Re: Why the Poor are Mostly Deserving of their Fate

[Sean Gabb <cea01sig@gold.ac.uk>]

On Sun, 19 May 1996, Timothy C. May wrote:

> 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.

Ah, fair point.  England is not exactly a land of opportunity.  If it
were, there wouldn't be an America.  Perhaps my Irish ancestors should
have gone west rather than east.

Sean Gabb.

> 
> 
> 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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> ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
> Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
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> 
> 
> 
> 
>