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.