This is a great article. A lot of people today just want to blame society or "systematic racism" for their short comings, thinking that gives them an excuse not to commit to anything in life or to change a system that has worked for decades. It's up to you to determine how far you go in life to be happy, successful, rich, etc. No one else can do it but you to find help, knowledge, whatever you need to get to where you want to be.
I was in a conversation on another forum where I said that in America, most people who are poor are poor because they make bad decisions. Like some of the things listed here -- bad budgeting, not finishing school, etc. I was immediately met with a storm of "rebuttals" that said I was insulting the poor, blaming the victim, and so on. They insisted that people are poor because of circumstances beyond their control and there's absolutely nothing they can do about it. I replied that this is why many people are poor and remain poor. Because instead of fixing the things that they are doing wrong, they blame "society" and give up in despair.
RE #3: The problem is that, yes, people warn you, but many people, especially young people, ignore the warnings. I once tried to talk a teenager out of quitting high school. I warned her that without a diploma, she'd be unable to get a good job. She replied that lots of her friends had dropped out of school and now had jobs at McDonalds, and they now had big houses and fancy cars. I told her I found this ... unlikely. (Maybe she had one friend with a minimum wage job living high because his parents were supporting him or some such.)
I've had so many of these conversations where I say, "If you do X then Y will happen", and the other person says, "What? No! That's crazy! Why would Y happen just because I do X? You just don't want me to have any fun." Then they do X and Y happens, and they say, "Wow, whoever could have predicted this?"
RE #1: My wife (now my ex-wife) used to complain that the cars I was able to afford to buy us when we were in our early 20s weren't good enough. At one point she said, "My father was always able to provide our family with a good reliable car!" Fed up I replied, "So because when your father was in his 40s he was able to afford one good reliable car, therefore when I'm in my 20s I should be able to afford two?" (Now that I think about it, that actually shut her up. That may be one of the few times I actually won an argument.)
A very shallow analysis that includes no consideration of how US society is structured and stratified. Lifting oneself by one’s own bootstraps is useless advice. One can use the bootstrap to get the boot on the foot. After that, the bootstrap has no further functionality. Success in our American society involves far more than individual efforts. The cooperation of others, the ability to navigate institutional processes, and understanding power relationships and their management are among the factors of success.
Something else to consider: Be mindful of the difference between true poverty, and a poor but simple life based upon self reliance and making do. Usually the latter is associated with smaller, more rural communities, but I have seen it (rarely) in city environments. People who are poor, but self reliant are an often unnoticed demographic. My grandparents would be considered poor nowadays, but they taught their kids and grandkids hard work, honest living and ingenuity. Grandpa could fix just about anything, was a top notch gardener, and made just about the best hotcakes in the world.
This is what we should be teaching minority children. Not how to protest and get student loans. Until schools stop teaching climate change, CRT and "you can pick your gender". And start teaching how to access the freedoms and opportunities this country provides it won't change the victim mentality.
Nice to see your enthusiastic post about what people think of as the AOC Way.
I wonder what you think, though, about the effect of young engineers starting out their careers $160,000 in debt. Do you think it might help American manufacturing move to countries where poor kids can get an engineering degree much cheaper than that?
This is a great article. A lot of people today just want to blame society or "systematic racism" for their short comings, thinking that gives them an excuse not to commit to anything in life or to change a system that has worked for decades. It's up to you to determine how far you go in life to be happy, successful, rich, etc. No one else can do it but you to find help, knowledge, whatever you need to get to where you want to be.
Missing from this list is "Mental Health Issues". I contend it should be #1 reason
Super wisdom for the super-busy. Thank you
I was in a conversation on another forum where I said that in America, most people who are poor are poor because they make bad decisions. Like some of the things listed here -- bad budgeting, not finishing school, etc. I was immediately met with a storm of "rebuttals" that said I was insulting the poor, blaming the victim, and so on. They insisted that people are poor because of circumstances beyond their control and there's absolutely nothing they can do about it. I replied that this is why many people are poor and remain poor. Because instead of fixing the things that they are doing wrong, they blame "society" and give up in despair.
RE #3: The problem is that, yes, people warn you, but many people, especially young people, ignore the warnings. I once tried to talk a teenager out of quitting high school. I warned her that without a diploma, she'd be unable to get a good job. She replied that lots of her friends had dropped out of school and now had jobs at McDonalds, and they now had big houses and fancy cars. I told her I found this ... unlikely. (Maybe she had one friend with a minimum wage job living high because his parents were supporting him or some such.)
I've had so many of these conversations where I say, "If you do X then Y will happen", and the other person says, "What? No! That's crazy! Why would Y happen just because I do X? You just don't want me to have any fun." Then they do X and Y happens, and they say, "Wow, whoever could have predicted this?"
RE #1: My wife (now my ex-wife) used to complain that the cars I was able to afford to buy us when we were in our early 20s weren't good enough. At one point she said, "My father was always able to provide our family with a good reliable car!" Fed up I replied, "So because when your father was in his 40s he was able to afford one good reliable car, therefore when I'm in my 20s I should be able to afford two?" (Now that I think about it, that actually shut her up. That may be one of the few times I actually won an argument.)
A very shallow analysis that includes no consideration of how US society is structured and stratified. Lifting oneself by one’s own bootstraps is useless advice. One can use the bootstrap to get the boot on the foot. After that, the bootstrap has no further functionality. Success in our American society involves far more than individual efforts. The cooperation of others, the ability to navigate institutional processes, and understanding power relationships and their management are among the factors of success.
Excellent article that all millennials and “entitled” people should have to read, maybe more than once.
Something else to consider: Be mindful of the difference between true poverty, and a poor but simple life based upon self reliance and making do. Usually the latter is associated with smaller, more rural communities, but I have seen it (rarely) in city environments. People who are poor, but self reliant are an often unnoticed demographic. My grandparents would be considered poor nowadays, but they taught their kids and grandkids hard work, honest living and ingenuity. Grandpa could fix just about anything, was a top notch gardener, and made just about the best hotcakes in the world.
This is what we should be teaching minority children. Not how to protest and get student loans. Until schools stop teaching climate change, CRT and "you can pick your gender". And start teaching how to access the freedoms and opportunities this country provides it won't change the victim mentality.
John,
Nice to see your enthusiastic post about what people think of as the AOC Way.
I wonder what you think, though, about the effect of young engineers starting out their careers $160,000 in debt. Do you think it might help American manufacturing move to countries where poor kids can get an engineering degree much cheaper than that?