Approximately 62% Of Americans Have Less Than $1,000 in their savings Accounts And 21% Don’t Even Have A Savings Account (NAFTA, holidays)
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IMO, many parents stopped teaching common sense and manner back in the 70's. They depend on the schools to teach life skills to their kids.
I have also done a few experiments thought the years. I tried it on 6 groups of kids. One took me up. He cut my grass and weeded until he went off to college. Then his little brother took over. I offered some neighborhood kids 10$ an hour to weed my flower beds. They turned me down. I told them how they could turn weeding into a certain revenue stream for as long as they wanted. Gave them a list of folks who would pay them every month. They wouldn't bend over for an hour while talking on the phone or visiting with their friends for 10 bucks an hour. If they went off to college, majored in art history while borrowing their expenses, IMO, to hell with them. My money is on the kids who want to work. That kid who cut my grass probably has his money in a fidelity or vanguard fund in his momma' name.
I don't get it? Why is that a concern for you? I don't mean to get off topic but we give welfare to corporations who own private jets and pay themselves millions. Last I checked a lot of people on food stamps for example are people who have paid taxes and paid into that system and most are working. How is this robbing the system or other theories which is a common theme for some? I never understood this logic. Last I checked most of the programs are income based. I'm not saying some people don't abuse the system, they do. But the problem with our country isn't a moral one as much as a thinking error. Too much double speak in somes people's speech. On one hand we want people off welfare but then justify and rationalize low wage pay. Our society makes even community college expensive. Last I checked my community college was 20k+ just for a two year degree. Sorry for rant.
Because if they are on public assistance to LIVE then they shouldn't have a luxury. Hell I don't have an iPhone. My phone is several years old and bought used because that's the sound financial way of doing it.
Low wage pay and off welfare aren't quite the same. Low wage pay is endemic of people who fail to do anything but the minimum and/or make very poor choices in school and careers. Welfare is an ingrained response by elected officials to buy more votes at the cost of the government largess. Welfare is not a matter of "help" when you have multi-generational welfare families, it's a symptom of the problem of government willing to make it so comfortable to be on welfare that people don't bother getting off of it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mlassoff
That's strange... I find that the great "people-mover of life" (I like that!) favors some over others. I went to one of the top public high schools in the US. That was followed by a top public university with a top 10 computer science program. My dad was an executive at a venture capital firm and paid for my college education by check. When I came out of college I leveraged my dad's connections for a job at a Fortune 500 company. Even today, I leverage the network I have built through the town I grew up to build my current businesses as an entrepreneur.
I work hard. So does the minimum wage worker, working two jobs.
I live in a beautiful 4 bedroom contemporary home on 3 acres in Connecticut with my partner. I know of families who have 3 kids and a two bedroom apartment. We have two cars and a boat. Others have to travel by public bus....
I have to say that I had some good favor and it certainly was easier for me to achieve success than a kid who grew up in poverty, surround by crime in Bridgeport, CT.
It's not as simple as making bad choices. You have to acknowledge that.
On the other hand, despite the situation you are born in to, in the end you ARE responsible for your choices-- but the path is by no means equal.
Your speaking of multi-generational social ladder climbing.
Families can have the drive for their kids to do better then themselves AND APPLY THAT which leads to their kids climbing the social ladder higher then the parents. So mom and dad decide junior needs to be better, one takes night classes while the other gets a second job or works overtime. They are both worn out but now the educated person grabs a white collar well-paying job and the other goes to school and repeats the cycle. They in turn ensure that Junior does their home work and gets an education with college aspirations. Junior now starts college when he/she is 18 and not 30. My parents followed this same example, except dad never went to college and just pulled 6x 12 hour shifts a week with an hour to an hour and a half commute each way.
As far as the individual: the individual chooses whether they will study, go to school, go to college. I know more kids born with silver spoons living off mom and dad in their 30's then people like myself who grew up poor. The difference was my parents standards and my drive to not need to go through what they did.
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Originally Posted by Oahulife
Huh? So the major wealth and income separation in our country is because of bad choices? So 80% of our country who owns like 20% of the resources in our country are there because they are lazy etc etc? Ok again I'm sorry if I'm going off topic. I can never understand this logic. It's like saying only the white race has the virtues of hard work and good morals because they own most of the worlds wealth. This is a logic error.
