Two American Families

[Kat Kid]

I recommend everyone watch this.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/two-american-families/

[0.42]

I predict for this thread lots of angry FSD posts

[Cire]

yeah that was pretty great.

[ben ji]

Watched that the other night, pretty good but I dont really feel sorry for the people in it.

[Kat Kid]

Watched that the other night, pretty good but I dont really feel sorry for the people in it.

You don't feel sorry for anyone in it?  I feel really sorry for the kids that grew up in homes where their parents were clearly struggling to do things the right way and falling short.  I feel sorry for the parents too because they look like their lives sucked pretty bad, but less bad for them than the kids.

[Fedor]

Education, y'all.

[chum1]

Really good.  That woman lived in her house for 24 years and still owed like $90,000 on it.   

[Kat Kid]

Really good.  That woman lived in her house for 24 years and still owed like $90,000 on it.   

The Associates Degrees in that show were middle of the pack.  I could not get over the woman who tried to be a realtor and made less than she did as a factory worker.

[Paul Moscow]

Really good.  That woman lived in her house for 24 years and still owed like $90,000 on it.   

Yeah that was a total wtf. Assuming that much of it was due to fees incurred from years of accrued late payments. Either way, my god.

[ben ji]

Watched that the other night, pretty good but I dont really feel sorry for the people in it.

You don't feel sorry for anyone in it?  I feel really sorry for the kids that grew up in homes where their parents were clearly struggling to do things the right way and falling short.  I feel sorry for the parents too because they look like their lives sucked pretty bad, but less bad for them than the kids.

No, i dont feel bad for the kids(milwaukee) that had their own kids in HS then dropped out and now cant find good jobs.

No, I dont feel bad for the mother(chicago?) that was overweight/did not have health insurance and racked up a bunch of medical bills.

People's lives are what they make of it.

[8manpick]

[Kat Kid]

Watched that the other night, pretty good but I dont really feel sorry for the people in it.

You don't feel sorry for anyone in it?  I feel really sorry for the kids that grew up in homes where their parents were clearly struggling to do things the right way and falling short.  I feel sorry for the parents too because they look like their lives sucked pretty bad, but less bad for them than the kids.

No, i dont feel bad for the kids(milwaukee) that had their own kids in HS then dropped out and now cant find good jobs.

No, I dont feel bad for the mother(chicago?) that was overweight/did not have health insurance and racked up a bunch of medical bills.

People's lives are what they make of it.

The entire film is set in Milwaukee and there are two families, one white and one black.  I'm not entirely sure we are talking about the same thing at this point.

[ben ji]

Yeah, i was surfing the web while watching it and never caught that both families were in milwaukee, houses looked like chicago so I assumed thats where the black family was.

[steve dave]

barely paid attention, don't feel bad for them

[8manpick]

Lightly/poorly educated people making very questionable financial decisions and suffering the consequences? Color me shocked. The black family seemed to complain less and work harder and, wowzers, their children are doing quite a bit better.

[chum1]

I have sympathy for people who are willing to work but can't figure out how to get a decent job.  It's not their fault that they're uneducated.

[michigancat]

I've only watched part of it, but how can you not feel bad for the lady working real estate that is at a huge disadvantage because of racism? With their kids starting a lawn service to help out?

It was kind of funny watching the white guy look for jobs wearing shorts.

[Paul Moscow]

I have sympathy for people who are willing to work but can't figure out how to get a decent job.  It's not their fault that they're uneducated.

Well its also not their fault that they had, at an one time, highly desirable skills, a living wage, and job security. After multiple factors came into being in the 80's and 90's that began hollowing out the middle class these people lost their jobs through no fault of their own and were left to fight over minimum wage and part-time work with no benefits.

Both families did what the "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" crowd champions - went to school, took multiple jobs, sold assets, even put their kids to work. The result? Continued poverty, foreclosure, no hope retirement. That should be worrisome to everyone.

[chum1]

I have sympathy for people who are willing to work but can't figure out how to get a decent job.  It's not their fault that they're uneducated.

Well its also not their fault that they had, at an one time, highly desirable skills, a living wage, and job security. After multiple factors came into being in the 80's and 90's that began hollowing out the middle class these people lost their jobs through no fault of their own and were left to fight over minimum wage and part-time work with no benefits.

Both families did what the "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" crowd champions - went to school, took multiple jobs, sold assets, even put their kids to work. The result? Continued poverty, foreclosure, no hope retirement. That should be worrisome to everyone.

I think they both failed when they could have succeeded.  A big problem of theirs is that they knew too little about making good career decisions or making themselves marketable or whatever.  That applies to a whole bunch of people, but not everyone - through no fault of their own.

[michigancat]

Although I feel bad for both families, the black family is really pretty impressive. I mean they had the first HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE in EITHER SIDE of their family graduate from college?

They should be very proud of themselves based on that alone.

[sonofdaxjones]

I've only watched part of it, but how can you not feel bad for the lady working real estate that is at a huge disadvantage because of racism? With their kids starting a lawn service to help out?

It was kind of funny watching the white guy look for jobs wearing shorts.

This, in an old office I had, there would be people popping up at the front door wanting a job with a Fortune 500 Company wearing shorts and t-shirts.

[Dr Rick Daris]

Although I feel bad for both families, the black family is really pretty impressive. I mean they had the first HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE in EITHER SIDE of their family graduate from college?

They should be very proud of themselves based on that alone.

i was the first college graduate on either side of my family, but i'm not sure it's something my family should be proud of because they really had no part in it. also, i pretty much mirror everything chum has said in this thread. i haven't even watched the thing, but i guarantee that if you could put one of us in a time machine and send us back thirty years with the instructions to counsel both of these families on their options for one hour every week, they'd both be living the high life right now. can't really fault people for not choosing options they didn't know existed.

[michigancat]

OMG, the unemployed dude cooking ground beef w/ his pistol.

[Dr Rick Daris]

OMG, the unemployed dude cooking ground beef w/ his pistol.

well now i'm going to have to actually watch this thing

[steve dave]

OMG, the unemployed dude cooking ground beef w/ his pistol.

well now i'm going to have to actually watch this thing

yeah, this def. got my attention