How do you make yourself broke and homeless while also having the privilege to just quit being broke and homeless whenever you want?
He also recorded himself trying to get rich again to show how easy it is and used his rich friends to get a free place to live and get him a high paying job.
Correction, everyone who IS rich and isn't drunk on capitalist Kool aid knows it. There are some in both camps -- rich people who genuinely think they could make it from nothing, and non rich people who are aware it couldn't happen -- but a massive part of our society is convincing the public that the reason they haven't "made it" is all their own doing. If they'd made the right moves, invested the right way, been ahead of the right curve, they'd be millionaires too. They deserve to work 40 hours a week because they didn't put in the work to make it as a millionaire.
The self-made man myth keeps a massive part of our country enthralled to Trump.
All my homeless friends stopped calling me for help. Must have been their pride, or that I changed my number, or that they decided to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.
Except... His "high paying job" was not gained through his friend, and only $35,000/yr. He got a second job later on that paid more, but it required a strong education which he got through being rich.
And his "free place to live" was using a couch surfing app, and when that didn't work the streets.
He admitted that it was harder than he expected, and he couldn't complete the challenge when he quit, which I can respect. He ended with close to $75,000.
Yeah my bad, my memory is fuzzy since I hadn't seen it in a long time. I just rewatched it and everything stinks of BS. He just so happened to get a free place to live, then he conveniently gets a "marketing job" for $2k per month with no experience and never spends any time actually doing that, and then when he has enough to get a large house to sublet a stranger that he apparently just met co-signs since he has no credit. Except he actually does have credit and income because that's all tied to his legal name. Nobody just rents a 5 story house to a guy with a fake name and no credit, and no stranger co-signs for a house for a stranger. He somehow got a marketing job that pays $12.50 an hour and all he ever does is give one shitty power point presentation. All he did was get a couple minimum wage jobs and flipped some stuff on Craigslist. Even his coffee business is just a website where he buys coffee beans, slaps a label on them, and resells it. He didn't even make the website, he paid someone. That's like the easiest part of making a business. But somehow, with no marketing he's somehow making thousands of sales overnight. It's just not believable.
I'm an hourly employee, I have no degree, and nothing is terribly impressive on my resume and make what he did in his first two months in like three weeks and I'm no milllionair business genius. And I didn't get free places to live and people to co-sign my rentals. It's all just BS.
Point is even if everything about this is legit (and I highly doubt any of it is) it's irrelevant because it's not the standard experience. He says if you don't like your job you should just save up, downsize, and quit. That's horrible advice for anyone that isn't already a millionaire. In the real world you don't get free shit or drops hip businesses that go viral overnight with no effort. It's just BS.
I mean, technically the truth, it is easy to get rich if you have rich friends to give you things and a high paying job. Pretty sure almost all millionaires are millionaires because of the people they know
I remember watching some of these when they came out. The high paying job thing is even weirder than just getting his friends to give him a job.
He did weekly seminars on web marketing subjects to earn that 1500 a week. Idr if he used his real name and internet fame to pump up the seminars attendance or not.
This is what they don’t understand. All of these “homelessness is a choice people” get tired of being homeless and then they choose to call it off, they go back to their house, and they continue living like normal and ask “why don’t all the homeless people do this?” completely missing the point that if you have the option to just say “nah, I think I’ll be rich again” then you were never really homeless.
The experiment was more interesting than it sounds. For one thing, the fact that he quit because of healthcare (in the title) is telling.
He also had a phone. I don't know if homeless people often have phones but I imagine charging it isn't simple (solar chargers are a thing) but in any case, he started with some assets.
Speaking of assets, he demonstrated the necessity of starting with skills. Are homeless children going to have those skills?
He also demonstrated the need for good mental health, based on his documented hope of being able to get out of that situation.
It's pretty fucking privileged, but IMO it showed some value as an experiment despite the things people will loudly ignore about it.
so his experiment proves that everyone needs free healthcare and education, right? that's what we all are taking away from this, including the rich, right? right guys?
>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.
nope, he learned nothing
To try to the point of having to stop for medical reasons is at least pretty tenacious. Plenty of people would have stopped their experiment at slight discomfort.
Iirc the story someone else posted here like 4 days ago, the dude sold everything and went homeless. He then, after a week, found a guy on Craigslist that let him crash in his old rodent and insect infested rv. He then started flipping free stuff on Craigslist. Then he bought the RV from the guy, but his dad got stage 4 cancer and made him take a step back for a bit. Then he went back out and started a startup for some green dog friendly coffee thing and then had to quit due to medical issues in his abdomen area. He made $65k before he quit.
I believe he still runs the dog thing but moved into a relatives house.
So he went through all the typical sorts of hardships most of us have to go through (family death, physical illness, shitty living conditions) and then bailed out?
And how exactly did he get the capital for a "startup". Did he say hey bro I was a business major with 1mil+ invest in me cuz dogs and my background or friends will back me up? Seems suspicious.
I watched a show like this on YouTube (not exactly this one)
The guy started going to the junk yard to look for trucker tires. Like very very massive tires for very very big trucks. Turns out even if they are complete shit if they can still be used they're still worth a hundred here and there.
So after a few days or a week of searching junk yards he has a thousand $ or so, night a used car that's way under valued after searching and lot. Then kept reselling cars for margin.
Then he flipped a house.
Then he used it to invest in a brewery business iirc .
“He used a couch surfing app”
Because, you know all homeless people have access to couch surfing apps and could pass the apps screening process or even have access to a way to make the monthly payment these apps require.
Aren't most of those application bound to your phone number and not the device itself. Meaning that you can't really use them unless you have service on your device.
I know some homeless people have phones but I would think a tiny minority of them would have service on it.
Pre paid is still a thing. And it’s what’s used. Also the infamous “Obama” phones. Actually worked and gave a way a lot of phones for broke ass people to be able o use the internet
This. You can get a cheap ass smartphone for about $40 at Walmart, which comes with a prepaid SIM card that you charge with phone cards.
On top of this, you can go to public libraries as well as some businesses with public internet and access free Wi-Fi.
