Spent

[Kat]

I'm not sure if this goes here or not, but I thought this website was interesting:

http://playspent.org/

I did make it through the month, and it did make me think about the hardships of others. What I didn't like was that I didn't really have any options other than selecting an action from the choices the game gave me. For example, I had to choose between a $100 cell phone bill or a $125 auto insurance bill. Well...if it were me, I would have looked into cancelling that cell phone long ago! :laff:

But still, it's kinda neat.

[rosarugosa]

Thanks, Kat. That was kind of neat.

[Rosemary]

That was interesting. I made it through the month, too, but without enough to pay the next day's rent. On the way I passed a typing test and a math test!

[Kat]

I passed the typing test, too. Asked a friend to help my kid with math LOL I tried it again and didn't make it through the month. I couldn't let my pet suffer and couldn't bear to put him down. Went into debt for his treatment! ;-)

[rosarugosa]

I failed the typing test, which is funny since I spend much of my day at work in front of computer. I guess I'm lucky nobody is timing me! It definitely gave me food for thought, and it made me realize that some of the "tough choices" my household has to make are actually luxurious choices. In a lot of the scenarios, there were no good choices; one could only try to pick the least awful.

[Bastelmutti]

I only made it to day 12 - was doing well until I had a car accident and didn't feel I could walk away from the damage I caused. Darn honesty! I'll have to try again and take the math test. I passed the typing test.

[Bastelmutti]

OK, I tried again & made it through the month, but got my car impounded and I got fired for joining the union. This is a very interesting game. Some of the things in there I do although I'm not in that dire of a situation - like buy something for $10 at the thrift store instead of paying $100. I would say I've led a fairly stable, middle-class life, but still I've gone without health insurance, gone without fixing the car, shared housing, etc.

[Madsen]

Wow those sure are some loaded false-dichotomy liberal-ese b.s. questions fer sure! :O

[redfox]

Wow those sure are some loaded false-dichotomy liberal-ese b.s. questions fer sure! :O

I am totally confused by this sentence. Madsen, what do you mean? Thanks...

[Madsen]

Painting the bosses as bad guys, implying things like if shoes don't cost $100 they're garbage, promoting unions, begging the question if having kids while only being capable of getting an entry-level job is a smart idea, suggesting universal health care is a positive, etc etc. I'm not going to go back through and critique each question because playing that game once was enough for me, but it's clear the writers of the game have a very specific agenda.

[mira]

^ I see where you are coming from, but I think it's just trying to combine common pressures (e.g. kids want to fit in and wear brand name shoes - not that you have to give in to that, but you risk them being bullied) with their monetary cost. I didn't see it as anything more than highlighting everyday expenditure in places like the US...

I do agree that the unfair & illegal dismissals from work were a bit much, though! It was very black and white in that sense. It never gave the option of having support from family, either, which I found odd.

[Kat]

I think I understand at least part of what you are getting at, Madsen. That is why, in my first post, I commented about not having many options in the game. You can't get a second job, for example. You are stuck paying for a cell phone, etc. I wouldn't consider myself a "liberal" at all. More like staunch conservative. But I guess that for me, there is balance in everything, and this game helped me become more aware of the plight that some people find themsleves in. That doesn't mean I think it's okay for people to be lazy, to take advantage of the system, make irresponsible choices, etc. I guess I just didn't read the questions the same way you did. For example, when I turned down health care because I couldn't afford it, a message popped up saying lots of people couldn't. To me, that was just a fact, not a "universal health care is the answer!" push. I think most people would agree that health care is an issue--where we split is what to do about it. I just saw the game as pointing out the issue, not suggesting what to do about it.

Anyway, I wasn't trying to push any kind of "agenda" by posting this game--just found it interesting and thought others might as well. I appreciated reading your comments, though, and hearing an opinion of the game from a different viewpoint.

[redfox]

I guess the take home for me is that we all see things through our biases. I just replayed the game, and obviously there are many different options, so I didn't hit the "bosses are bad guys" option, etc. I hit a lot of hard, hard choices; the worst being give Mom $$ for her meds, and a dental emergency. To me, this game lays out the no-win situation many low income folks find themselves in, and the double binds they run into. Ones that middle class people don't have to contend with.

[Kat]

I agree, Redfox. I am a firm believer in the idea that we always have a choice. But sometimes, all of our options are horrible. The best we can do is try to the choose the one that is the least bad.

[rosarugosa]

Kat, Nobody would describe me as a political liberal either, although I see the world in less black and white terms than I did in my younger years. But I agree that the game helped make me aware on a more gut level of the kinds of choices that less fortunate people are facing. I definitely thought it was a worthwhile exercise. I was pleasantly surprised when DH finally gave it a try, and it had a definite impact on him as well.

[Madsen]

I guess the take home for me is that we all see things through our biases. Me to a tee - thanks for bringing this up. One of the things I am working on with myself is an old tendency to initially reject information that doesn't conform to my current idea of "correct". This has limited my opportunities to learn and grow.
So while I don't personally agree with what I perceive the framework of this game to be, I agree that working through it can be useful as an intellectual exercise. (and fodder for stimulating conversation! :D)

[redfox]

Madsen, here's a tool that has been very useful for me in understanding how my lens can get in the way of my perceptions. I hope it's useful for you as well. It's called The Ladder of Inference.
http://www.systems-thinking.org/loi/loi.htm

[jp1]

^ I see where you are coming from, but I think it's just trying to combine common pressures (e.g. kids want to fit in and wear brand name shoes - not that you have to give in to that, but you risk them being bullied) with their monetary cost. I didn't see it as anything more than highlighting everyday expenditure in places like the US...

I do agree that the unfair & illegal dismissals from work were a bit much, though! It was very black and white in that sense. It never gave the option of having support from family, either, which I found odd.

Well, it actually did give me the option to ask friends and family for help via a link to facebook. It then went to my wall to post a link. I played the game with all 3 options for jobs and did best when I was a temp. Thankfully my typing was fast enough to pass the test. At the end of that month I had $413 left but doing so meant really having to scrimp.