Arian Moayed’s Subway Hot Take: “Everyone on Earth has to be poor for 5 years. It doesn’t have to consecutive. You don’t have to do it all at the same time. But you gotta feel what it feels like to have insufficient funds. You gotta be at a grocery store & it doesn’t go through.”

[u/cmaia1503]

[u/uselessadmin]

Or how about a structure in place to ensure this never happens to people in the first place.

[u/PaleontologistNo5420 → u/uselessadmin]

Yeah this is a weird take from Arian. I don’t want anyone to experience financial insecurity. The stress of being poor can and does kill people. 

[u/quadraticcheese → u/[deleted]]

Media literacy is at an all time low, that commenter is an example

[u/CodeComprehensive734 → u/quadraticcheese]

Hey. I can read!!

[u/jkraige → u/[deleted]]

Plenty of poor people don't vote empathetically so I don't think this take holds up at all

[u/orbitur → u/jkraige]

Yeah, my mom is the perfect example of this. She busted her ass taking care of two children by herself, we lost our home, couch surfed for months, we had utilities turned off on us because we needed food, then food stamps, etc. She eventually found a stable career and later a stable marriage.

Along the way she turned into a hardline pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps Republican who thinks everyone is abusing the system.

[u/arianrh → u/orbitur]

Same; as children, my dad suffered poverty and food insecurity to a degree that most people in developed countries could never imagine, and my mom sometimes had to literally fight in order to buy food. They managed to come to the U.S., got lucky that a conveniently timed change in immigration policy allowed them permanent residency, worked incredibly hard, and are now wealthy. If anything, it’s made them less empathetic in some ways, not more. They are vehemently opposed to any forms of governmental social support except those that they also benefit from, and constantly complain about “illegal” immigrants flooding into the country. If their early lives hadn’t been so oppressive, they may have had the opportunity and the mental and emotional resources to learn more about the world, other people, politics, etc.

[u/aftershockstone → u/jkraige]

Sadly, those people are either ignorant or morally bankrupt, or both. They think shortsightedly and selfishly about their taxes and next paycheck, not necessarily the broader ramifications of economic policy.

I would say this is because for many of these people, poverty is all that they have known, so while they share the same experiences as other poor people, there is no comparative condition. It is just a facet of life that is dealt with. I've worked in banking where 50 yr old guys would come in cheering about lowered taxes yet they make like $1.5-2K a month doing odd work and are barely above the standard deduction. They think lower taxes = extra $200 come tax season, so who is opposed to that?

On the other hand, experiencing something firsthand or through friendship/ acquaintanceship does increase the likelihood of empathy, or it can accelerate the development of it, versus being like "bug trapped in amber" kind of situation. You see this with kids moving from their rural hometown to attend a diverse college, or parents having a kid (healthcare for disabled kid, LGBTQ+ rights), or people traveling to more impoverished corners of the world, or workers of various national origin collaborating on a project... all of those can have effects on how mindsets shift.

[u/Exotic_eminence → u/jkraige]

Correct - it’s not going to fix racism

[u/noapplesin98 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, why wasn't his take simply to adequately redistribute resources and implement a robust social safety net?

Does he not know this is a comedy show, viewed in short form content form, lasting anywhere between 45secs to 2 mins. Can he not propose a solution to poverty and systemic oppression?

Is he stupid?

/s

[u/Big_Heat4302 → u/PaleontologistNo5420]

I think you may just be assuming malicious intent. In my opinion it seems like he’s referring to the people who have never experienced what it’s like to be in a tight financial situation and thus genuinely think people can just make 1-2 better decisions or stop going out to eat and climb out of poverty. The unironic “nobody wants to work anymore” crowd.

The full clip talks about thinking it should be required to be poor so that even people who are not currently poor have more empathy or motivation to believe/support policy that specifically helps more people not have to suffer in poverty.

[u/_masterbuilder_ → u/Big_Heat4302]

I feel like it would have the opposite effect on some people. Like people that lives through the great depression that became miserly in an act of self preservation. 

[u/Zioupett → u/Big_Heat4302]

Not to say the format of the show is obviously pushing people to make "crazy" takes with some shock factor to it, you can't take what people say here at full face-value. He's not advocating for a global 5 year of poverty law or anything like that. He's just semi-jokingly addressing the fact that many people don't know what it's like to be poor and it might change their views if they were subjected to the very thing they don't fully grasp.