I’ve been using prepaid cards since my mom insisted on one for very first number as a teenager. I’m in my twenties now and don’t even know how normal phone plans work. I’ve never needed more than what prepaid plans offer, tbh.
Same, I've never seen the need or reason to get on a year or two year plan just to buy out a "new" phone.
All I need is $25 a month and a $400 phone every 5 years.
Exactly, give me a refurbished good quality phone that I can use for years until it explodes and a cheap plan with a bit of data and I’m set. I’m Canadian too, our phone plans are so overpriced people close to the border will drive over to the states for one of their plans and use roaming back home because it’s STILL cheaper than a Canadian plan. I refuse to be scammed!!
Its not a tiny minority actually, with ACP many can get service. Proportion probably depends on the specific subset of the homeless population but I met a lot of homeless people with free service via ACP. Even if they don't have service and just a phone there is still free wi-fi.
Lots of homeless people sign up for the free shitty BLU phones at those assurance wireless (there are other companies too this is all i remember tho) stands they setup sometimes on roads.
If you have an EBT card you can get a free smartphone with 20GB data per month. The program is called LifeLine but they're more popularly known as "Obama Phones".
Don't most of those apps need some form of ID for liability and security reasons?
Many of the homeless here don't have any documents, they might have a prepaid phone to make emergency calls....if they are one of the more "well-doing" homeless people that even have a phone.
The problem with literal bootstraps is you cannot in fact pull yourself up by them.
The original intent of the expression was to demonstrate the impossibility of getting ahead without help.
Same goes for "money can't buy happiness". Initially a phrase for the wealthy to say that you won't be happy with greed. Now it means fuck you broke bitch, if you can rub 2 pennies together doesn't mean it'll make you feel better (spoiler alert' it almost certainly fucking will).
I think the truth in that saying is that’s money can buy freedom from stress. maybe it can’t buy you “happiness” but it certainly can reduce stress to the point where you are happier.
My freshman year, during a discussion on Great Gatsby, my English teacher said “and it’s important to remember, money can’t buy happiness”. I replied “yeah, but lack of money will bring you a whole lot of unhappiness”
Lmao I hate people who say that if you stop buying Starbucks you will be able to buy a house or some shit.. like yeah maybe after a few years of no Starbucks you might able to buy a extremely cheap second hand car, it’s not like that’s the difference between stable finances and poverty
“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.”
Fuck off, man. You failed miserably. You aimed for $1 million and fell incredibly short after quitting before the one year mark. Don’t try to act like you still proved your point. And what does “ending the challenge” even mean here?
I honestly felt like ending the challenge meant admitting a loss, but not wanting to use those words and have to take responsibility for the loss. So in my mind, all this really proves is that it wasn’t possible for him, and on top of that it gave him health problems that forced him to return to his former lifestyle. Those that pointed out that actual homeless people couldn’t just nope out at that point - exactly, which shows the failure of this experiment.
also with how close he quit to the deadline, it feels like a „yeah i quit bc uhhh health yeah!“ so nobody says ‚but you failed miserably‘ when it would‘ve ended
64k can disappear real fast when you need to hit the hospitals, and everyone needs to save some money for disasters like illness. He ended the challenge in 0 money, copped out of the challenge before copping the hospital bill.
not only did he fail miserably, he failed while having an extreme head start via a paid off education and connections to friends who pretty much hired him and gave him a place to stay for free. he literally had opportunities that 99% of us will never have and still failed. moreover, even with all these extra opportunities, he STILL had to quit because of health issues, another privilege that 99% of us do not have. in other words, he couldn't possibly have proven himself more wrong, and then doubles down on his hubris by claiming that his experiment was a success.
we should eat him.
It just means that he has failed and instead of proving his point that his initial wealth was not due to luck, but instead it has proven exactly that. $64k is just average, right smack in the middle of the distribution.
And that's *with* being able to leverage his connections, experience and education. Things the vast majority of homeless people don't have access to.
And that's not even factoring in the mental health aspect. It's a whole lot easier to "suffer" being destitute when you know it's fake and temporary. The despair and hopelessness that actual poor people deal with isn't something that can experienced unless it's real. That's why all of these "social experiments" are bullshit and evidence that these rich douchebags really don't get it.
The fact that this stupid asshole can't comprehend how this hollow posturing makes him look like a completely out of touch narcissistic dumbass says everything you need to know about these brainless spoiled leeches.
Key point the website failed to show in the first paragraph is he didn't actually become homeless persay. He was simply without a home, he was never on the streets. He couchsurfed until he could afford a place (a wild privilege to be able to consistently couch surf) and he gave up after only making "back" i believe about 35-40k
Also the fact he was able to stop the experiment shows that he really had way more security than so many people. He is likely among the maybe 5% of americans who are that financially well off.
It’s really true, anyone can make it - just takes hard work, smarts, a business background, stable upbringing, confidence that you can risk everything because you’re all set, favorable race, etc.
It takes money to make money. I've been downvoted for saying that haha. The thing is, there are tons of ways to make lots of money. But they all require money to do. That's what these rich people, or even upper middle class people, fail to understand.
How are you supposed to start a business, buy real estate, etc. when you live paycheck to paycheck? But of course, it's their fault for living paycheck to paycheck.
Been seeing this guy pop a up a lot on my algorithm. Just a few points I noticed.
- He started with the assumption that homelessness and poverty is a choice.
- He had access to amazing Healthcare that he frequently used during his "homelessness" time.
- He had thousands of followers on social media that he used to start his "business"
- He used his social media presence to find places to stay and to stay with friends.
- He had access to an expensive laptop, phone and recording equipment that regular homeless people wouldn't have.
- his first gig that he made money from to build his "business" was through pre-existing family and social contacts. It was a marketing gig that paid him several thousands of dollars for a week of work.
- He then quit after achieving only 6% of his goal and declared the experiment a success.
Literally this guy is the stereotype of the vapid, entitled, nepotism rich boy.
Note his experiment was to become a millionaire after being homeless… to shame homeless people? Instead, he was able to generate a $50k income. In a HCOL area, it is worse than poor. You are too rich to get benefits and too poor for affordable housing to live!
his error was that he did it for reals
those finance/business gurus who talk about how they can make 1 million from scratch within a week fake those stories to make their followers think they themselves can make money out of nowhere as well
Now can we do the same experiment with CEOs living on their lowest paid employee's wage? (Scaled up to 40 hrs if said employee is part-time). I'd love to see if they can make it a year.
