Black ended the challenge having completed 10 months, with just 60 days left to run. He had managed to make a grand total of $64,000.
Despite failing to make the million dollars he had aimed for, Black says it was still a successful experiment after demonstrating how it was possible to rebuild his life through the power of determination.
‘We should always remember to help those in need because it could be the opportunity that they need,’ Black said.
All things considered he did pretty good. $64,000 is a lot more than most people make in a year and he did it in 10 months when he was homeless.
He also was an entrepreneur before he became homeless. It’s not like he completely forgot his entire life before he started the “experiment”. He had both skills and a history. I’m not so sure it’d be as possible for someone who’s been homeless for a while, or ended up homeless because of a wealth of problems both financial and psychological.
He is a literal temporarily embarrassed millionaire.
Even that would probably be pretty easy to come back from, comparitively.
You’d have to intentionally tank your credit score, burn all your bridges, probably even take up an addiction or two, to get anywhere near the same kind of experience.
Bonus points if you impose a familial burden. Having a child, or at least a bag of sugar you have to stuff several hundred dollars into once a week in lieu of personal expenditures to avoid putting an actual child through that stress, so your concern isn’t strictly for yourself.
Which isn’t to say I think they’d even get past the initial year you suggest. This guy couldn’t get past a year without that stipulation.
Several things weren’t considered in the experiment:
A lot of people on the streets have some degree of mental illness or come from another background of vulnerability.
he started the experiment im good health. Constant malnutrition is something that destroys someone’s hability to concentrate and think on complex subjects, and a reality for most homeless people
A lot of homeless people have no digital devices needed to take things from a site and resell online
No one in their right mind will trust a stranger from the streets to sleep in their van. He got this privilege probably by talking to someone and explaining his experiment or something.
in a lot of places, there are no free things available to resell. Also, he probably already got this idea before starting the experiment.
the site didn’t mention where he did the experiment, because a lot of people on the streets are subject to violence and live in constant danger
and the most important one: there aren’t enough free stuff available for all homeless people to resell. If everyone tried this, the “market” would eventually saturate and no one would get a profit anymore.
I remember someone from here in Brazil that tried a similar experiment, but on a smaller scale. He started by buying a box of candies and reselling to people going through a busy avenue. Every time he sold all the candies, he had to buy more, getting just a small profit. At the end, he had to eat, and then spent everything, while being still hungry. The experiment wasn’t viable, because he didn’t even manage to end the day with more than when started. I tried to find the video to link, but couldn’t find it, unfortunately. But anyway, I believe this was much closer to the real experience.
Hey, it works in video games—just loot some lvl 1 dungeon or take pickaxe to a rock, then sell the stuffz at the local shopkeeper! You’ll start small, but make thousands of gold in no time! Why wouldn’t it work in real life, too? Just get some stuffz and sell it for profit, you lazy bum!
All things considered he did pretty good. $64,000 is a lot more than most people make in a year and he did it in 10 months when he was homeless.
He also was an entrepreneur before he became homeless. It’s not like he completely forgot his entire life before he started the “experiment”. He had both skills and a history. I’m not so sure it’d be as possible for someone who’s been homeless for a while, or ended up homeless because of a wealth of problems both financial and psychological.
He is a literal temporarily embarrassed millionaire.
I agree. A better experiment would be to live homeless for a full year first, and then spend the second year trying to make money.
Even that would probably be pretty easy to come back from, comparitively.
You’d have to intentionally tank your credit score, burn all your bridges, probably even take up an addiction or two, to get anywhere near the same kind of experience.
Bonus points if you impose a familial burden. Having a child, or at least a bag of sugar you have to stuff several hundred dollars into once a week in lieu of personal expenditures to avoid putting an actual child through that stress, so your concern isn’t strictly for yourself.
Which isn’t to say I think they’d even get past the initial year you suggest. This guy couldn’t get past a year without that stipulation.
Whack him in the back with a shovel, give him a bucket of oxycontin and say “go”
There’s also the free place to sleep he got simply because someone knew him. Some fame always helps
Several things weren’t considered in the experiment:
I remember someone from here in Brazil that tried a similar experiment, but on a smaller scale. He started by buying a box of candies and reselling to people going through a busy avenue. Every time he sold all the candies, he had to buy more, getting just a small profit. At the end, he had to eat, and then spent everything, while being still hungry. The experiment wasn’t viable, because he didn’t even manage to end the day with more than when started. I tried to find the video to link, but couldn’t find it, unfortunately. But anyway, I believe this was much closer to the real experience.
I love how these dudes are like “Why aren’t peddlers rich?!? Sell things for more than you pay for them! It’s so easy.”
Hey, it works in video games—just loot some lvl 1 dungeon or take pickaxe to a rock, then sell the stuffz at the local shopkeeper! You’ll start small, but make thousands of gold in no time! Why wouldn’t it work in real life, too? Just get some stuffz and sell it for profit, you lazy bum!
/s in case it isn’t obvious
I know some
rich people’s houseslevel 1 dungeons we can loot…That $64,00 would be zero because in those 10 months he said he constantly visited the doctors office because he was concerned about his health.
The median household in the US makes about $75,000 many with one income earner.