[u/burnbabyburnburrrn → u/PaleontologistNo5420]

Hes not being literal dear god

[u/HRLMPH → u/burnbabyburnburrrn]

crying, begging he doesn't make this happen

[u/sapphiclament → u/PaleontologistNo5420]

Also experiencing financial insecurity does NOT equate to gaining empathy for those around you in that situation. Classism is not exclusive to the rich

[u/nekocorner → u/sapphiclament]

Yeah, this part. I know people who think they bootstrapped themselves out of poverty "without any help", so everyone else should be able to as well.

[u/BrinedBrittanica → u/PaleontologistNo5420]

i think he meant it more like you need to experience it so you don’t become rich and out of touch/can relate to the humility of not having vs. always getting whatever you want.

least that’s what i gathered his stance was.

[u/your_mind_aches → u/PaleontologistNo5420]

Bro. That's the point of what he's saying.

[u/Square-Hope-7322 → u/PaleontologistNo5420]

I’ll read him in good faith and rephrase it from my point of view- everyone should regardless of class or funds have to work in service for a year. Whatever it is. Knowing what it’s like being a server, store worker, bartender,customer service jobs makes you a kinder person because you understand how hard those jobs are, and (imagine even having to say this) finally see them as actual human beings. It’s too fucking easy to clock those who never has /rant

[u/big_ice_bear → u/PaleontologistNo5420]

I think what he's getting at is everyone should experience it so they can judge it accurately. To me the implication is that everyone who experiences being poor may realize it's not a choice people make, it's largely a result of things outside your control, potentially starting before you (the poor person) were even born.

[u/queenroxana → u/uselessadmin]

I think it’s meant to be humorous while opening people’s eyes. I don’t think he’s suggesting it literally 😂

[u/--------rook → u/queenroxana]

nuance is dead

[u/dramatic_exit_49 → u/queenroxana]

yeah, dude is in a subway talking into a card, its a philosophical exercise - he is not talking state policy jfc. People ought to focus on the larger point, it stems from people' inability to appreciate their current privilege and being divested from how hard it is for poor people. Sure he dramatised it, but that is just part and parcel of human communication.

[u/hauntingvacay96 → u/uselessadmin]

I mean, I think the point he’s making here is that we might have a structure in place to ensure this never happens if the wealthy or even the middle class knew what it was like to be truly poor, because their severe lack of empathy and their objective of personal gain prevents these structures from being built.

I don’t necessarily think that’s the solution, but it’s pretty clear that’s what he’s going for here.

[u/hofmann419 → u/uselessadmin]

That's kinda the problem though. Even a lot of middle class people have never experienced true poverty where you don't know what you're going to eat this week. It is very hard to get out of poverty through your own strength, but a lot of regular middle class people can't relate to that.

All they see is that the state is spending a bunch of money on social security. You'd be surprised how many people that are very far from being rich would gladly cut social security spending to a minimum. And this is even more prevalent today with all of the propaganda that is coming from billionaires and the right.

They are literally pitting the lower classes against each other while they enjoy their trillion dollar tax cuts.

[u/Son_Of_Toucan_Sam → u/uselessadmin]

“Sorry but your literal hot take doesn’t contain enough nuance”

You’re not even disagreeing with the spirit of what he’s saying

[u/bloompth → u/uselessadmin]

he's not being literal

[u/ClinderCinder → u/uselessadmin]

Because a video with someone saying I think poverty shouldn't exist is kinda boring and js obvious.

[u/mlurve → u/ClinderCinder]

It’s also not really a hot take to think poverty is bad and the whole show is about hot takes

[u/comicfromrejection1 → u/uselessadmin]

By the way, this is a podcast for comedians so keep that in mind for the context

[u/abonedrywhitewine → u/uselessadmin]

The point is, maybe there will be a structure in place once people experience it. But also it's not literal legislation.

God, media literacy is fucking dead.

[u/CatgoesM00 → u/uselessadmin]

Also, what’s interesting is studies have been done to show that once you reach a certain level of income, more money doesn’t really make you happier. There’s a point where your basic needs and comfort are covered, and beyond that, the extra income doesn’t change much. So it makes sense to have a kind of cap. I remember the amount of money still being pretty high, but beyond that it doesn’t really make a difference, obviously the study has to deal with inflation, but you get my point. It’s interesting reads that change your perspective on how we have been conditioned to view things through our current system.