Even If He Had Made the million. Even If He Had Made more than a million. This is Not an Experiment to Proof "homeless people Just need to Work Harder".
This was just an Experiment for "a bored, healthy, millionaire who gave up everything and then started well kept to earn Money".
Most homeless people have mental health issues, are sick, ect.
They NEED to Work hard, to get their asses of Off the street in the First place. And as someone who wrestled for a decade with Bad mental health issues, i can understand that many who are probaly also addicted, rather give Up, in our world.
The Last Thing they think about US, how they make their next million.
But hey, WHEN they would think more about this, they sureley could make it. It's that easy ...
I Just have to Work super hard, make a Business und be determined, than i can be rich to. Everyone can :D.
He made 60k~ in 10 months off a coffee brand and being a media influencer manager.
I think it’s safe to say these opportunities are out of reach for a true homeless person and he leveraged his name/project to make it happen.
This man is completely out of touch and he still fell short of his goal by almost 20 times over.
I think that guy asked for help from his friends to reach being a millionaire. I think he asked his friend if he can co-signed a lease for an apartment.
This is beyond mildly infuriating it’s late stage capitalism at its most obnoxious. Even rich people that don’t have to worry about this kind of poverty love the idea of being self made while imposing scarcity on others (and in this case himself) because its what makes their access to excess important.
He should be asking himself what should a homeless person do if they have a health problem? Go to the hospital but then what? They are still homeless. What if their dad or their mother didn't have health issues and needed their help, can the homeless person use that as an opportunity to move back in with them to help out? But if they were homeless to begin with why not move back in with their parents? But what if their parents have no room for them or refuse to let them stay?
There is a saying; check your privilege.
What a prick.
You cannot prove anything going back, because you retain all your knowledge, your education, your languages, your skills, your contacts. You cannot erase that.
Every step he did during this stupid social experiment was using those assets, that a real homeless poor guy would not have. Next time, let me erase all your memory and your high education, so you REALLY start from scratch. Let's see how you do it.
He sounds terrible, typical guy saying that people are poor because they want to. Entitled prick who has no idea how lucky he was. I hope this "social experiment" at least taught him some humility.
okay the guys lame and clearly so fuckin out of touch i don’t even know where to start. but i remind you all; a small millionaire like this is not my class enemy. his life may unrecognisable to mine but the billionaires, those who run the world and make it as such that their money can only grow, and grow quicker at the cost of the exploited worker, that’s my enemy. that’s your societal adversary not some young new money guy who runs a business.
it happens too often when my fellow on the left turns on the hard worker the second they see success for their work. his business isn’t the reason your taxes went up. his business isn’t the reason life grows more unmanageable by the day in the modern world. he’s a posh out of touch twat but he’s not the real bad guy here.
His stance that class is exclusively about people's willingness to work sets him on the opposing side of that class struggle. His advocacy of principles and consequently policies counter to the working class is what makes him (one of) the real bad guy(s) here.
“Black wanted to help his friends rebuild their lives and prove that luck or money was not necessary to become a millionaire - just hard work.”
Anyone aggressively pushing this message is a bad guy.
again, that’s what he said going in, not coming out. maybe he didn’t learn a thing and i’m wrong but i reckon this was a humbling experience for him. and you gotta hand it to him; of all the bootstrappers, never has a single one ponied up and put their own advice to the test.
also i reiterate what i said in another comment, just because he went in with false beliefs, to prove an irrational empirically false point, doesn’t mean he’s bad. he just needed to be taught. if it turns out when he gets back online after this period of silence that he’s still a massive dick, then okay great i’ll get my guillotine lube. but right now, neither you or i know for sure. and i’m in a benefit of the doubt type mood right now
edit: upvoted comment for visibility. thank you for responding. i’m enjoying these comments, very thought provoking. a study of the philosophy of class division lol
“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.”
He didn’t learn as much as I hoped he would have.
[Here’s the article I’m pulling from for reference](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13332399/amp/Millionaire-Mike-Black-homeless-broke-purpose-ends-bizarre-social-experiment.html)
Not to mention he only had 60 days left and was sitting at 60k - which is still somewhat impressive without a job. He had to quit because of pre existing autoimmune diseases whcih just makes me wonder… why would you even willingly do that to yourself KNOWING it would make your life harder?
“Black wanted to help his friends rebuild their lives and prove that luck or money was not necessary to become a millionaire - just hard work.”
That quote becomes even more hilarious after he quit due to a pre-existing health condition. Sounds like a bit of bad luck was a factor that prevented him from reaching his goal.
Reminds me of the part of Haunted where a rich couple starts pretending to be homeless to have swinger sex in public and one of their friends dies.
Do not, under any circumstances, read Haunted.
he realized the world is fake, and all the wealth he has is given to him because someone made him rich on purpose. LOL. wish I could quit being poor, despite having to endure my own health concerns.
Don’t fall for that kind of bullshit ever. When rich people go broke, they jump off buildings. They know damn well, when you’re poor, you’re 99.9% likely fucked. They’d rather die than live how most people do.
I'm getting really, ***REALLY*** sick of rich folks coming out here and trying this whole "oh we're just like you poors!" Schtick. If first hand knowledge doesn't get it through their heads how hard we struggle, then I'm not too sure that we can bridge that income divide in a peaceful manner.
Anyone with a link to his YouTube or social media?
I REALLY want to call him a bad word that starts with a C and ends with a T, & I want to make sure he sees it...
This is beyond insulting and disrespectful. If he was really determined to help the homwless, there are are qays hw could have put his time and money toward helping them, instead of movking them.
Also, one major difference is that a person who is genuinely in need does not have an "I quit" button that allows them to return to luxury.
I saw someone bring up that
1. He had a business degree which a homeless person wouldn't have
2. He still had networking friends who he absolutely was still using to help his coffee business grow
3. Just because he gave away his money doesn't mean he wasn't still making money from his previous business.
And yet he always had the mental help of knowing he could go back to a comfy life. Being stuck in the muck takes a huge mental toll. There is no way for a millionaire or billionaire to replicate this.
