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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