, or just good old-fashioned American optimism?