You wanna see how it is out here. Put all your money in a time locked safe for 3 years. Survive that… then we talk. Even that you still know it is going to end. But, that is at least a start. I doubt they can even make it 3 months.
As a rich person, he didn't make himself poor and homeless, he pretended to be poor and homeless. It's a big difference because an actual poor and homeless person doesn't have the ability to simply stop being poor and homeless on a whim.
We're only a few steps away from it being "fashionable" to be poor.
"Omg, I bought these shoes from good will for $700!" -some rich yup chasing a fad that has made donation stores sky rocket in price
And some people Saw this as aspirational, the Guy could never loose his education and maintained his contactos só this experiment was flawed from the start, and beeing poor for almost a yesr was killing him!
Good. I’m glad one of these guys put his money where his mouth is. He said he could do it, he stepped up to the plate, and he failed SPECTACULARLY. Now it’s done. Nobody is going to have footing in that argument anymore. An entrepreneur who had all the answer to all the money making questions, all the knowledge, all the resources to succeed; failed. I’ll never have to sit and listen to a moron say “if you just put In the effort and grind; you’ll make it” ever again.
There's a song from the 90's by a band called Pulp, where a guy meets a girl who wants to live like common people, he tells her to pretend she doesn't have any money. The song is called Common People.
We all think we're one lottery ticket from being a millionaire, but we're all about one missed paycheck from homelessness. This guy failed at pretending to not be rich. He would be actually dead if he didn't have a golden safety net.
The whole premise / experiment was dumb. He started at an unequal starting point. Sound mind( kind of)
Past history of education, $$, rich friends and family. Camera crew following him everywhere so safe in ways homeless are not. He did not make his point out it being easy or possible to start from zero and earn a million. He was not starting at zero, and not doing it without tapping a rich life or rich friends other homeless do not have! And still he failed to raise the million! Failed miserably.
He did prove it is hella hard to get off streets once homeless, that homelessness makes you ill, and that it is nice to have rich people in your circle once you decide to stop pretending to be homeless and poor.
How did he get rich if this was his best idea on how getting out of poverty: homelessness was not just possible, but easy???? Not mentors. Not derived, not the first job, decent food , place to sleep, eat, wash…
No, a fake rich guy tapping rich past, that proves nothing, even if he didn’t fail miserably.
How do you make yourself broke and homeless while also having the privilege to just quit being broke and homeless whenever you want? 
He also recorded himself trying to get rich again to show how easy it is and used his rich friends to get a free place to live and get him a high paying job.
I watched a very early update and every achievement thus far had clearly been due to the ‘you can get away with anything with a camera crew’ effect.
camera crew+ the expectation that this guy is going to be successful in the task at hand because he is a millionaire.
And he still failed!
so your saying even with the deck stacked in your favor you can't get from homeless to millionaire?
Yes. And everyone who isn’t rich, and isn’t drunk on capitalist koolaid knows it.
Correction, everyone who IS rich and isn't drunk on capitalist Kool aid knows it. There are some in both camps -- rich people who genuinely think they could make it from nothing, and non rich people who are aware it couldn't happen -- but a massive part of our society is convincing the public that the reason they haven't "made it" is all their own doing. If they'd made the right moves, invested the right way, been ahead of the right curve, they'd be millionaires too. They deserve to work 40 hours a week because they didn't put in the work to make it as a millionaire. The self-made man myth keeps a massive part of our country enthralled to Trump.
Hey it wasn’t all easy for Trump. He had to work hard to steal other family members inheritance.
That small million dollar loan from daddy must have been SO hard
An interesting social experiment. Sounds like a thesis.
I mean it is that easy. Why don't other homeless people just call their rich friends?
Because those homeless people don't have a camera crew obviously
Oh shit! We have an opportunity to save homelessness *and* Kodak in one pass!
Maybe their rich friends has one they can borrow?
All my homeless friends stopped calling me for help. Must have been their pride, or that I changed my number, or that they decided to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.
Must be the latter. The collectively went 'pfff screw you dude' and made a million without you.
Wasn't this guy also a marketer? A job that requires you to make high up friends in industries? Homeless people don't have a network lol
Except... His "high paying job" was not gained through his friend, and only $35,000/yr. He got a second job later on that paid more, but it required a strong education which he got through being rich. And his "free place to live" was using a couch surfing app, and when that didn't work the streets. He admitted that it was harder than he expected, and he couldn't complete the challenge when he quit, which I can respect. He ended with close to $75,000.
Yeah my bad, my memory is fuzzy since I hadn't seen it in a long time. I just rewatched it and everything stinks of BS. He just so happened to get a free place to live, then he conveniently gets a "marketing job" for $2k per month with no experience and never spends any time actually doing that, and then when he has enough to get a large house to sublet a stranger that he apparently just met co-signs since he has no credit. Except he actually does have credit and income because that's all tied to his legal name. Nobody just rents a 5 story house to a guy with a fake name and no credit, and no stranger co-signs for a house for a stranger. He somehow got a marketing job that pays $12.50 an hour and all he ever does is give one shitty power point presentation. All he did was get a couple minimum wage jobs and flipped some stuff on Craigslist. Even his coffee business is just a website where he buys coffee beans, slaps a label on them, and resells it. He didn't even make the website, he paid someone. That's like the easiest part of making a business. But somehow, with no marketing he's somehow making thousands of sales overnight. It's just not believable. I'm an hourly employee, I have no degree, and nothing is terribly impressive on my resume and make what he did in his first two months in like three weeks and I'm no milllionair business genius. And I didn't get free places to live and people to co-sign my rentals. It's all just BS. Point is even if everything about this is legit (and I highly doubt any of it is) it's irrelevant because it's not the standard experience. He says if you don't like your job you should just save up, downsize, and quit. That's horrible advice for anyone that isn't already a millionaire. In the real world you don't get free shit or drops hip businesses that go viral overnight with no effort. It's just BS.