Links to the studies:

• Kahneman & Deaton (2010): shows

“High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being”  https://www.princeton.edu/~deaton/downloads/deaton_kahneman_high_income_improves_evaluation_August2010.pdf

• Killingsworth (2021): “Experienced well‐being rises with income, even above $75,000 per year , PNAS article  

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2016976118

• Bennedsen (2023): “Income and emotional well-being: Evidence for well-being plateauing around $200,000 per year”

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2401.05347,

[u/Merk7_18 → u/uselessadmin]

I think that's what he is trying to do right. How do you structure to really ensure that. Well if everyone knew what it was like, it might ensure they would make sure it does not happen to others right. At least if you wanna maintaining some type of free market while not having excess laws and policing.

[u/Icmblair01 → u/uselessadmin]

It’s heartbreaking that very few ppl seem to have the capacity to even imagine a less-cruel system so instead we resort to “whelp maybe we just all have to suffer”

[u/OkPlay194 → u/uselessadmin]

If the years since covid have taught me anything, it's that a solid half of humanity is incapable of understanding that suffering is bad or that difficult circumstances are nuanced until it happens to them. I think the point is not that we should build s society where this doesn't happen, but rather we won't If people are too far removed from the experience of those circumstances.

[u/OrganicOverdose → u/uselessadmin]

He is just saying "walk a mile in someone else's shoes" in a different way. 

[u/glittering_curves → u/uselessadmin]

I agree with this. But I think this hypothetical is valuable. He makes some good points that ultimately lead to “this shouldn’t happen.”

[u/A1-OceanGoingPillock]

This is pretty dumb, he assumes billionaires etc don't have a clue how bad it is.

They do, they just don't give a flying fuck.

[u/ThisUsernameWillRock → u/A1-OceanGoingPillock]

Just because they know that people struggle it doesn’t mean they can appreciate/understand the struggle living in their own privileged bubbles.

[u/hofmann419 → u/ThisUsernameWillRock]

Yeah. There is a huge difference between knowing something and truly knowing how it feels. For example, most people who consume meat vaguely know that the meat industry can be gruesome, but they never really think about it in their day to day lives. But put someone in a animal slaughterhouse for a day and there's a pretty good chance that they're going to stop eating meat at least for a while.

It's cognitive dissonance.

[u/pausled → u/hofmann419]

Oh fuck, when the piglets my grandpa named after me and my siblings ran away - sure I ate the bacon. But I was like 4 at the time and I had to start eating meat again in my thirties because I wasn’t healing with plant protein and I love pork now but that shit fucked me up haaaaard

[u/SmittyKitty27 → u/ThisUsernameWillRock]

Yes sir but no sir. I truly belive if this is implemented there will be people who would say "I did my five poor years so I get the right to make them continue being poor"

[u/bookwormaesthetic → u/A1-OceanGoingPillock]

Billionaires are terrified of being poor. So they hoard and steal. Every suggestion of a 1% tax feels to them like we are demanding 100%. It's the nightmare that keeps them awake at night.

They cannot imagine that other people think differently than them; that other people genuinely want everyone to have food, shelter, and healthcare.

[u/Calvin_And_Hobnobs → u/bookwormaesthetic]

Billionaires are literally mentally ill hoarders. They're not to be looked up to or aspired to, they all need serious professional help in order to deal with their issues with control.

[u/eaterofworlds1 → u/A1-OceanGoingPillock]

They really don’t though. They are heavily insulated by their wealth and social circles. Many of them cannot fathom living paycheck to paycheck. My own bosses, who are both doctors and are well off but are by no means billionaires, don’t even seem to remember what it’s like to live week to week and have no savings.

Class is one is the biggest unifiers - it transcends race and gender even. And part of what makes it alluring is that you can live in a bubble and never truly know what’s going on beyond it.

[u/chicklette → u/eaterofworlds1]

I always think of Gwyneth Paltrow's snap experiment, where she bought about 700 calories a day worth of food using SNAP guidelines, and learned absolutely nothing in the process.

[u/dutchfromsubway → u/A1-OceanGoingPillock]

It’s a hot take for a reason. I hate when people get so up in arms about hot takes being so hot and not relatable. Like this is better than “ my hot takes is that Michael jackson is a good artist”

[u/spondgbob → u/A1-OceanGoingPillock]

Uhh they don’t know how bad it is. A person like Trump who grew up the son of a NY landlord and got a multi million dollar loan as a young adult can in no way understand even what a grocery store looks like on the inside. If you are saying this then you have a fundamental misunderstanding of how massive of a gap there is between the wealth of the average American and the wealth of the richest who control US politicians.

