Poll: Americans would rather be poor/ unemployed than 75 lbs heavier!

[ecstatic]

Poll question: Poll: Americans would rather be poor/ unemployed than 75 lbs heavier!

http://channels.netscape.com/whatsnew/default.jsp?story=20060501-1332

--If given the hypothetical choice of losing their jobs or gaining 75 pounds, 54 percent of men and 58 percent of women would rather be standing in the unemployment line.
--Would you rather be thin and poor or overweight and rich as all get out? Fully 63 percent of women and 55 percent of men opted for a skinny body and a lean checkbook.

..

Other findings of the Fitness poll:
--75 percent of men and 80 percent of women would not give up 20 IQ points to get the perfect body. However, 17 percent of men and 11 percent of women would at least consider such a tradeoff; of those, 7 percent of men and 5 percent of women admit they would do it in a heartbeat.

What would you choose?

[Inland]

1. I can have it all: be poor, fat, and probably stupid as well!

This is America in the Bush years, after all.

[Autonomy]

2. I already am poor and unemployed

would 75 extra lbs get me a decent job? That would be a question to consider.

[laheina]

10. Uh huh. Having a job is a far cry from being rich.

If I could be a multimillionaire, I would take the 75 pounds.

[Autonomy]

11. I am willing to consider the extra baggage for a mere job

Make it millions and it's a no-brainer.

[laheina]

12. I'm sorry.

Having grown up on welfare, there was a time when I would have too.

Thank you for your response. I'll have to do some thinking about this tonight. :hi:

[meow2u3]

3. I'd rather be fat and well-off

I've been poor my whole life and I'm tired of struggling to make ends meet.

At least I'd be able to afford the plus-sized clothing.

[LiberalVoice]

5. ditto, ditto, and ditto to that.

[ecstatic]

4. As an unmarried female, I had to go with B

LOL... At least if I look good I still have a chance of marrying a rich husband, like Anna Nicole did!

[Autonomy]

8. Here's a question for you:

Would you rather date a goodlooking, young, broke guy, or a fat, old, ugly rich guy?

[LiberalVoice]

6. Why on earth would anyone CHOOSE to be unemployed?

MAybe they should change the question to..."Would you prefer being poor, starving, and unemployed or rich, not going hungry, and employed?"

[BlooInBloo]

7. Well if I was rich I could get girls no matter HOW much I weighed....

... whereas if I was poor, I'd have trouble getting girls no matter how good looking (or fill in your favorite "good thing" there) I was.

So all else being equal (e.g., as long as I don't have to ALSO sacrifice my values or anything), I'd choose fat & rich.

Yes, it really IS all about girls. {yoda}A deep thinker I am not.{/yoda}

:rofl:

[ecstatic]

9. yeah, its different for men. The male responses were surprising nt

[DireStrike]

13. Only 54 and 58% said so...

It's an interesting what-if question, but the results are as inconclusive as it gets.

[mntleo2]

14. Poverty = Obesity, Unfortunately

On food stamps, you are allowed a little less than $1.20 per meal. Tell me what you can eat on that little except lots of fats and starches? For a family of four, an entire meal has to cost less than 5.00, so how does one stretch the food to go around except to make something with lots of pasta, for instance? Since the poor have little else they can afford to pay for, food is also often considered their "entertainment" and it is something you can do as a family. An entire family of 4 would never dream of going out to a movie, but a huge bowl of popcorn with some margarine enhanced with cheese, and perhaps a movie on TV is cheap entertainment.

Food stamps and cash assistance for the poor and disabled in my state, and I am not making this up, have not gone up in over 13 years, while inflation has not stopped and in many cases, such as with housing, has gone off the charts. Childcare has almost doubled in cost and transportation, well you know what is happening there. Food costs are not going down, and affordable, nutritious food is very expensive and not easy to obtain as well as time consuming to prepare. So when someone works, has three kids and has to get around by public transportaion ~ unless they are rural and then perhaps they get out little if at all ~ then they cannot afford to prepare the kind of meals that keeps one trim and fit. They just have to fill up hungry stomachs and make sure they have enbough energy to get to work the next day.

Oh and P.S. Immigrants cannot receive either cash assistance nor food stamps because that was outlawed in 1996 with the "Personal Responsibility Act" (Welfare Reform) passed and signed into law by legislators who are anything BUT personally responsible themselves. They think sitting by the pool and collecting dividends is "work" while raising the next generation of Americans is "doing nothing".

My 2 cents

Cat In Seattle

[Hippo_Tron]

15. Welfare Reform was the lowest point of the Clinton presidency

Clinton had the ability to tell the Republicans to take the bill and shove it up their asses, but he didn't. He settled for a "better" bill claiming that it was the best that he could get. It's really amazing considering that the man grew up in a low-income family himself.

[Hippo_Tron]

16. Can I lose the weight?

I'm not saying that it would be easy to lose 75 lbs by any means, but I think that it would be easier than trying to escape poverty.

[ecstatic]

17. Shows how prejudiced Americans are against overweight people

Yet... It also highlights that money doesn't mean everything.

[w8liftinglady]

18. right.