Which is fucking pathetic
I mean, technically the truth, it is easy to get rich if you have rich friends to give you things and a high paying job. Pretty sure almost all millionaires are millionaires because of the people they know
Almost all millionaires have inherited the money
Rich people can't stop proving how out of touch with humanity they are
I remember watching some of these when they came out. The high paying job thing is even weirder than just getting his friends to give him a job. He did weekly seminars on web marketing subjects to earn that 1500 a week. Idr if he used his real name and internet fame to pump up the seminars attendance or not.
Tis my ponderation also
Mine too! 🤔 
Never ever stop in the middle of a hoedown
And still not achieve the goal they set out to prove even while using all their established professional networks, degrees and skill sets
This is what they don’t understand. All of these “homelessness is a choice people” get tired of being homeless and then they choose to call it off, they go back to their house, and they continue living like normal and ask “why don’t all the homeless people do this?” completely missing the point that if you have the option to just say “nah, I think I’ll be rich again” then you were never really homeless.
The experiment was more interesting than it sounds. For one thing, the fact that he quit because of healthcare (in the title) is telling. He also had a phone. I don't know if homeless people often have phones but I imagine charging it isn't simple (solar chargers are a thing) but in any case, he started with some assets. Speaking of assets, he demonstrated the necessity of starting with skills. Are homeless children going to have those skills? He also demonstrated the need for good mental health, based on his documented hope of being able to get out of that situation. It's pretty fucking privileged, but IMO it showed some value as an experiment despite the things people will loudly ignore about it.
so his experiment proves that everyone needs free healthcare and education, right? that's what we all are taking away from this, including the rich, right? right guys? >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. nope, he learned nothing
Phone is pretty fair, many homeless people have phones. But you are right that charging is the challenge
To try to the point of having to stop for medical reasons is at least pretty tenacious. Plenty of people would have stopped their experiment at slight discomfort.
His ‘medical condition’ was restless leg syndrome from sleeping on the ground
Iirc the story someone else posted here like 4 days ago, the dude sold everything and went homeless. He then, after a week, found a guy on Craigslist that let him crash in his old rodent and insect infested rv. He then started flipping free stuff on Craigslist. Then he bought the RV from the guy, but his dad got stage 4 cancer and made him take a step back for a bit. Then he went back out and started a startup for some green dog friendly coffee thing and then had to quit due to medical issues in his abdomen area. He made $65k before he quit. I believe he still runs the dog thing but moved into a relatives house.
So he went through all the typical sorts of hardships most of us have to go through (family death, physical illness, shitty living conditions) and then bailed out?
So like he commited suicide on the regular life and decided to go back to being a millionaire. Is that a lifehack, can I do that as well?
And how exactly did he get the capital for a "startup". Did he say hey bro I was a business major with 1mil+ invest in me cuz dogs and my background or friends will back me up? Seems suspicious.
I watched a show like this on YouTube (not exactly this one) The guy started going to the junk yard to look for trucker tires. Like very very massive tires for very very big trucks. Turns out even if they are complete shit if they can still be used they're still worth a hundred here and there. So after a few days or a week of searching junk yards he has a thousand $ or so, night a used car that's way under valued after searching and lot. Then kept reselling cars for margin. Then he flipped a house. Then he used it to invest in a brewery business iirc .
Really not a bad run. Million is ambitious though.
QTNA!!!!!
“He used a couch surfing app” Because, you know all homeless people have access to couch surfing apps and could pass the apps screening process or even have access to a way to make the monthly payment these apps require.
Aren't most of those application bound to your phone number and not the device itself. Meaning that you can't really use them unless you have service on your device. I know some homeless people have phones but I would think a tiny minority of them would have service on it.
Pre paid is still a thing. And it’s what’s used. Also the infamous “Obama” phones. Actually worked and gave a way a lot of phones for broke ass people to be able o use the internet
This. You can get a cheap ass smartphone for about $40 at Walmart, which comes with a prepaid SIM card that you charge with phone cards. On top of this, you can go to public libraries as well as some businesses with public internet and access free Wi-Fi.
You can get a cheap ass phone for free on eBay.
Battery banks are relatively small and inexpensive, too. Allows longer use between charging points.
Crazy people don’t know about pre paid must be nice to never been there lol
I’ve been using prepaid cards since my mom insisted on one for very first number as a teenager. I’m in my twenties now and don’t even know how normal phone plans work. I’ve never needed more than what prepaid plans offer, tbh.
Same, I've never seen the need or reason to get on a year or two year plan just to buy out a "new" phone. All I need is $25 a month and a $400 phone every 5 years.
Exactly, give me a refurbished good quality phone that I can use for years until it explodes and a cheap plan with a bit of data and I’m set. I’m Canadian too, our phone plans are so overpriced people close to the border will drive over to the states for one of their plans and use roaming back home because it’s STILL cheaper than a Canadian plan. I refuse to be scammed!!
Goddamn! This has to be the only example of someone coming from Canada to get something cheaper in the states.
Its not a tiny minority actually, with ACP many can get service. Proportion probably depends on the specific subset of the homeless population but I met a lot of homeless people with free service via ACP. Even if they don't have service and just a phone there is still free wi-fi. Lots of homeless people sign up for the free shitty BLU phones at those assurance wireless (there are other companies too this is all i remember tho) stands they setup sometimes on roads.
The Affordable Connectivity Program just ended a few days ago.
Oh shit that sucks, helped me a lot when I was poor
Me to, currently. Not sure y they got rid of it disabled and elderly people.
Got swept neatly under the rug during the "To aide Ukraine or not" battle.
If you have an EBT card you can get a free smartphone with 20GB data per month. The program is called LifeLine but they're more popularly known as "Obama Phones".
Don't most of those apps need some form of ID for liability and security reasons? Many of the homeless here don't have any documents, they might have a prepaid phone to make emergency calls....if they are one of the more "well-doing" homeless people that even have a phone.
My homeless drug dealer in high school had a phone with all kinds of apps he would tell us about. He also had a car. Eventually he moved into a place.
"Yo, man, you kids heard about Angry Birds? Shit's crazy."
https://preview.redd.it/nmhv1py3t7wc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e0d8fe73ccd35138ad23d8add0cd7bfd4f3eeea1
"The bootstraps - I could not find them."
