What percentage of poor people deserve it?

I think your estimate is way too low. I would say more like 75-80 reap what they sow. Try teaching in a Title I school and you might change your mind.

100%

I like the three types. Yeah, I have to actively try to get out of it. Today I'm going to a ball game to do networking. My best gal is introducing me to her friends who are recruiters at impressive companies.

I think I had nightmares last night about work because I was really bothered with my boss when I woke up.

I would say that 90% of people are a product of thier circumstance, with the other 10% changing their circumstance. It's easy to say that people are poor or middle class because they don't work hard but really everyone works about the same.

Yes doctors, lawyers and stock brokers work hard but virtually all of them had a life that set them up for that profession. Either their parents did it or they had friends who did etc. They had parents who pushed them twords that type of education and told them that that type of life was what it meant to be succsesful. Think about it, if your dad was a brick layer and all his freinds were mechanics and day laborers etc. and you went to a school where no ones parents had been to college. How likely is it that you will value and work twords a carrer that you know nothing about?

Also if you think being poor is easy try doing a poor persons job (construction, hotel maid, loading dock worker etc) and tell me how easy it is. My guess is that you are middle class college student but think you are upper middle class. You will most likely do something on par with what your parents did in terms of income and say wow my success is all do to me. You will not be a billionaire or buisness tycoon, not because you are lazy but because you have no idea how to achieve that type of success.

Still trolling, but how 'bout the opposite end? What percentage of rich people really deserve it?

Obviously eliminate anyone born into wealth, trust-fund princesses, those whose college tuition was paid by mom and dad, legacy or patronage benificiaries, or simply anyone who was ever afforded a job offer or business connection by anyone at anytime in their adult life.

I'd say 1-3%, maybe.

Academic hobo wrote:

You will not be a billionaire or buisness tycoon, not because you are lazy but because you have no idea how to achieve that type of success.

Nobody has any idea how to achieve that kind of success. You have to be very, very lucky. If you look at the life stories of these kinds of people, you're usually looking at a string of highly improbable events and circumstances. Which isn't to say that these people are smart and determined, but there are many smart and determined people who don't have the stars align for them.

You don't get groomed to be a billionaire tycoon the way an upper middle class kid might get groomed to be a doctor or lawyer.

I'll tell you one thing.

Every single person worth hundreds or millions or more deserves to be in jail

800 dude wrote:

Academic hobo wrote:

You will not be a billionaire or buisness tycoon, not because you are lazy but because you have no idea how to achieve that type of success.

Nobody has any idea how to achieve that kind of success. You have to be very, very lucky. If you look at the life stories of these kinds of people, you're usually looking at a string of highly improbable events and circumstances. Which isn't to say that these people are smart and determined, but there are many smart and determined people who don't have the stars align for them.

You don't get groomed to be a billionaire tycoon the way an upper middle class kid might get groomed to be a doctor or lawyer.

Not to mention that every self-made billionaire comes from far more humble origins (by definition). Is academic hobo implying that Bill Gate's middle class parents somehow "groomed" him to become a billionaire?

I agree with a few points here.

Neither of my parents finished college. They never EXPECTED me or any of my siblings to go. No college tour or discussion about where I wanted to go. No need to take the SATS. It was incredibly hard to see myself as college student. Not until later did I learn from my peers how important it is to get a degree. My sister, when she was 26, called me up crying and upset because the guy she was seeing was disappointed she hadn't gone to college. She was angry with my parents.

The expectation is the most powerful part of the story here. When I was in my early 20s my new in laws told me they expected me to go to college. I was part of their family now and it was expected that I achieve a certain level of success. Only then did I see myself differently. I had a new last name, a new part of my identity. It was THE driving force to getting my degree.

Kracker wrote:

I'll tell you one thing.

Every single person worth hundreds or millions or more deserves to be in jail

I'm worth hundreds--should I be in jail?

college stoodent wrote:

Kracker wrote:

I'll tell you one thing.

Every single person worth hundreds or millions or more deserves to be in jail

I'm worth hundreds--should I be in jail?

Hundreds of millions. Is it that you cannot tell the difference between hundreds and hundreds of millions -- or that you are just pretending you cannot understand what was written because of a typo?

Kracker wrote:

college stoodent wrote:

I'm worth hundreds--should I be in jail?

Hundreds of millions. Is it that you cannot tell the difference between hundreds and hundreds of millions -- or that you are just pretending you cannot understand what was written because of a typo?

If you're making a ridiculously bold claim like you did, it better be airtight.

Are you so dumb that a simple typo throws off your ability to glean the meaning of the statement or so dishonest that you pretend it does?

Proverbs 10:4- Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth

Nobody deserves to be poor.

I think very few people in America, have a real understanding of how difficult it is to get out of poverty. Generations of poverty leaves one with no role models, no connections to jobs or even interviews, poor schools and a chaotic home life.

Since we are on percents, I'm guessing 98% of the people here have not experienced real poverty ever in their lives. But they sure are experts at breaking it all down, and offering tons of advice.

Mother Teresa's, you're not!

Heyhey wrote:

Still trolling, but how 'bout the opposite end? What percentage of rich people really deserve it?

I'd say 1-3%, maybe.

Or, how many in the middle class deserve to be in the middle class

10% are genuinely reaping what they sow. These are the lazy children of the rich who have squandered family resources and moved backwards

80% have a lot working against them, but they aren't really doing much to help themselves either. They were born into the middle class, raised with middle class expectations, but they think they have worked harder than the poor

10% had a shafted birth but through a lot of luck of opportunity and contingency have moved from a impoverished environment into the middle class.

Kracker wrote:

I'll tell you one thing.

Every single person worth hundreds or millions or more deserves to be in jail

You are now officially entered into the finals of the stupidest poster in the history of this place.

Congratulations!

Tommy2Nuttz wrote:

I think very few people in America, have a real understanding of how difficult it is to get out of poverty. Generations of poverty leaves one with no role models, no connections to jobs or even interviews, poor schools and a chaotic home life.

Since we are on percents, I'm guessing 98% of the people here have not experienced real poverty ever in their lives. But they sure are experts at breaking it all down, and offering tons of advice.

Mother Teresa's, you're not!

1. You needed a role model to figure out that being lazy, doing poorly in school, and getting a criminal record isn't the path to success?

2. The idea that "connections" get you jobs is way overblown. Sure, it helps in some industries, but the country is still a meritocracy. Employers want the best employee. Every job I've had, I've obtained through the standard "front door" channels, i.e. applying through human resources and letting my credentials speak for themselves.

3. Mother Theresa was an evil human being who thought it was more important to baptize the sick (regardless of their own beliefs) than to provide them with quality medical care. She also loved when women died from botched abortions because after all, it was just god's punishment.