Nice thread!
I still see that people who are poor get blamed for being poor.
It like, somehow, some way, everything you get in life is because you earn it. WRONG
Sometimes you make the 'right' choices and end up on welfare still. Sometime you make the wrong choices and need help to make the right ones.
Between the originator of this thread and some of the comments agreeing with it, you are basically are saying that there is enough money, good jobs, food, homes, clothes to go around. If your poor then too bad. Just work harder and smarter.
This is very similar to telling a school student you should get A's WHEN the very system that you can get A's in is generally set up so that only a few should get A's, more get B's and the average get C's. Your a loser if you get anything lower, but guess what? SOMEONE has to be the loser. Someone has to be the one who does not get the job, does not get the opportunities... Cell it the Bell Curve of life (actual term 'Bell Curve").
For Example Brad could have been on welfare right now if his business failed. Sir Peter Maxwell would have been going to soup kitchens because of a few poor choices and lack of help getting back on his feet.
Blame the welfare Mom for getting 'material things' when we live in a society of material things ALL DAY everyday. Yes she 'could' have gone to a community college... but she is a loser at education (seems to get D's and F's)... ok, how about a certificate in something? CDL license, data entry, security, child care, foster care... maybe I will give you that... not much of a future but maybe she can earn more than what she earns now.
In the end, she still is poor.
But the Mom buys toys and gifts and has a 'normal' lifestyle. Probably something she will never see.
2000 doesn't buy long term anything. You might be able to get a better job, but in order to get paid more, you have to BEAT OUT ALL THE OTHER poor people to get the position of manager.
Me? If I had that money, I would put it toward starting my business (or is that a mistake?) go back to school for a class (because it costs a lot), buy food, get clothes (something I haven't done in 2 years) and continue to look for work.
MY loser move that made me poor?
Had social anxiety
Was with an unstable girlfriend who took more than gave.
Worked for an employer who cares less about the safety of its employees AND the public its entrusted to protect
End up in legal battle just to get unemployment.
Most of the argument here are half truths. There is no 'simple' way to put it. They are losers? So your winners? Life is just that simple, why can't they get it? Everybody gets a piece of the pie I guess, right? No reason why someone can be poor. Just a group of bad decisions, why should I pay for it? Their stupid! Everyone in any country can be well off!!!! Its so simple! Just work hard!
Not that simple. Life is not welfare, nor life styles of the rich and famous. Its all the grey in between. This is why I love programs like WORKfare, Poor Business school, certificate training, skill training, WorkForce USA (mixture of training and DIRECT job connections) and WIBO.org (help small businesses to survive).
Instead of talking about how poor people are losers in a world or winner like yourself, why not come up with REAL programs to help the 'losers' to help themselves? Guess what? Its still going to come out of your pocket.
the main reason why their is govt help for poor is because if they don't, crime increases, health in neighborhood plummets, disease consumes, babies are born (because sex becomes the guilty pleasure), the countries work force shrinks due to less educated, stable, healthy individuals, next generation lost to social cycle, education takes a back seat, disease spreads faster in poor neighborhoods
Just human nature. we are social people and are, in allot of ways, products of our environments. Poor people tend to lack of hope, fall into drug/crime, live in drug/crime infested communities (hey, the lady could have kept the money and really provided a future for herself and her kids), and tend to rear the same like-minded children because of the environment. But they are losers so... besides how does that effect me anyway? (Read the above in bold)
Maybe, just maybe, if I was class valedictorian, I would be ok.... (one liner!!!)