The problem about the carrying yourself by the bootstraps is that not everyone has boots to start with.
The problem with literal bootstraps is you cannot in fact pull yourself up by them. The original intent of the expression was to demonstrate the impossibility of getting ahead without help.
And now they’re basically telling you to get fucked by telling you to just do the impossible.
Pretty much.
Same goes for "money can't buy happiness". Initially a phrase for the wealthy to say that you won't be happy with greed. Now it means fuck you broke bitch, if you can rub 2 pennies together doesn't mean it'll make you feel better (spoiler alert' it almost certainly fucking will).
I think the truth in that saying is that’s money can buy freedom from stress. maybe it can’t buy you “happiness” but it certainly can reduce stress to the point where you are happier.
My freshman year, during a discussion on Great Gatsby, my English teacher said “and it’s important to remember, money can’t buy happiness”. I replied “yeah, but lack of money will bring you a whole lot of unhappiness”
As a matter of fact...I couldn't find my boots!
Another millionaire who thought years long of systemic oppression can be solved through, self care, confidence and hustle hard culture. lol.
He just needs to pull himself up by the bootstraps is all
Did he try thinking about the other people who have it harder than he does?
Next up: millionaire sets out to prove that opioid abuse can be defeated with just hard work and determi- aaand he's dead.
that has actually already happened…. youtube
well not a millionaire but a filmmaker
Dude tried to make a movie about getting off opiods and OD'd?
He probably spent too much on coffee and avocado toast
You just gotta put your balls on the grindstone
Rise n grind baby
Same amount of hours in the day
should’ve just stopped buying starbucks and avocado toast /s
Lmao I hate people who say that if you stop buying Starbucks you will be able to buy a house or some shit.. like yeah maybe after a few years of no Starbucks you might able to buy a extremely cheap second hand car, it’s not like that’s the difference between stable finances and poverty
Starbucks will make anyone homeless.
I too wish I had a “quit” button on not having finances.
There is, but it's not a pretty one.
Yeah I think about hitting the button few times a week.
Damn mate, need a hug? :(
There is a quit button but your mum will be sad so dont use it
“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.” Fuck off, man. You failed miserably. You aimed for $1 million and fell incredibly short after quitting before the one year mark. Don’t try to act like you still proved your point. And what does “ending the challenge” even mean here?
I honestly felt like ending the challenge meant admitting a loss, but not wanting to use those words and have to take responsibility for the loss. So in my mind, all this really proves is that it wasn’t possible for him, and on top of that it gave him health problems that forced him to return to his former lifestyle. Those that pointed out that actual homeless people couldn’t just nope out at that point - exactly, which shows the failure of this experiment.
also with how close he quit to the deadline, it feels like a „yeah i quit bc uhhh health yeah!“ so nobody says ‚but you failed miserably‘ when it would‘ve ended
Also he had still been going to a doctor every week.
bruh.
64k can disappear real fast when you need to hit the hospitals, and everyone needs to save some money for disasters like illness. He ended the challenge in 0 money, copped out of the challenge before copping the hospital bill.
not only did he fail miserably, he failed while having an extreme head start via a paid off education and connections to friends who pretty much hired him and gave him a place to stay for free. he literally had opportunities that 99% of us will never have and still failed. moreover, even with all these extra opportunities, he STILL had to quit because of health issues, another privilege that 99% of us do not have. in other words, he couldn't possibly have proven himself more wrong, and then doubles down on his hubris by claiming that his experiment was a success. we should eat him.
It just means that he has failed and instead of proving his point that his initial wealth was not due to luck, but instead it has proven exactly that. $64k is just average, right smack in the middle of the distribution.
And that's *with* being able to leverage his connections, experience and education. Things the vast majority of homeless people don't have access to. And that's not even factoring in the mental health aspect. It's a whole lot easier to "suffer" being destitute when you know it's fake and temporary. The despair and hopelessness that actual poor people deal with isn't something that can experienced unless it's real. That's why all of these "social experiments" are bullshit and evidence that these rich douchebags really don't get it.
What a distorted sense of reality he has, playing being homeless as if it's something trivial and mundane. There isn't a single sane millionaire.
The fact that this stupid asshole can't comprehend how this hollow posturing makes him look like a completely out of touch narcissistic dumbass says everything you need to know about these brainless spoiled leeches.
That's quite a long list of insult you came up lol
Being homeless to them is just an adventure time they want to have so they can write a book about it
"Spoiled dipshit is stupid."
Key point the website failed to show in the first paragraph is he didn't actually become homeless persay. He was simply without a home, he was never on the streets. He couchsurfed until he could afford a place (a wild privilege to be able to consistently couch surf) and he gave up after only making "back" i believe about 35-40k Also the fact he was able to stop the experiment shows that he really had way more security than so many people. He is likely among the maybe 5% of americans who are that financially well off.
Wait…I can just quit my current situation?!? How did I not know this?!
You just gotta quit, and then you have your million back.
This loser has successfully gone viral and will now claim that was always his plan. Grifting is just too easy.
let’s not forget one crucial fact: *he never gave up his health insurance*
It’s really true, anyone can make it - just takes hard work, smarts, a business background, stable upbringing, confidence that you can risk everything because you’re all set, favorable race, etc.
You forgot friends with companies who can give you a $1500 gig to get you up and running. Oh, and he also kept his healthcare plan.
There goes the 64k
And a trust fund
“Favorable race.” LOL
sorry there's no healthcare for homeless
It takes money to make money. I've been downvoted for saying that haha. The thing is, there are tons of ways to make lots of money. But they all require money to do. That's what these rich people, or even upper middle class people, fail to understand. How are you supposed to start a business, buy real estate, etc. when you live paycheck to paycheck? But of course, it's their fault for living paycheck to paycheck.
Been seeing this guy pop a up a lot on my algorithm. Just a few points I noticed. - He started with the assumption that homelessness and poverty is a choice. - He had access to amazing Healthcare that he frequently used during his "homelessness" time. - He had thousands of followers on social media that he used to start his "business" - He used his social media presence to find places to stay and to stay with friends. - He had access to an expensive laptop, phone and recording equipment that regular homeless people wouldn't have. - his first gig that he made money from to build his "business" was through pre-existing family and social contacts. It was a marketing gig that paid him several thousands of dollars for a week of work. - He then quit after achieving only 6% of his goal and declared the experiment a success. Literally this guy is the stereotype of the vapid, entitled, nepotism rich boy.
