Is it better to stay poor?

[blackangst1]

the reality is our quality of life is degrading. The american dream is no longer 2.2 kids and a 1500 sq ft home with the man working and the woman taking care of the house. This was a statistical anomaly. The norm is 3rd world level poverty with a upper 1% crust. We gave that all up.

3rd world level poverty doesnt mean what you think it means.

 

[glenn1]

Lol@ people who think being on welfare is a free ride.

The aren't paying for that ride themselves so of course it's free. Yet we still have people like you making a big deal that they aren't given a first class seat; they should count themselves lucky we don't kick their ass out and make them push.

 

[Capt Caveman]

I remember the OP posting about how people should be busting their butts to follow their dreams. Hypocrite

 

[JSt0rm]

3rd world level poverty doesnt mean what you think it means.

what do I think it means?

 

[MarkXIX]

Seems like a question based on some kind of entitlement mentality. Yes, you said he took loans and owns his responsibility to those. Yes, he also will have to pay more for his insurance if he makes more money. That's to help out the people who are/were in his lower income situation so they can be taken care of.

Look, here's the bottom line. My first job was delivering newspapers snow, rain, or shine for like $25/week at age 13. I worked my ass off to get my first black and white Gameboy. That motivated me to bust my ass for more as I aged. I chose to ride a bicycle to my first few jobs to save up money, again, rain or shine. Then, I bought a used motorcycle to get me around.

I busted my ass each time and each time earned more until I got where I am now. I still don't sit on my ass. I listen to podcasts related to my line of work to and from work each day to stay relevant.

The bottom line is, sure, if he wants to be entirely dependent on others and feel like shit his whole life, he should quit those jobs and just maintain his status quo. But, if he has ANY kind of human dignity, self-motivation, or sense of decency, he will bust his ass like a great many people do and be patient enough to rise above. He will accept that when he has to contribute more of his hard earned money, that he's doing so for someone in his former place that needed a handout or some help. I'd very much like to keep all my money and not pay nearly 1/3 or more in taxes, but at the end of the day I help single mothers like mine was, and lazy asses like your friend who choose to take it easy and do nothing instead of bust his ass to contribute to society.

 

[Mai72]

I remember the OP posting about how people should be busting their butts to follow their dreams. Hypocrite

I still value hard work. It's difficult when people are just above the poverty line. They need assistance but just make enough so they can't get it. Yet, they are forced to buy ObamaCare and many can't even afford to make the monthly payments.

 

[highland145]

Thank you very much. I'm sticking it in your bum by being a bum on SSDI.

(of course, it could be argued that I paid into the system for about 40 years before I became disabled...but that's no fun)

Well, at your age I don't mind as long as I'm not paying for your viagra.


Edit: All of you hard working/tax paying peeps...get effed if Bernie wins and gives all of the special snowflakes a free ride.

 

[highland145]

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2019628,00.html

Thankfully my house is paid for because I need $30K for the HSA, kid's college, kid's private school, health insurance premiums. Groceries be damned.

 

[JEDI]

Lol@ people who think being on welfare is a free ride.

esplain?

 

[Exterous]

Now, here is the kicker. He's trying to better himself. He's working 2 jobs which will put him in a higher income bracket.

I think there is a large issue with perception of gains strictly limited to the short term. People look at working two jobs and think of the hours and immediately go to "Ugh - fuck that. Thats too much work for not enough extra gain." without looking down the road. You're likely to gain skills, work ethic or connections that lead to better opportunities. Patience is also an issue as those opportunities don't always appear right away

It just seems that the people who are really trying to better themselves are the fools, and the people who game the system are the smart ones. I don't want to believe that, because this is still America.

Granted there are times when things just work out but I am a firm believer that a lot of luck is where preparation and hard work meet opportunity. My current job wasn't supposed to open up for another year but I knew that it was eventually coming and that there would be a lot of competition so I took the time to start learning what I would need to know for the job. When the job suddenly opened up early I was more prepared than the other applicants. I've been told that I was 'lucky' to get the job but, in reality, I went out of my way to learn the systems necessary for the promotion. I also know that at least some of the other applicants never took time to branch out of their jobs to expand their knowledge as they were content to wait till some future date (if ever) to start learning what needed to be learned

The chances that you will make all the best decisions in life are incredibly small even with careful analysis of the incomplete information at hand. Its what you choose to do with the failures that determines a lot of your successes. I've had plenty of situations where hindsight would have yielded a vastly different and more beneficial track but worked hard to make the best possible outcome with the situation I was handed

True on both counts but, damn, I'm taking it in the bum being self employed.

I think you and I both know you'd still be taking it in the bum from Boomer even if you worked for the Man.

 

[squirrel dog]

if you do have excess money , get married .

 

[JoeyM]

When he borrowed money for college, he agreed to pay it back. Shouldn't he want to pay it back?

 

[BurnItDwn]

Making 25K is still poor.

He can make 11K and be poor and collect some benefits.
Or he can make 25K and be poor and collect less benefits.

Making 25K, he will at least make a dent in his debts, and as Exterous mentioned, he might gain some skills or connections, and better himself over the long run.

I'd go the 25K route. The odds are better that your friend will be able to dig himself out eventually. It will be long and painful, but, the alternative is no better.

 

[BurnItDwn]

if you do have excess money , get married .

I don't have eccess money, but planning to marry, should help save a few grand a year in income tax.. and then I can get my woman on my health insurance plan.

 

[BurnItDwn]

When he borrowed money for college, he agreed to pay it back. Shouldn't he want to pay it back?

And he went to college thinking that he'd earn a degree that would land him a solid job... Colleges may not sign a legally binding "promise" that the education is worth the cost, but more or less, that is one of the main purposes that they serve (though they do a lot of research and other post-grad type stuff too)

 

[highland145]

And he went to college thinking that he'd earn a degree that would land him a solid job... Colleges may not sign a legally binding "promise" that the education is worth the cost, but more or less, that is one of the main purposes that they serve (though they do a lot of research and other post-grad type stuff too)

Charging $100K for a useless degree is what they do too because at the end of the day, they want the $$. They know that an art history degree and the like will never make an income to justify the cost. They just don't care.

 

[NAC4EV]

Money can buy happiness.
Poverty can't buy happiness.

It's easier to cry on a seat of a Rolls Royce than on the seat of a bicycle

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Charging $100K for a useless degree is what they do too because at the end of the day, they want the $$. They know that an art history degree and the like will never make an income to justify the cost. They just don't care.

Ya mean, kinda like the business you're in?

 

[Ruptga]

Ya mean, kinda like the business you're in?

Shit's getting real now.

 

[highland145]

Ya mean, kinda like the business you're in?

Why don't you explain that to me.

 

[gorcorps]

People who get real jobs and try to be decent employees can move up in the world and make even MORE money in the future.

But yeah, sure, why not stay a worthless POS with no desire to do anything with your life.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Why don't you explain that to me.

Making high interest loans to people with poor prospects.

 

[highland145]

Making high interest loans to people with poor prospects.

So you're saying that I should make low interest loans to people with poor credit? You wouldn't.

 

[Imp]

Sounds more like OP's friend should live in a country with socialized healthcare...

I'd prefer to have money but live like a bum. That way I know I'll never have to worry about money. I take more pleasure in telling people I can afford expensive things than actually owning them.

 

[JSt0rm]

Charging $100K for a useless degree is what they do too because at the end of the day, they want the $$. They know that an art history degree and the like will never make an income to justify the cost. They just don't care.

depends on the artist.