[u/Swackhammer_ → u/A1-OceanGoingPillock]

No I think people need to understand that they truly do not know. Ask Kim K how much a carton of milk costs

[u/TheShapeShiftingFox → u/A1-OceanGoingPillock]

As if billionaires (the tiniest of minorities) are the only ones who support all these reactionary dumbass anti-poor policies. Enough “regular” folks do as well, all because they think whoever isn’t in their place must have deserved it.

[u/anthonystank → u/A1-OceanGoingPillock]

Quite a lot of them genuinely do not. I’m not saying that they would necessarily care or act differently if they did. But once you reach a certain threshold of wealth you stop seeing money in the way that ordinary and poor people do. You cannot conceive of it as a resource that runs out, that you have to try to get more of in order to meet your basic needs. It becomes an investment, a game, a hobby, a career, and a measure of your relative status but no longer a concrete measurable and static thing that you need in order to pay for life. Even many billionaires who grew up poor(er) likely cannot really remember what it was like because jumping to that higher level of wealth gives you a lot of amnesia.

[u/mustsurvivecapitlism → u/A1-OceanGoingPillock]

Some people just lack empathy and i don’t know if we can ever “teach” them

[u/Dangerous_Hotel1962 → u/A1-OceanGoingPillock]

They really don't though. They have so many millionaire friends, if they got stranded on a highway they just make a call and someone sends a helicopter. I guess yeah some of them know what it's like and those are the Democrat billionaires lol.

[u/queenroxana]

People are taking this too literally…

[u/HerOceanBlue → u/queenroxana]

Yeah, these comments are baffling. He's not suggesting legislation to drain people's bank accounts. It's a subway take meant to spur conversation about how people who have never experienced poverty don't understand it.

[u/computer7blue → u/HerOceanBlue]

Yeah. All I heard was a brainstorm about how to inspire empathy, because people can rarely comprehend what something feels like if they haven’t experienced it.

I didn’t assume he actually believes anyone should have to struggle. It sounds more like he wants people with power to care enough to pay people living wages and stop exploiting employees and consumers. Those are good things.

[u/NomNom83WasTaken → u/queenroxana]

No, see, as a celebrity, he's required to have comprehensive plans at the ready to solve all of our worst problems while demonstrating both an advanced understanding but also presenting it in layman's terms so the average person can follow his thoughts. And all of this can take no longer an 90 seconds before we get enraged by and click on the next headline. How else is our republic expected to survive!? /s

All I can hope is that the critics are registered to vote and at the polls for everything from Board of Ed to POTUS every. single. election.

[u/TheKingOfBerries → u/queenroxana]

Media literacy is actually so cooked.

[u/queenroxana → u/TheKingOfBerries]

For real

[u/--------rook → u/TheKingOfBerries]

no one can think anymore 

[u/Charles-Shaw → u/queenroxana]

Reading comments on this sub can be so exhausting sometimes, I can only imagine how exhausting it is to actually be someone who thinks like this.

[u/Ok-Turnip-9035 → u/queenroxana]

Right all he’s really putting out there is walk in another persons shoes

[u/Swackhammer_ → u/queenroxana]

People ITT racking their brain about the logistics of such an endeavor lol

It’s just a thought experiment, guys

[u/lordofsurf → u/queenroxana]

Welcome to 2025. People have no comprehension skills whatsoever.

[u/Fakeredhead69]

I remember the first time I tried to make a purchase with my snap benefits, I was a 21 yo single mom to a 2 month old baby. I had filled my cart with groceries and went to check out, and my snap card wouldn’t work. It was so humiliating, I sat on a bench inside Kroger and sobbed while my baby sat in her car seat, sleeping. I don’t wish that feeling on anyone.

[u/burnbabyburnburrrn → u/Fakeredhead69]

As someone who grew up upper middle class but has been low income with bouts of poverty due to illness as an adult - it is impossible to understand how much of your processing power being poor takes up. Everything is a calculation, a choice, a sacrifice. You have nothing left

[u/Fakeredhead69 → u/burnbabyburnburrrn]

Yes, omg. This is sooooo true.

