Redistribution of Wealth is Perfectly Fine
Ah - we agree again.
Hey there, Grace. How are you doing these days.
In your view of the world, these two people should STARVE, you say, because they do not know how to plan, organize, and strategize!
I can see by your post that you are still in denial about the rigors of upward mobility. The most recent studies confirm that it is just as difficult for the poor to improve their socioeconomic status today as it was twenty years ago. {1}
In fact, it is easier to climb the economic ladder in Canada or in Western Europe then here in the US. There is also a substantial variation in intergenerational mobility across different areas in this country. Moving from the lowest 20% of society to the top 20% is three times more likely for a person in San Jose, CA, than for a similar poor person raised in Charlotte, NC.
Poverty creates its own individual barriers and hurdles.
In spite of your denial, studies continue to show that the position of the parents has a greater impact on a child’s upward mobility than ever before.
Be well, Grace, and always follow your bliss.
{1} http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/AMEN, preach IT! Preach IT! So many people have the CAN'T mentality. They believe that life should be so rosy and smooth without any type of difficulties. Well guess what, it does not work that way at all. Obstacles should be enhancers and strengtheners, not roadblocks. The difference between successful people and others is that successful people CAN, CAN, CAN despite obstacles.
Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, author/motivational speaker/psychologist
Sean Connery, actor
Both men came from poor backgrounds but use being poor as an impetus to success. It CAN be done!
Hi Wilderness. Someone else said they should starve, not I!
You obviously missed a segment of the thread. I did not insinuate these two people should starve at all! Another poster decided they should be allowed to starve because they were unable, in her words, to plan, organize, and strategize! Please do not try to accuse me of suggesting such an elitist and inhumane condemnation.
In your comment, you went on to say:
“What causes the mobility slowdown? Drugs? Too many babies? Unwillingness to risk entitlements and move? Gang affiliation that will be lost? Unwillingness to learn? (leaving out the obvious of physical/mental inability here - we aren't talking about that)”
None of the above, Wilderness. Perhaps you did not have a chance to read the study I linked in my post. It answered all of your questions above by saying geographical “areas with greater mobility tend to have five characteristics: less segregation, less income inequality, better schools, greater social capital, and more stable families.” {1}
These are the predominant factors that allow the poor to overcome the barriers to upward mobility. Elitist delusions about government supplied disincentives and “lazy moochers” are insignificant in comparison.
“Or is it always that someone else isn't giving enough support money? Or stamping them back every day? Hogtieing them to the bannister at home so they can't get out? Is it always the fault of someone else, or just maybe the person that will not make their own luck is playing a part here (for luck isn't found; it is made)?”
Such colorful and imaginary speculation lacks factual support in the accumulated body of research designed to identify the causes of poverty. Each of us has to step back for a moment from our ideological principles to read how the real world’s social and economic forces impact the poor. Upward mobility and income inequality do not exist in a vacuum.
We can not rely on academics to provide solutions for social ills but they do provide invaluable insight into their causes. Some experts say, “children growing up in low-income families face many challenges that children from more advantaged families do not. These children are more likely to experience multiple family transitions, move frequently, and change schools. The schools they attend are less well funded, and the neighborhoods they live in are more disadvantaged. The parents of these children have fewer resources to invest in them and, as a consequence, their homes have fewer cognitively-stimulating materials, and their parents invest less in their education. The stress of living in poverty and struggling to meet daily needs can also impair parenting.” {2}
In the list of the most formidable obstacles to overcoming poverty, unwillingness to learn, lack of motivation, negative thinking, and a passive mentality are so insignificant that they are the least mentioned.
{1} http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/
{2} http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_909.html
- PrettyPantherposted 10 years ago
0Well, a lot of people REFUSE to take responsibility for their lives. Well, the youth of today feel that they are entitled and believe that they should have it easy and succeed without any struggle. Yes, people would rather make excuses than to do an assessment on themselves. Yes, people want to take THE EASY WAY out and BLAME THE MAN or SOCIETY rather than THEMSELVES. Yes, this is extreme immaturity to want to be rescued and taken care of by others instead of adopting a CAN attitude, work smart and strategize and SUCCEED. Oh no, that sounds TOO MUCH like EFFORT and WORK, OH MY!
WELCOME to LIFE 101, time to get busy and REAL. WANT SOMETHING, GET OFF A$$ETS, STRATEGIZE, ORGANIZE, WORK, WORK, WORK for it! No whining allowed. Have any problems with that, SLAP, SLAP, now YOU are learning! Good! Man or Woman UP!
I DON'T want to hear oh it's TOO HARD, I CAN'T and all that other bull-------. Get cracking, I DON'T HEAR you! I SAID GET CRACKING and off your duff! Work is good for the soul. Effort is good. Want something, WORK for it! Don't expect handouts. Yeah, you want a hand, LOOK AT THE END OF YOUR ARMS-that's a hand! GET MOVING!
(crying) I can't do it, it too hard. I can't. Hellp, help ......Help....
Well, that's the problems people have become crybabies and whiners instead of being adults and take responsibility. New word for today: RESPONSIBILITY, LEARN IT!Sure, people that you are describing exist. They have always existed and always will. This is not news, Grandma.
Good Evening, Wilderness. It is hard to lurk anywhere in these forums without running into your provocative and stimulating posts.
I have to admit, however, the content in this particular post did not sound just right. It seems to contain more emotion than fact and “Everybody knows that by now,” was not very convincing. While some people may share this opinion, Wilderness, certainly not “everybody” agrees simply because they think it just “aint so.”
There are two exaggerations that appear to be absolutely false. Politicians did not give away homes, not literally and not even figuratively.
Citizens bought homes at market prices from legitimate sellers. Nothing was given away to buy votes. Over-zealous retail bankers extended high-risk loans with low up-front rates to eager naive buyers. Then unscrupulous mortgage companies repackaged and sold the toxic debt in bundles designed to hide the underlying fiscal risks.
The implication that the Great Recession “was caused by” the sub-prime mortgage crisis also seems to be wrong. While the crisis occurred at the start of the recession, it was NOT actually the cause.
Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s testimony before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission on September 2, 2010 states
“judged in relation to the size of global financial markets, prospective subprime losses were clearly not large enough on their own to account for the magnitude of the crisis.”{1}
“Everybody knows that by now” is what you said. Everybody conjures up a lot of unsupportable, very colorful, imaginative, and self-centered perceptions that are mostly very personal conclusions and they can often be grossly inaccurate. It is one thing to believe a perception is absolutely correct but it is rather egocentric to think “everybody” agrees. {2}
I hope you are doing well, Wilderness. Your Great Grandmother’s tales about settling in a little valley nearby have the allure of "Waltons Mountain." I hope there is a hub in the future on that subject. ^5.
{1} http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevent … 00902a.htm
{2} http://www.ted.com/talks/kathryn_schulz … wrong.html
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