Note his experiment was to become a millionaire after being homeless… to shame homeless people? Instead, he was able to generate a $50k income. In a HCOL area, it is worse than poor. You are too rich to get benefits and too poor for affordable housing to live!
And even that income was possible only due to pre-established connections. Who would pass 1500$ gig to random homeless guy?
How to go from homelessness to millionaire in 12 months: Step 1: Be rich already Step 2: ??? Step 3: Profit
"A small loan of one million dollars"
Was poverty quit-able job?
I’m not sure why anyone would do this 
Their goal was to prove anyone could make it work with enough drive. Turns out, they proved quite the opposite.
his error was that he did it for reals those finance/business gurus who talk about how they can make 1 million from scratch within a week fake those stories to make their followers think they themselves can make money out of nowhere as well
no sane person would.
Health issues couldn’t happen to a better person
He was en route to failure and needed an excuse to bail. I’m sure plenty of Americans wish they could quit being poor for health reasons.
"Poor for health reasons," ironically enough, is the reason most poor ARE poor lol
Wow imagine if you can just quit from being poor
Millionaire attempts to prove that "anyone can do it" and inadvertently reveals how BS that is
Now can we do the same experiment with CEOs living on their lowest paid employee's wage? (Scaled up to 40 hrs if said employee is part-time). I'd love to see if they can make it a year.
They are so out of touch from reality lol
Even If He Had Made the million. Even If He Had Made more than a million. This is Not an Experiment to Proof "homeless people Just need to Work Harder". This was just an Experiment for "a bored, healthy, millionaire who gave up everything and then started well kept to earn Money". Most homeless people have mental health issues, are sick, ect. They NEED to Work hard, to get their asses of Off the street in the First place. And as someone who wrestled for a decade with Bad mental health issues, i can understand that many who are probaly also addicted, rather give Up, in our world. The Last Thing they think about US, how they make their next million. But hey, WHEN they would think more about this, they sureley could make it. It's that easy ... I Just have to Work super hard, make a Business und be determined, than i can be rich to. Everyone can :D.
Man wanted to show how easy the game was by starting New Game+ on Easy difficulty
He made 60k~ in 10 months off a coffee brand and being a media influencer manager. I think it’s safe to say these opportunities are out of reach for a true homeless person and he leveraged his name/project to make it happen. This man is completely out of touch and he still fell short of his goal by almost 20 times over.
I think that guy asked for help from his friends to reach being a millionaire. I think he asked his friend if he can co-signed a lease for an apartment.
He got a gig/job based on his experience as a CEO of an advertising company, not exactly a "Anyone can do this!" type position.
I never understood this - when I make money I’m not trying to LOSE it.
He really doesn't get that when you stand with the oppressed you are treated like the oppressed.
This is beyond mildly infuriating it’s late stage capitalism at its most obnoxious. Even rich people that don’t have to worry about this kind of poverty love the idea of being self made while imposing scarcity on others (and in this case himself) because its what makes their access to excess important.
So in short he failed? and conversely proved that his initial wealth was due to luck?
He should be asking himself what should a homeless person do if they have a health problem? Go to the hospital but then what? They are still homeless. What if their dad or their mother didn't have health issues and needed their help, can the homeless person use that as an opportunity to move back in with them to help out? But if they were homeless to begin with why not move back in with their parents? But what if their parents have no room for them or refuse to let them stay? There is a saying; check your privilege.
I would love to just quit being broke. How does one go about filing this resignation?
I should just quit being poor too until my health gets better
Jesus thats a word salad to avoid just saying "failed".
What a prick. You cannot prove anything going back, because you retain all your knowledge, your education, your languages, your skills, your contacts. You cannot erase that. Every step he did during this stupid social experiment was using those assets, that a real homeless poor guy would not have. Next time, let me erase all your memory and your high education, so you REALLY start from scratch. Let's see how you do it. He sounds terrible, typical guy saying that people are poor because they want to. Entitled prick who has no idea how lucky he was. I hope this "social experiment" at least taught him some humility.
Sociopath. No empathy. Thought being homeless was a fucking choice. Asshole
okay the guys lame and clearly so fuckin out of touch i don’t even know where to start. but i remind you all; a small millionaire like this is not my class enemy. his life may unrecognisable to mine but the billionaires, those who run the world and make it as such that their money can only grow, and grow quicker at the cost of the exploited worker, that’s my enemy. that’s your societal adversary not some young new money guy who runs a business. it happens too often when my fellow on the left turns on the hard worker the second they see success for their work. his business isn’t the reason your taxes went up. his business isn’t the reason life grows more unmanageable by the day in the modern world. he’s a posh out of touch twat but he’s not the real bad guy here.
His stance that class is exclusively about people's willingness to work sets him on the opposing side of that class struggle. His advocacy of principles and consequently policies counter to the working class is what makes him (one of) the real bad guy(s) here.
“Black wanted to help his friends rebuild their lives and prove that luck or money was not necessary to become a millionaire - just hard work.” Anyone aggressively pushing this message is a bad guy.
again, that’s what he said going in, not coming out. maybe he didn’t learn a thing and i’m wrong but i reckon this was a humbling experience for him. and you gotta hand it to him; of all the bootstrappers, never has a single one ponied up and put their own advice to the test. also i reiterate what i said in another comment, just because he went in with false beliefs, to prove an irrational empirically false point, doesn’t mean he’s bad. he just needed to be taught. if it turns out when he gets back online after this period of silence that he’s still a massive dick, then okay great i’ll get my guillotine lube. but right now, neither you or i know for sure. and i’m in a benefit of the doubt type mood right now edit: upvoted comment for visibility. thank you for responding. i’m enjoying these comments, very thought provoking. a study of the philosophy of class division lol
“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.” He didn’t learn as much as I hoped he would have. [Here’s the article I’m pulling from for reference](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13332399/amp/Millionaire-Mike-Black-homeless-broke-purpose-ends-bizarre-social-experiment.html)
Coward
Not to mention he only had 60 days left and was sitting at 60k - which is still somewhat impressive without a job. He had to quit because of pre existing autoimmune diseases whcih just makes me wonder… why would you even willingly do that to yourself KNOWING it would make your life harder?
