....Avoiding long-term poverty is not rocket science. First, graduate from high school. Second, get married before you have children, and stay married. Third, work at any kind of job, even one that starts out paying the minimum wage. And, finally, avoid engaging in criminal behavior. If you graduate from high school today with a B or C average, in most places in our country there's a low-cost or financially assisted post-high-school education program available to increase your skills...
--Walter Williams
Makes sense to me! I'll bet that most people that find themselves "poor" have missed the mark on at least one of these items... (the only thing I would add to this list would be spending beyond your means...)
Can we say---"repercussions"?
__________________
__________________
"A society that puts equality ... ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom."
A little more from the same article.... (written in 2005)
Quote:
.....Most jobs start with wages higher than the minimum wage, which is currently $5.15. A man and his wife, even earning the minimum wage, would earn $21,000 annually. According to the Bureau of Census, in 2003, the poverty threshold for one person was $9,393, for a two-person household it was $12,015, and for a family of four it was $18,810. Taking a minimum-wage job is no great shakes, but it produces an income higher than the Bureau of Census' poverty threshold. Plus, having a job in the first place increases one's prospects for a better job....
That guy is an idiot. Very few minimum wage jobs come with health insurance. One illness will wipe out all of a family's money. What if they have a handicapped child? Not everyone can escape poverty. If both work, what about children and paying for child care. Child care, for one child, will cost more than one person's income on minimum wage.
That guy is an idiot. Very few minimum wage jobs come with health insurance. One illness will wipe out all of a family's money. What if they have a handicapped child? Not everyone can escape poverty. If both work, what about children and paying for child care. Child care, for one child, will cost more than one person's income on minimum wage.
Okay, you are calling Walter Williams an idiot? Do you know anything about him? Did you read the rest of the article? So, are you saying that his statement doesn't apply to MOST situations? So you think that almost all poor people have suffered an injury w/no insurance or have a handicapped child?
Oh, right.... Most people are victims of circumstance and repercussions for their own actions is the rarity...
Oh, and Walter Williams is most certainly NOT an idiot.
__________________
"A society that puts equality ... ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom."
The statements he made are wrong. Two people on minimum wage can barely pay rent and eat, no way to buy a car and pay insurance so they can go to work. This man knows nothing about the poor.
The statements he made are wrong. Two people on minimum wage can barely pay rent and eat, no way to buy a car and pay insurance so they can go to work. This man knows nothing about the poor.
If you are referring to a new car (that many people THINK they are entitled to) then you are correct.
You are talking about a gentleman that grew up in a single parent household in the projects of Philidelphia.
So are you saying that people who don't quit school (try to further their education), don't have children out of wedlock, don't engage in criminal activity, and HONESTLY look for work is still likely to end up poor? Somehow I doubt it.
I believe that in MOST CASES (not ALL) poverty can be traced beck to one of these decisions that will be detrimental to success.
__________________
"A society that puts equality ... ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom."
I drive a 500 dollar truck. Farm with 30 plus year old equipment. I don't have cable or big screen TV. In fact I don't spend much time watching TV. I didn't buy a 300 thousand dollar house. Instead I bought 300 thousand in crop land.
I got started down this road with a 35 dollar a day job. Learned how to do the work and used that knowledge to start my own business. I worked 18 hours a day 7 days a week to get where I am. The wife did too for the first 15 years. Until the land is paid for I will continue to struggle. I have 12 years to go on my note.
I started out with nothing...we lived in my grandmothers chicken house and paid our own bills. Don't try and tell me it can't be done. It's hard work...you do with out fancy stuff but you can do it. I could win the lotto tomorrow and I might buy more land to farm but I would still drive that old truck. I might get some new tires though.
No one else can be wise for you with the opportunities life brings for you...what you get from life is up to you. All a hand out will ever get you is what someone else decides it will. You want more then that out of life you have to earn it. Crying about how much more someone else has will not help you. Luck has very little to do with it. Deal with it.
I think those prerequisites are pretty spot on, but there are many variables that come into play as well. Your environment pays a huge role IMO. You have heard the old saying(s) 'Its hard to soar with the eagles when you are surrounded by a bunch of turkeys'
The company you keep plays a HUGE role in your level of success.
My family is a classic example - most of them have been 'poor' for several generations. Why? They obviously missed one or two of those bullet points, HOWEVER, even some of those who nailed them spot are are still 'in the poor house'. Why?
Because they still surround themselves with the d-bags that are 'poor' and moreso - poor decision makers. You marry a d-bag spouse? - chances are you will be poor. You choose to stick around your d-bag family? - Chances are you will be poor. The common denominator - same bad decision making folk and misery loves company. I think my dad put it best - "They will drag you down to their level much more quickly than you will will be able to bring them to yours"
I say this from firsthand experience, as I have pretty much hit all of the prereq's.
I graduated from HS, dont exibit criminal behaviors, married for a LONG time (with a kid) and have been gainfully employed.
The difference is - I moved far far away from MY d-bag situation.
I married (successful) a woman who (at times can be a royal pain) but she is straight as an arrow and knows what she wants and how to get it.
Oh yeah, and I also learned a long time ago that you have to 'play the game' to a certain extent. Sure being pissed off at this and that and wanting to be 'a rebel' (in some facet) is totally acceptable, but wearing long hair or outrageous crap that will draw (sometimes unwanted) attention to yourself will shoot you in the foot more often than not.
.............
It's hard work...you do with out fancy stuff but you can do it. ......
No one else can be wise for you with the opportunities life brings for you...what you get from life is up to you. .....
Luck has very little to do with it. Deal with it.
This. I don't have cable either, nor car payment, nor credit cards. My vehicles have always been paid for and yes, my first car was about $600. When I moved out of the house, I lived in some junky apartment with a $300 rent payment. Had I decided I wanted a "nicer apartment" and paid more, then I probably wouldn't be where i am today. I could have gotten car payments, not put any money away and hoped I would be "lucky" and things would turn out well..... Or, do what I did.
__________________
__________________
"A society that puts equality ... ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom."
Linear Mode