Whats stopping you from getting more resources? How many patents do you have? How many business' have you started? How many ideas have you sold to companies? Have you gone back to school to get another degree or pursue another field of study or get another certification?
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Originally Posted by freemkt
Many people do the above and are poor. What's your point?
They do? Take any person, put them through school, get a degree worth a damn, get a job that you perform well at and you will succeed. There is no person flipping coins saying "that guy isn't going any where".
Quote:
Originally Posted by InformedConsent
Then they're NOT doing the exact same thing.
Look, it isn't easy. I know. Been there; done that. My husband and I started out so dirt poor that all we could afford to rent was an apartment in a building that flooded every time we got more than a couple inches of rain in a month (it was next to a creek), and never heated above 59 degrees in the cold Chicago winters. Suffice it to say we worked hard and earned enough to put 2 kids through very highly-ranked state universities (one through grad school, as well), and we've retired early.
It CAN be done. MANY have done it. It takes a LOT of work, sacrifice, delayed gratification, living BELOW one's means, and saving/investing for the future.
That would require sacrifice and hard work. Two things that the "gimmie" generation has a hard time comprehending.
IMO, many parents stopped teaching common sense and manner back in the 70's. They depend on the schools to teach life skills to their kids.
I have also done a few experiments thought the years. I tried it on 6 groups of kids. One took me up. He cut my grass and weeded until he went off to college. Then his little brother took over. I offered some neighborhood kids 10$ an hour to weed my flower beds. They turned me down. I told them how they could turn weeding into a certain revenue stream for as long as they wanted. Gave them a list of folks who would pay them every month. They wouldn't bend over for an hour while talking on the phone or visiting with their friends for 10 bucks an hour. If they went off to college, majored in art history while borrowing their expenses, IMO, to hell with them. My money is on the kids who want to work. That kid who cut my grass probably has his money in a fidelity or vanguard fund in his momma' name.
Why would those kids pull weeds for $10 per hour when they could make $65K per year cleaning houses?
These people all made bad choices early on. Beginning in their teens with their education, job skills and finally the clincher; having kids when they couldn't afford them.
The great "people-mover" of life doesn't favor anyone, and it's the same length for everyone.
You have only a few chances to get it right by the time you're 40. Soon after, the job market and mother nature works against us all.
The real problem is that we now have a generation of people who are convinced that if they slack-off in life, society will write them a check out of compassion.
It had nothing to do with bad choices. Before the recession of 2007, I think most did very well. But many lost their jobs and went through their retirement savings in order to survive. I can't tell you how many seniors I see working at grocery stores and other retail places these days.
For me it indicates that the American dream is basically dead or am I wrong. Also who do you blame government polices, the irresponsiblity of the American people or both.
Both. Our capitalist society to designed to encourage Americans to consume, consume, consume; always with a jealous, envious eye on 'keeping up with the Jonses'. And simultaneously discouraging them to save money (just look at the ridiculously low interest rates that banks offer for savings accounts). Many schools do not teach kids how to handle their money or how to be smart shopper. These are the life skills people need to learn.
The American Dream is alive but people need to teach themselves how to handle their money; how to budget and invest their money; and how NOT to be hyperconsumerists, always falling the latest fashion fad or gadget. Being in debt used to a shameful thing, and using credit cards was a last resort, but not anymore. Now, people think nothing of carrying $5,000–$25,000 debt, year to year, in credit cards alone.
Have you noticed the number of poor people willing to spend their hard-earned $300 on street-cred sneakers or fancy pocketbooks? Brand companies specifically target the working- and middle-classes with silly high-end items they can least afford because they know the power of peer pressure will compel them to buy things they can't afford and really don't need.
Think about that the next time you're tempted to drop $500 on an ugly Coach handbag that will be out of style within the year. Rich people — the real rich people, not the middle-class wannabes — don't carry Coach handbags.
They do? Take any person, put them through school, get a degree worth a damn, get a job that you perform well at and you will succeed. There is no person flipping coins saying "that guy isn't going any where".
Now you're adding qualifications to the degree.
I was a great pizza driver but other than that, there is an absolute mismatch between my skills and my job experience, i.e. in the context of this mismatch my job performance probably didn't matter much.
A resume with a complete mismatch between skills and experience is a no-brainer to toss.
For me it indicates that the American dream is basically dead or am I wrong. Also who do you blame government polices, the irresponsiblity of the American people or both.
Look at the amount on the dole. How are those numbers noteworthy in that context?
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