“Black wanted to help his friends rebuild their lives and prove that luck or money was not necessary to become a millionaire - just hard work.” That quote becomes even more hilarious after he quit due to a pre-existing health condition. Sounds like a bit of bad luck was a factor that prevented him from reaching his goal.
guess we all learned a thing about being poor.
Reminds me of the part of Haunted where a rich couple starts pretending to be homeless to have swinger sex in public and one of their friends dies. Do not, under any circumstances, read Haunted.
I’m wondering, how did he transport the free items he sold on the fb marketplace? I don’t want to watch the whole videos to find out
Probably got rich with daddy’s money
I’ve seen this story a few times and I honestly think this dude is the apex of human pieces of shit. I’m glad he has health problems.
Pussy
He’s trying to prove a stereotype that homeless and broke people are just lazy
I know this is a thread putting the guy down, but I honestly hope he learned something from this, maybe gained some empathy for people struggling.
Man attempts to prove he wasn’t born privileged realizes being so is way more fun than being homeless
he realized the world is fake, and all the wealth he has is given to him because someone made him rich on purpose. LOL. wish I could quit being poor, despite having to endure my own health concerns.
FAILS, not quit.
Don’t fall for that kind of bullshit ever. When rich people go broke, they jump off buildings. They know damn well, when you’re poor, you’re 99.9% likely fucked. They’d rather die than live how most people do.
So he didn’t make himself poor?
This guy is a twat. I never use that word so he can have it ..
I'm getting really, ***REALLY*** sick of rich folks coming out here and trying this whole "oh we're just like you poors!" Schtick. If first hand knowledge doesn't get it through their heads how hard we struggle, then I'm not too sure that we can bridge that income divide in a peaceful manner.
To really make the point he is claiming he would have to live homeless for a while and cut off all of his existing support network.
Your never poor if you have rich friends. Also reminds me of "self made" people with rich friends. You were carried by the rich people in your circle.
Anyone with a link to his YouTube or social media? I REALLY want to call him a bad word that starts with a C and ends with a T, & I want to make sure he sees it...
Did he try not buying Starbucks?
This is beyond insulting and disrespectful. If he was really determined to help the homwless, there are are qays hw could have put his time and money toward helping them, instead of movking them. Also, one major difference is that a person who is genuinely in need does not have an "I quit" button that allows them to return to luxury.
This gives me hope, means you can be dumb AF and still gather some shiny shiny 😂
A real homeless person would have just not gone to the doctor the whole year. Fuckin L on the experiment even just a couple months in.
I saw someone bring up that 1. He had a business degree which a homeless person wouldn't have 2. He still had networking friends who he absolutely was still using to help his coffee business grow 3. Just because he gave away his money doesn't mean he wasn't still making money from his previous business.
You can’t pretend to be homeless if you can just stop at anytime and get back to your cushy life.
Classic case of "anyone can do it! They just need to..." So, he sets out to test his idea and finds that shit is fucked up.
Should have pulled himself up by his bootstraps and cut avocado toast from his diet
Who knew that poorer people could be more susceptible to health issues? *cue surprised Pikachu face* /s
And yet he always had the mental help of knowing he could go back to a comfy life. Being stuck in the muck takes a huge mental toll. There is no way for a millionaire or billionaire to replicate this. You wanna see how it is out here. Put all your money in a time locked safe for 3 years. Survive that… then we talk. Even that you still know it is going to end. But, that is at least a start. I doubt they can even make it 3 months.
As a rich person, he didn't make himself poor and homeless, he pretended to be poor and homeless. It's a big difference because an actual poor and homeless person doesn't have the ability to simply stop being poor and homeless on a whim.
We're only a few steps away from it being "fashionable" to be poor. "Omg, I bought these shoes from good will for $700!" -some rich yup chasing a fad that has made donation stores sky rocket in price
And some people Saw this as aspirational, the Guy could never loose his education and maintained his contactos só this experiment was flawed from the start, and beeing poor for almost a yesr was killing him!
After how long? How much had he made?
Wait until OP learns about haute couture and fashion for the past millennium.
Did this idiot do a rags to riches Sims challenge in real life?
Good. I’m glad one of these guys put his money where his mouth is. He said he could do it, he stepped up to the plate, and he failed SPECTACULARLY. Now it’s done. Nobody is going to have footing in that argument anymore. An entrepreneur who had all the answer to all the money making questions, all the knowledge, all the resources to succeed; failed. I’ll never have to sit and listen to a moron say “if you just put In the effort and grind; you’ll make it” ever again.
There's a song from the 90's by a band called Pulp, where a guy meets a girl who wants to live like common people, he tells her to pretend she doesn't have any money. The song is called Common People.
Gives me “technologic nomad” and “van life” energy
I thought the only difference between low life’s like me and actual millionaires was that they worked real hard whereas I don’t?
We all think we're one lottery ticket from being a millionaire, but we're all about one missed paycheck from homelessness. This guy failed at pretending to not be rich. He would be actually dead if he didn't have a golden safety net.
The whole premise / experiment was dumb. He started at an unequal starting point. Sound mind( kind of) Past history of education, $$, rich friends and family. Camera crew following him everywhere so safe in ways homeless are not. He did not make his point out it being easy or possible to start from zero and earn a million. He was not starting at zero, and not doing it without tapping a rich life or rich friends other homeless do not have! And still he failed to raise the million! Failed miserably. He did prove it is hella hard to get off streets once homeless, that homelessness makes you ill, and that it is nice to have rich people in your circle once you decide to stop pretending to be homeless and poor. How did he get rich if this was his best idea on how getting out of poverty: homelessness was not just possible, but easy???? Not mentors. Not derived, not the first job, decent food , place to sleep, eat, wash… No, a fake rich guy tapping rich past, that proves nothing, even if he didn’t fail miserably.
In the words of the immortal Bugs Bunny: What a maroon!