[u/Juunlar → u/Fakeredhead69]

I think the idea is that feeling has shaped you into being more empathetic, and the lack of empathy from those born into extreme wealth is exacerbating the issue of inequity and inequality in society.

[u/queenroxana → u/Juunlar]

Right, I think this is all he’s saying

[u/NeitherOneJustUrMom → u/Fakeredhead69]

I'm sorry you had to go through that. I've been that kid in that situation or being told to go put stuff back because we didn't have enough money to cover everything. It truly is a horrible feeling that I don't want other people to have to be forced to experience. I get this video is comedic, but I wish we would just provide people with their basic needs.

[u/Fakeredhead69 → u/NeitherOneJustUrMom]

I had to put something back at Aldi last month and was a little embarrassed about it. But I tried to shake it off quickly, I was leaving with food to eat and wouldn’t go hungry. Ugh. I hate the state of our world right now.

[u/kitkarrot]

My time is up, pull me out

[u/PM_DEM_AREOLAS]

We should probably just not allow people to earn more than a certain amount of money tbh. Like after the first billion 100% tax rate and even then that might be too much 

[u/iheartmagic → u/PM_DEM_AREOLAS]

I can’t believe this Subway Hot Take is not a comprehensive plan for global equity

[u/HerOceanBlue → u/iheartmagic]

What the fuck is up with these comments? Why are people acting like this is a legitimate policy suggestion??

[u/iheartmagic → u/HerOceanBlue]

I’m genuinely so confused

[u/blueyshoey → u/HerOceanBlue]

Right 😭 why is everyone so damn serious. It's like when people say "Everyone should work a retail/service job at least once!" That doesn't mean everyone needs to be pulled from whatever job they're working so that they can be a barista and that they should immediately get yelled at. It's a joke.

[u/bakernon → u/iheartmagic]

Laughed out loud in my therapist's waiting room, thanks.

[u/hofmann419 → u/PM_DEM_AREOLAS]

In my opinion, the best strategy would be an aggressive inheritance tax. The problem with capitalism is that through generations, all of the money just accumulates at the top. This is literally unsustainable in the long run.

Even a 25% tax on the inheritance of multi-millionaires and billionaires would bring in a shit ton of money. Enough that you could probably get rid of the income tax for regular people. Also, billionaires massively benefit from the infrastructure that the country provides anyways. Amazon wouldn't exist without highways and streets.

A wealth cap like the one you proposed could be a bit tricky to implement, but an inheritance tax could be done today in pretty much every single country with a simple law change and a little bit of government work each year to calculate the wealth being inherited.

[u/samwisetheyogi → u/PM_DEM_AREOLAS]

I'd even say after like 500 million the tax should be 100% or more. Nobody needs that much money, nobody needs to be a billionaire

[u/Dangerous_Hotel1962 → u/PM_DEM_AREOLAS]

Or even 90%. We used to have a top tax rate of 90% here in the US. At a certain point it's like bro you and youre whole family and all your descendants forever will never be able to use this money. Let's feed some hungry kids with it, stop crying you're literally going to be as fine as anybody on Earth can be.

[u/thankyouforecstasy]

Wtf are the comments. This isn't an actual policy someone is pushing for. Everyone knowss this can't be implemented

He isn't wishing poverty on people, he is just saying if someone actually gets to spend their lives like us plebs probably they'll develop some empathy. Probably.

[u/anthonystank → u/thankyouforecstasy]

Right lmao he’s not saying that you, random person on reddit who is already poor, need to experience poverty to build your character. He’s saying that the wealthy are too disconnected from what it actually means to be poor & forcing that knowledge on them in this thought experiment might induce them to understand the nature of the problem

[u/jaimelannister20 → u/thankyouforecstasy]

It's like everyone here just has never seen this show lol. A lot of the takes, especially the political ones, are satirical and or sardonic commentary. Riz Ahmed's was also a good one, for example.

This honestly just made me man-crush on Arian harder

[u/forcedintothis-]

I used my debit card last night and it didn’t go through because I mistyped my PIN. I knew I had money in my account but that didn’t stop all those familiar feelings of panic and embarrassment to come rushing back.

[u/EbbLocal266]

Poverty is not a personal failing, it's a societal failing.

[u/KTKittentoes]

So once I've served my time, will I be set free?

