No, I’m not saying people are entitled to a car. But Lars Larson has on many occasions noted that access to a car provides a greater boost in earnings than a high school diploma. There is some private-sector program which helps finance beaters for people who want to go to work, (that’s a loan, not a handout) and we should be supporting this sort of activity, not scorning it as an entitlement issue.
And taking the damn bus isn’t always feasible. There were some swing shift janitor jobs at a top tech firm I wanted to apply for but the place is 90 minutes by bus and the shift ends too late to get home by bus. Just a few minutes ago I found a job on Craigslist and there’s no bus that runs anywhere near there. (You can actually plan a bus trip online, unless there are no buses that go there.)
So if someone lives in BFE and they don’t have a car and they can’t get to a job, how do they pull themselves out of it?
How do you do it? You walk to work. Jobs are too far away? Move into a town with jobs. Grab a bunch of friends and rent an apt together. Hell, I lived in a tent for a while. Some of the best times of my life, too.
Maybe find a girl with a car and convince her you're not a loser long enough to make use of her car to get to work. Hell, I had a job picking fruit where they gave you a bed and you could sleep right there.
How far we've fallen. You sound so pathetic and lame. When the settlers travelled west in the wagon trains, you know what they did when they ran out of food? They ate the family dog and used the fat to grease their wagon wheels.
Grow a pair.
Why not hang out your own shingle?
You may need a bond and a license, you will need insurance, but ANY janitorial business is worth $30-$65 an hour. Surely you could get a doctors office, a business or two close by, and next thing you know, you have enough money to get a little van and get busy... All this without losing your day job and compromising your position too much...
All for the cost of an Avery business card kit, an invoice book, and a couple hundred to start your insurance... (you need not invest in the insurance until you land a job and require the proof)
The unwillingness to answer that question is what kept a lot of people stuck in coal mining towns long after the mine jobs ended.
The answer, of course, is you leave and go where jobs are. After WW2, many people from the South moved north to take factory jobs. Nobody wanted to move from Tennessee to Michigan, but they did what they had to do.
I know people who went to work on the Alaskan Pipeline. That wasn't a commute for anyone.
Legal and illegal Mexican workers manage to pool resources (several using one house or car), live beneath their means, and manage to get a toe hold. I doubt they have cable TV or high-speed internet when they start. And you don't see them going through fast food drive throughs, either, when you can buy bulk beans and rice and one chicken a week to take care of a week's worth of food for $10-$15.
And of course, you can sell what you don't need to come up with the money to buy a car. If having a car is the number one priority, then treat it that way.
So if someone lives in BFE and they don’t have a car and they can’t get to a job, how do they pull themselves out of it?
Oh, and look for a roommate to share the apartment, for substantial rent savings. Having an apartment to yourself is something to look forward to when you get your act together.