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Old 08-06-2014, 07:26 AM
 
2,441 posts, read 2,599,204 times
Reputation: 4644

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Quote:
Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE View Post
Lets talk true rags to riches stories then.

J.K. Rowling. She wrote a book while living in a small place on welfare. That book went on to become the Harry Potter franchise. Ms Rowling is a billionaire now.

Richard Branson of the Virgin brand. He might have been born into a nice family but he ended up poor and working out his own way to make money.

Chris Gardner started life with a bad family situation. He ended up leaving home and eventually joined the Navy. He got married had a son and started selling medical supplies. That went south and his marriage ended. He was raising his son on the streets and found that stock brokers made good money. Using his son as an inspiration he was able to get his license to sell stocks. You may have seen the movie about him starring Will Smith.

H. Wayne Huizenga was in a home that had an abusive father for a parent. His situation was not very good in life. After a stint in the Army he ended up finding a truck and started hauling trash. That eventually became Waste Management. He also used the money he made to purchase a small chain of video stores called Blockbuster. He grew that business and merged it into another company he started called Viacom. Something about Wayne is he is a master of getting out of a deal. He had sold all of his holdings in Blockbuster long before the company failed.

Jim Carrey was a kid that had to work an 8 hour day while attending school just so he could help his family have the money to live in a camper. All of them that could worked for little of nothing. He ended up dropping out of school and was able to get a side job doing stand up. It did very well for him.

This list can go on and on about people that did what they needed to do to get out of poverty.
Those people had extraordinary talents. JK Rowling and Richard Branson grew up in a country with a welfare system, they don't support your argument. Your next two guys used the Army and Navy as substitute welfare.

But, by all means, if you think most McDonalds workers could write Harry Potter or do standup, go and ask them why they're not.
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Old 08-06-2014, 07:30 AM
 
Location: San Diego
50,160 posts, read 46,820,657 times
Reputation: 33988
Quote:
Originally Posted by WildColonialGirl View Post
Those people had extraordinary talents. JK Rowling and Richard Branson grew up in a country with a welfare system, they don't support your argument. Your next two guys used the Army and Navy as substitute welfare.

But, by all means, if you think most McDonalds workers could write Harry Potter or do standup, go and ask them why they're not.
Substitute welfare? Do other forms of welfare have that high a risk factor? I worked at Jack in the Box for many years and never ran over an IED or been shot at by a sniper.
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Old 08-06-2014, 07:33 AM
 
Location: San Diego
50,160 posts, read 46,820,657 times
Reputation: 33988
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest View Post
I don't know whether you're familiar with how financial aid works. It's 6 years of od enrollment. So if you're enrolled full time, then it is 6 years. If you are enrolled part time, it can take up to 12 years to reach the 150% cap.

Assuming you were in financial need, you could have stopped working and went full time off of grants and loans to finish faster and get into the workforce sooner.

I don't really understand how students get an education part time while working full time.
That was me. I worked full time going to school part time. 10 years worth and no student loans. My friends were partying while I was on campus.
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Old 08-06-2014, 08:03 AM
 
24,488 posts, read 41,065,671 times
Reputation: 12919
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer View Post
That was me. I worked full time going to school part time. 10 years worth and no student loans. My friends were partying while I was on campus.
I guess the advantage of going for such a long period is that you have much more opportunities to publish papers. I just can't imagine how you focus on the education (research, conference, writing, etc) when you have to spend so much time at work.

My solution to graduating workout debt was to go to a school that provides generous scholarships and grants. In fact, my school substitutes federal loans with grants if you need financial aid.
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Old 08-06-2014, 08:39 AM
 
Location: Living on the Coast in Oxnard CA
16,289 posts, read 32,273,106 times
Reputation: 21891
Quote:
Originally Posted by jerseygal4u View Post
Wait a minute,i thought marriage was the answer to getting out of poverty.

Since nobody answered mtyquestion,i will ask it again.

