Re: Why the Poor are Mostly Deserving of their Fate

[tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)]

At 10:32 PM 5/18/96, Sean Gabb wrote:
>On Sat, 18 May 1996, Duncan Frissell wrote:
>
>> It was understandable to be poor when all the world was poor.  It is
>> understandable to be poor in those nations today that make the
>> accumulation of wealth a crime for most people.  It is not understandable
>> to be poor (for long) in the US where one can reliably get out of poverty
>> simply by doing three simple things:
>>
>> 1) get a high school diploma
>> 2) get married
>> 3) get any job
>>
>> Only about 2 tenths of 1% of those who satisfy those three requirements
>> incomes below the official poverty line.

>I've done all these things - and rather more in the way of education.  But
>while I don't fall on or near the poverty line, I'm still poor as a church
>mouse.  What am I doing wrong?


* Point Number One: Sean Gabb <cea01sig@gold.ac.uk>
                                                ^^
* Point Number Two:"...not understandable to be poor (for long) in the US"
                                                                       ^^
Q.E.D.


Actually, I think Duncan's "high school + marriage + any job" point is a
bit simplistic, and I'm surprised about the ".02%" estimate. As someone
else noted, there are a lot of folks in the rural South, Appalachia, and
other places, who graduated from high school, are still married, and have
some sort of job, and yet who make $6-8 an hour or less.

I think more is needed. I would have added "savings/investment" and "hard work."

Those who can force themselves to set money aside for investment get the
compounded returns later on. And of course hard work--including taking a
second job, having the extended family work, etc.--is also key.

(Many immigrant Asians arrive penniless in the U.S., then get help from
immigrant Asian who arrived earlier, live in crowded houses and apartments,
have 4-6 wage-earners in a household, save as much as they can, and then
open a small business. Success is almost inevitable. Hence the cycle
continues. This tradition of the various Asian subcultures is almost
completely lacking in certain other subcultures in America. More's the
pity.)


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