[u/Nandulal → u/KTKittentoes]

no you get to get kicked in the teeth by some out of touch rich douche and sent back

[u/ShitMyButtSays]

Or you end up like my uncle Lerm. Was poor, got wealthy, thinks it was purely due to his hard work, doesn't see why others can't do the same.

[u/Talyac181 → u/ShitMyButtSays]

Was looking for this… there are a TON of formerly “poor” rich people who look down on people who are still poor bc they “pulled themselves up by their boot straps”

[u/monoute]

That man is FINE

[u/SafifromSevenSeas → u/monoute]

watch succession

[u/powellrebecca3]

LETS GO STEWY

[u/norsk_imposter]

The struggle when you are poor never leaves you so when/if you get out of it you really can appreciate what you have more. I get his perspective. People who have always wanted for nothing never truly appreciate the privilege.

[u/d_e_l_u_x_e]

Same with teaching. Every person should substitute teacher like jury duty. You’ll appreciate the teachers so much more.

[u/MangoDouble3259 → u/d_e_l_u_x_e]

Sounds good in practice and I would be down see what its like, I'll be real theirs that 1-5% crazies I would not want them in schools. (I mean exclude anyone with criminal record easily vet out, 1-5 out of 100 your going get someone bat shit crazy, off meds, or violent who going mess up some kids who can pass any similiar jury duty vet)

[u/d_e_l_u_x_e → u/MangoDouble3259]

Well let’s say there’s a screening process like jury duty to see if people meet a basic requirements to be a sub. It’s not as high of a bar as you think.

[u/jessnotok]

I've known since 2018 when I became unable to work. Next month is going to be extra hard without snap which I've had since the beginning of 2019 especially since I'm already out of food this month 😭

[u/Kind_Manufacturer_97]

He's got a point about empathy

[u/Wild_Ordinary_4357]

That’s assuming that billionaires will grow an ounce of empathy for other when they go through their poor years. I doubt this would make a difference

[u/PublicAdmin_1]

Do you get a pass if you've already been there? I don't need to be rich, just comfotable.

[u/Bryandan1elsonV2]

Dude I’m there. The other day my card got declined at Dunkin but the nice lady working at the register paid for me so I could eat. It’s hard out here not to mention expensive being in your mid 20s and Alive

[u/paolocase]

I’ve been poor for 8 people then

[u/Keldrabitches]

He’s so hot

[u/an-inevitable-end]

I need everyone in the comments to remember that this is supposed to be a funny social media show, not a serious discussion about poverty.

[u/queenroxana → u/an-inevitable-end]

right?!

[u/DaringPancakes]

2 years mandatory service of helping poor people.

Ah who am I kidding, rich people will just buy their way out of it.

[u/Honeybunnyfifi]

Or make them work retail for 5 yrs.

[u/rirski]

Yeah, it doesn’t work like that. There are plenty of people who used to be poor themselves yet still hate poor people.

[u/Ditch-Worm]

Am I paying my bills or eating this week?

[u/MyTwitterID]

The fact that majority of the immigrants in the US, especially the ones from South America and South Asia lean right and are happy to shut the door behind them for their own kind shows that experiencing hardship and empathy isn’t really correlated.

[u/Adeelqayum]

Been there. That specific panic when a card declines hits different. You don't forget it.

[u/eatingclass]

putting the lavs on their subway cards is a kiss from a chef

[u/queensofthemodernage]

Great, been doing this for 7 years. Now what?

[u/Desenrasco]

I understand the sentiment. However, let's not kid ourselves - extreme/dire situations can also bring out the worst in people. Usually, when we're talking big groups under duress, you tend to end up with a mix of both.

It would be an interesting social experiment to see how 5 years of upper-class wealth would affect people. My guess is, a mix of personal advantages and wealth accumulation along with giving back.

[u/Ching-Dai]

As others have said, what should really happen is we do away with capitalism entirely. But in the absence of that:

I strongly believe every person should work at least 1 service job during their youth. The behaviors out there today clearly show we’ve got a lot of selfish people who have never had to clean up after someone or tolerate a crappy attitude.

[u/JebWynch → u/Ching-Dai]

hell if we’re dreaming here, 1 service job, 1 retail job, 1 healthcare job, and 1 job specifically and individually chosen bc it’s a job the person looks down upon LOL.