How does marriage elevate one from poverty to at least lower middle class?
I don't think that any one can guarantee any results. What we can do is look to statistics and you will find a majority of couples that worked together to get out of poverty and join the middle class.
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Old 08-06-2014, 08:59 AM
 
Location: Living on the Coast in Oxnard CA
16,289 posts, read 32,273,106 times
Reputation: 21891
Quote:
Originally Posted by Storm Eagle View Post
How does a few people getting out of poverty prove anyone can? Why don' t you tell us about all the people who did not get out of poverty?
But anyone can get out of poverty. It is a choice where you live and how you live. No one is holding anyone in the grasp of poverty. We do not live in that kind of nation. You will not find a cast system here in the United States. This really is the greatest nation on earth. About the only thing that would leave anyone in poverty is the choices that they make. How long did it take this woman that works at McDonalds to realize she can not afford on her income to raise 4 kids? When she had kid #1 she should have realized that she had made a choice that was keeping her bound for a time to a low wage job just because she has the need to survive. At that time she should have realized that McDonalds and taking care of a new baby would not cut it. Other jobs or fields are out there that will pay the bills. Opportunities to go to school and yes those opportunities are everywhere especially for someone with not a lot of money.

The top cause of poverty in the United States that I have seen is lack of discipline. Being born into it is not a reason to keep someone in that position. Too many people, and not just the few that I mentioned have left poverty and entered the middle class. It happens all the time. My wife's family is a big example. They came here from Mexico as field workers. They came here legally. All of them became citizens of the United States. My wife's grand parents worked and had the older kids work to put the younger kids thru school. They did not accept a handout or help from this new nation of theirs. My mother in law was one of 12 kids. It took some time, more than a decade for all of them to leave poverty and enjoy the blessings that come from living in the United States. It was hard work. Some of them started business's of their own. Others are working in fields that pay well. All of the family became home owners. My wife and her cousins are mostly all home owners. It is an amazing story of discipline and hard work to leave poverty and enter the middle class. That same story can be told time and time again.
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Old 08-06-2014, 09:00 AM
 
Location: Living on the Coast in Oxnard CA
16,289 posts, read 32,273,106 times
Reputation: 21891
Quote:
Originally Posted by freemkt View Post
I was all geared up to take the Series 7 exam after reading your post (to prove I could pass it), then I did some research and learned a brokerage firm would have to hire me before I could sign up for it.
And what is the problem with that?
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Old 08-06-2014, 09:03 AM
 
Location: Living on the Coast in Oxnard CA
16,289 posts, read 32,273,106 times
Reputation: 21891
Quote:
Originally Posted by WildColonialGirl View Post
Those people had extraordinary talents. JK Rowling and Richard Branson grew up in a country with a welfare system, they don't support your argument. Your next two guys used the Army and Navy as substitute welfare.

But, by all means, if you think most McDonalds workers could write Harry Potter or do standup, go and ask them why they're not.
Yes those are extreme examples and last I heard we have a welfare system here. Besides that no one is keeping any McDonalds employees from joining the service. Look to millions of other examples of people that left poverty and joined the middle class. It happens all the time. My examples stay because anyone that wants to can succeed in this nation.
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Old 08-06-2014, 09:32 AM
 
Location: St Louis, MO
4,677 posts, read 5,752,784 times
Reputation: 2981
Quote:
Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE View Post
Yes those are extreme examples and last I heard we have a welfare system here. Besides that no one is keeping any McDonalds employees from joining the service. Look to millions of other examples of people that left poverty and joined the middle class. It happens all the time. My examples stay because anyone that wants to can succeed in this nation.
What you are implying is that these people succeeded purely because of hard work.
That there was no luck, no unusual merits and no unusual advantages involved in the success of these people.
That a person with no lucky break, no exceptional talents, and no socioeconomic advantages will succeed purely through their hard work. That is why people keep pointing out that each and every one of your examples involves some exceptional talent, lucky break, or pre-existing socioeconomic advantage. You cannot and will not succeed from hard work alone, and anyone selling that story is making money off the hard work of others.
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Old 08-06-2014, 09:47 AM
 
Location: San Diego
50,160 posts, read 46,820,657 times
Reputation: 33988
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest View Post
I guess the advantage of going for such a long period is that you have much more opportunities to publish papers. I just can't imagine how you focus on the education (research, conference, writing, etc) when you have to spend so much time at work.

My solution to graduating workout debt was to go to a school that provides generous scholarships and grants. In fact, my school substitutes federal loans with grants if you need financial aid.
I did have some scholarships and grants but it just wasn't enough. What did help was my job allowed me time to study after I got my work done for the day which was typically a few hours if I really hammered it out. Mostly computer related tasks plus some programming.

Which is ironic because I'm still programming at the same place and I thought I'd be in something to do with Science now.
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