128shot said:Is it just money that seperates those who are rich and those who are poor?
Comrade Brian said:Knowledge I don't think is the real difference, but there definately is a difference because rich people usually have better schools because of things such as private schools.
128shot said:Better schools?
How hard is it to walk down to your local library and read a book about accounting or finances?
Agreed in principle, with the caveat that almost every freshly-minted young adult entering the labor force is probably poor and maybe in debt. Those who had the foresight to pay attention in school are at least armed with knowledge and skills to pursue their dreams, and can become rich if they choose to work hard for that goal.Old and wise said:Being rich is a matter of posessing intelligence and ambition and applying it well.
Being poor is a matter of lack of intelligence and ambition which is a perfect recipe for staying poor.
Exactly my point. Anyone can become rich in our country if they choose. If they are only interested in making it from day to day and owning all the toys that they want, then they will be in the bottom of the barrel all their lives.Diogenes said:Agreed in principle, with the caveat that almost every freshly-minted young adult entering the labor force is probably poor and maybe in debt. Those who had the foresight to pay attention in school are at least armed with knowledge and skills to pursue their dreams, and can become rich if they choose to work hard for that goal.
O&W, you are wise beyond your years.Old and wise said:Being rich is a matter of posessing intelligence and ambition and applying it well.
Being poor is a matter of lack of intelligence and ambition which is a perfect recipe for staying poor.
128shot said:Better schools?
How hard is it to walk down to your local library and read a book about accounting or finances?
A good school will teach you how to learn. Education is a lifelong project which is entirely the responsibility of the student.Comrade Brian said:Not everything is best taught by just reading, otherwise whats the need for schools? You could get your entire education in a library.
Red State Sage said:O&W, you are wise beyond your years.
Here is a fact about our society: We've always had rich, we've always had poor, and we will always have both in the future. That is a fact, and nothing will change that fact. O&W hit the nail on the head in his comment about ambition, which I think is even more important than education. Here's why - in order to lead a secure life financially all that is required are three(3) things: 1) graduate from high school; 2) get a job and work hard; 3) obey the law. You might not become rich, but you sure won't be poor if you do these three things. All that is required to accomplish these things is a little ambition.
I spent five years in law enforcement and dealt with every category of people you can imagine. What I noticed about those who were poor, in addition to not following the three principles I laid out, was this - the poor are so because they make poor decisions in life. We can't legislate poor decision making away, nor can we redistribute wealth and make it go away either. It must start with the individual, because in a free society they are the only ones who can help themselves out of their plight.
TimmyBoy said:Well, if you are in law enforcement, you certainly aren't going to be rich, that's for sure. Most people in law enforcement tend to have a conservative bias and truly believe in the system and tend to come from the middle and poor classes of society where education is not as good or is less prevalent and is much more difficult for them to afford a college education. It's certainly dangerous being a cop and you can't trust the system or the crooks you deal with on the street or some cops you work with, at least where I worked.
I personally view the law as a means of social control rather than justice. Heck, we got the largest prison population of any country in the entire world, more than communist China, more than Russia. How can one argue that the criminal justice system is not about social control? Their has been several articles written by the Associated Press about how the gap between rich and poor has grown tremendously in this country for a number of years.
128shot said:Of course law is about control, if we'd start actually voting as a block in this country maybe we'd have more control huh?
I've read study after study after study after study about the gap between the rich and the poor, and its only showing that rich people get richer and poor people get poorer, it has no cause and effect analysis at all in all the studies I've read. None, zip, nada
TimmyBoy said:I am not sure I am following you. Explain what you mean by cause and effect in this context?
128shot said:Its just numbers and stats
Here, I'll make a simple example
"Today in the news, the poor grows another 2% because of job loss while wollyworlds profits rise 30%"
Where is the cause and effect here?
(its an oversimiplified example but I think it'll answer your question)
TimmyBoy said:So basically you are saying that the studies you have read over do not show the true reasons or link a cause and effect reason as to why the gap between rich and poor has grown, correct?
128shot said:yes, and at the very least, partially.
128shot said:Of course law is about control, if we'd start actually voting as a block in this country maybe we'd have more control huh?
I've read study after study after study after study about the gap between the rich and the poor, and its only showing that rich people get richer and poor people get poorer, it has no cause and effect analysis at all in all the studies I've read. None, zip, nada
TurtleDude said:If I played Tiger woods for a dollar a whole I would keep losing money and he would keep making money. Same with me playing a expert poker player.
Rich people tend to be good at winning in the current economic environment. The Poor tend to lose. Education is the most important factor as well paying factory jobs that didn't require much past an 8th grade education have migrated out of this country. Rich -or those who wanttobee rich understand how important education is and stress that to their children. Poor people tend to have little understanding or use for education
128shot said:which is exactly what I was expressing (or at least tried)
Red State Sage said:I'm with 128Shot on wanting more analysis of "cause and effect". Stats can be manipulated to state whatever the statistician wants them to say. Opinion pols are a great example of this. Samples are stacked in one direction or another and ...voila - you have the desired result.
I don't have any stats in front of me right now; so I'm shooting from the hip. But here is a theory to explain this supposed gap between rich and poor:
Hypothetically, if the number of poor is shrinking, thereby people moving to the middle-class as a result of earning more money, then that would explain the gap. Reason being, these people would be earning and spending more money in the economy, which helps the rich through increased profits, stock portfolios, etc. As a result, the rich class would be raking in more income, and the poor class would appear to be falling behind because now there would be less of them to compare and contrast with the rich class.
I'm not stating that this is fact. It illustrates the cause and effect that 128Shot said was needed.
TurtleDude said:Hard to say-I know poor people in the USA tend to have more children and at earlier ages than rich ones. ITs that delayed vs instant gratification thing. I fyou are interested in making Harvard's Law Review or chief surgical resident at Boston General, chances are you aren't getting knocked up or fathering kids left and right.
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