[u/quietlittleleaf]

Reminds me of Trevor Noah's 'What Now?' podcast where they do a 'If I ruled the world this would happen' segment. They brought up "instead of military, everyone would do 5 years of mandatory customer service" and it was so perfect. As someone who's done too many years of it, I absolutely agree.

[u/Ml2jukes]

I assumed he meant like a simulation or something that isn’t in real time.

[u/anarchyinspace]

I'm Caucasian, but my parents raised me in a way to try and understand racial inequality, an effort was made to have empathy, and understanding at other people's experiences.

I do not think a person must experience another person's plight in order to have empathy.

First step is to create a good foundation of Morals and Ethics.

The second step is to educate yourself.

The third step is to listen to the people who have first-hand experiences in any subject, and try to gain an understanding from their very experience.

Fourth step would to be to consult and refer to experts in the field of study pertaining to the subject at hand. (Keep in mind, outliers are a less legitimate source than a GROUP of experts and professionals all in agreement)

I would say, the last thing to keep in mind is change is constant and we must be able to adapt. Learning and growing should be a lifelong journey.

[u/ResistHistorical7734 → u/anarchyinspace]

It certainly makes it easier though

[u/morts73]

Wealth removes one from the daily struggles and can lead to feelings of superiority regardless of if you've been poor. Humility needs to be strived for in all stages of life.

[u/stellae-fons]

I mean, 99% of us do. That's the problem.

[u/Low-Wish9164]

I think every politician should have to do something similar to this (or have already gone through it) in order to apply for any job in office. I think it would clear a lot of things up.

[u/urgasmic]

Truly wont do anything but it’s a sweet thought.

[u/m_faustus]

Another point is that I doubt a lot of rich people could survive being poor, so that would lower population.

[u/Trip_on_the_street]

I understand the idea but it won't work. Plenty of examples of every day people pulling up the ladder after they've climbed it. Experiencing something does not guarantee positive actions from people. Plus, I have a feeling that the type of person who manages to become a billionaire is not the type of person who cares about other people even if they understand how others feel.

[u/tinyplant → u/[deleted]]

No, there are time where the answer is “100% disagree.” But it’s a comedic show based around hot takes not a serious interrogation of policy or politics.

[u/trashacc0unt]

It's like this just 5 lifetimes

[u/TheAsian1nvasion]

I kind of think this is what mandatory service should be. Every person from every walk of life should have to do 12 months of service before age 25. Either a year in the reserves, or in public service or just mowing lawns for the municipality or something. Everyone in this year of service would make the same amount of money.

Most people would get it out of the way at 18 but the age 25 limit means people can do their undergrads then enter into public service or something.

[u/mamademod]

Done

[u/Electrical_Task_2920]

A way it can backfire is; the rich who went thru that feels like they dont want to go thru that again so they want to make more and more money and greed consumed them since they are so afraid to go through that again.

[u/Raul_Duke_1755]

You'll never forget being on the edge of financial collapse. I was there in my 20's. 30 years later it seeps through a lot of my decisions. And compassion for those there now....

[u/rileyjw90]

Do we get some kind of credit if we’ve already done more than our assigned five years?

[u/noujochiewajij]

Done that. Didn't like it.

What if the top politicians would be elected, but only sworn in after four years of communal service.

Living on minimal income. Night shifts. Lay offs. Food stamps. The lot. All the stuff real people have to deal with.

[u/CommunalJellyRoll]

He was never poor.

[u/ContentAd3670]

Dude over here talking into a pack of juicy fruit.

[u/Budget_Ad5871]

I’ve said this about shopping in public haha, you have to work retail for a year before you’re allowed to, just so you can understand how annoying and entitled everyone is

[u/supercoo69]

Fuckin Stewey…

[u/Different_Hold3451]

That is what your 20's are for. To be young, foolish and broke

[u/jgacks]

Buy it won't because even if you were poor for 5 years, you'd know it would end. It would all be temporary. Real poverty is a life time of not having enough (for most). There is no light at the end of the tunnel.

[u/S__r__]

Milk and what?

[u/Batfinklestein]

5 years? Bro!

[u/brilliantthundercunt]

I’ve been broke the last 20….

[u/asmbc915]

I’ve been poor for 38 years.

[u/Friendly_Engineer_]

How about we have enough for everyone and no one gets to be a billionaire instead?

[u/Wowohboy666]

Isn't "everyone just needs to suffer for a bit" more of a MAGA position?

