Are Those in Poverty Really Responsible for It?
by Describes common beliefs about poverty and the facts that prove otherwise.
Poor people are just lazy and lack willpower.
If anything poor people work harder than the rich. They have to earn every morsel of food that their family will consume, every article of clothing etc. Of course more wealthy people do as well, but the poor do not have an abundance and every piece counts.Those who are at or below the poverty level usually end up with the hardest manual labor jobs and worst working conditions. They often work as much overtime as possible to make ends meat. My mother worked very hard when I was a kid. She would work two to even three jobs at a time to keep us fed. She desperately wanted to open her own business, she always has. She took night classes on top of working in hopes of earning a degree to better our circumstances. She had to stop her classes though due to lack of finances. She had the willpower and the dream, but not the way. There are hundreds of more stories like this that expand across our nation. It is the home of the brave, land of the free. Some may be brave but our freedom has a higher price tag on it that expands across just the war in Iraq; it is right here on the homeland. It is here with the citizens, it is the war of poverty.
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Post CommentSergeant
On July 13, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Generally speaking, The poor keep doing things which keep them poor while the rich keep doing things to make them rich.
Take a million dollar lottery winner for example. The formerly poor person was used to spending all his income on both neccessity and non-essentials and end up in worse financial shape than before he aquired his riches.
Then there\’s the rich who loose everything, go deep into debt only to rise again and do very well for themselves.
I think my case is fairly common.
I had no formal education and no means to aquire one. I was living paycheck to paycheck with few non-essentials. I love our 3 kids but financially would have been our ruin. I studied computers and software technology ****on my own**** using library and other borrowed books and bought a (barely) working 15 year old computer from GoodWill to work on.
I studdied my fingers off while my wife scoured daily employment want-ads. After 3 years she finally found an advertisement for someone with my newly-trained skills. I went in, passed their pre-employment test. I was hired at a wage better than my two previous full-time jobs combined, and more than trippled after 5 years.
Me? I\’m still not \”Rich\” but I\’m an example of someone formerly deep in the mire of poverty who pulled himself and his family out of it.
Like I said, the poor keep doing things which make them poor.
Over 10 years we took our new found wealth and spent more than we took in and ended up deep in debt. Still employed but financially ruined. We filed bankruptsy two years ago and have been following a payment plan and will finish late next year.
Me and my family learned the hard way how not to stay poor.
The war on poverty is a loosing battle.
There will always be the poor, whether self-inflicted or by unfortunate circumstance.
Freedom is not the aquisation of wealth.
Freedom is the right to persue your personal happiness without interference from an overbearing, oppressive government or individual.
That includes confiscation of your wealth to give to another.
Redburn
On July 31, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Success is really something very tough. Believe it or not, just look at the faces of any sport champion while he is competing, I have never ever seen a smily face.
serowa
On November 16, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Great write and very accurate. The facts you have raised are the ones used to oppress the poor. Instead of giving them hope they are stigmatised to feel useless.