I think one of the hardest systems to break out of is that of the "vicious cycle". It's very challenging when outputs feed into each other like that.
What I remember about being poorer is that vicious cycles are far more common when you are poor. You need the used car to be able to get to the job that will give you the money to afford the used car. The struggles of poverty are full of cycles like that.
The only way to break out of a vicious cycle is to shock the system, which tends to mean an asymmetric infusion of force - in poverty's case, that is usually the form of cash (or debt). It's the sort of action that is traumatic, and it often looks like it doesn't make sense. It's usually a short-term pain in exchange for the hopes of long-term improvement. "Breaking the cycle" is usually a traumatic, difficult action.
Now, I don't know much about buying a $2500 purse - it's hard to defend something so specific. But I do know that the forces that break cycles can look ridiculous or shameful in some way. A sudden windfall that you didn't "deserve", accepting help from a stranger in a way that feels humiliating, being selfish in a way that is not accepted in your social circle, showing "status", etc.
I am just reluctant to judge those choices from the outside, because I firmly believe that the poor have to deal with these cycles more than people of means, and that sometimes it takes a desperate act to break out of them.
What I remember about being poorer is that vicious cycles are far more common when you are poor. You need the used car to be able to get to the job that will give you the money to afford the used car. The struggles of poverty are full of cycles like that.
The only way to break out of a vicious cycle is to shock the system, which tends to mean an asymmetric infusion of force - in poverty's case, that is usually the form of cash (or debt). It's the sort of action that is traumatic, and it often looks like it doesn't make sense. It's usually a short-term pain in exchange for the hopes of long-term improvement. "Breaking the cycle" is usually a traumatic, difficult action.
Now, I don't know much about buying a $2500 purse - it's hard to defend something so specific. But I do know that the forces that break cycles can look ridiculous or shameful in some way. A sudden windfall that you didn't "deserve", accepting help from a stranger in a way that feels humiliating, being selfish in a way that is not accepted in your social circle, showing "status", etc.
I am just reluctant to judge those choices from the outside, because I firmly believe that the poor have to deal with these cycles more than people of means, and that sometimes it takes a desperate act to break out of them.