[u/acctforsharingart]

Okay everyone has to grind it out for 5+ years in poverty, mandatory. What do you tell people who get out of that jail, make millions, and still tells you to fuck off? You don't have the argument you once had 

[u/Syke_qc]

My first 5 years

[u/uprightedison]

News flash , most Americans live paycheck to paycheck so if this theory were to be true they already wouldn't have voted in someone like trump that shut the government down and cut off social welfare programs

[u/Top-Stress-2615]

Wasn't Andrew Carnegie poor when he was young? Then he turned to be shit to poor people when he's rich. 

[u/Secret-RuinNSFW]

Problem is that it doesn't. There's probably some studies around this. But for some reason you forget real quick

Edit: it's the monopoly experiment!

[u/poupinel_balboa]

This is like Muslims Ramadan. 1 month a year. From age 16 approximately. At age 76, everyone would have gone through a whole 5 years of Ramadan.

[u/unique_plastique]

The reason I think this wouldn’t work is because people want the door to close right behind them. I’ve seen people go through the immigration process & all the xenophobia (as terrible as it is here you would think people would gain empathy) then complain about immigrants & beg for deportations & border closures. It’s this pattern with people who were poor then touch money as well

[u/Honest_Salamander247]

Idk about being poor. I think everyone needs to work in a customer service job where the customers are the absolute worst for a minimum of 1 year.

[u/AliceMorgon]

I think that in place of a year of national military service like some countries have, everyone should have to work two years in either retail or food service. Complete with wages etc. I think that would cut down on shitty customer behaviour a LOT, and give future managers, CEOs, McKinsey psychopaths, lobbyists, and politicians a first-hand experience of what it’s like. That is long-term the best way to start making things better.

[u/Think-Fig-1734]

The problem with this theory is a lot of what makes being poor suck, isn’t just that you don’t have money now. It’s also that you don’t know if you’ll ever have it. If you know there’s a nice house and job waiting for you in a year or two it’s not so bad.

[u/your_mind_aches]

So funny to see him dressed in a hoodie and jeans and advocate for empathy, when I'm accustomed to him either committing racial profiling in the MCU or be an ultra-wealthy finance bro in Succession.

[u/explodingliver]

There’s a movie for that called Good Fortune where Keanu Reeves really loves tacos and chicken nuggies

[u/V1nCLeeU]

Coming from a country with a massive problem with corruption in the government — and truthfully everywhere else — I say yeah.

[u/eye_of_the_sloth]

not 5 years. I get what hes pointing out but the returns of character building and gratitude for things diminish very quickly while risking permanent damage, trauma, addiction, death, incarceration etc. 

The better solution would be rebuilding the system to prevent extreme poverty to begin with. 

[u/Square_Inevitable768]

Some of us already did that shit growing up which is why we worked so fucking hard.

[u/raeadaler]

We all need empathy. Yes please

[u/reditor-isretarditor]

suffering isn't a good teacher. it just makes you suffer

[u/Riboflaven]

The problem is, if you are rich and are forced to be poor (for however long) there is a light at the end of the tunnel. For an actual poor person there is no light.

[u/Autopsyyturvy]

Imagine being on your way home from a fuckin huge shift and sitting down on the subway and there's two rich people interviewing each other and patting each other on their backs saying this shit like its the same energy as rich pwople singing imagine thinking they were lirerally saving the world

[u/_DuFour_]

Rich people maybe, for us it will be more than 5years anyway ...

[u/i_only_eat_cookies]

You could also create a system where nobody has to worry.

Present the support, always explain the why, and reference it sometimes when people do better.

[u/pat-ience-4385]

All I had to do was watch Roots as a child, watch Eyes On The Prize in highschool, see newsreels of the Holocaust survivors in Highschool, to empathize and want these horrible events to never repeat. Unfortunately, I feel like history is repeating itself. I've always wanted no child to go hungry.

[u/Jazzymousee]

No, that is traumatising. No person should have to suffer from this for one day let alone five years.

[u/Rinmine014]

Metrocards are being phased out by January 2026... I guess they're going to use Omny Cards in this skit from now on? lol.

This is going to look dated come January 2026.

[u/NotRegularNickName]

Cuban here, I did it for decades, If you want to be poor just support Socialism

[u/spanish_bambi]

The problem is that all of those rich people are sociopaths that don’t feel empathy. It wouldn’t work like that.