Poverty

There is no excuse for being impoverished save one: mental illness. Any other excuse is just that; an excuse; window dressing; a way for a man who has subconsciously realized that he is a lazy do-nothing to justify his ways. If a man wants to work less than his neighbor, that is fine, but then he needs to accept his lack of wealth without demanding that his neighbor, who works more than he does, make up for the deficit.

I challenge all readers to come up with a reason for poverty that is of no fault of the impoverished person, and did not result in a conscious decision by that person that lead to his being impoverished (other than mental illness). The formula is simple:

1.) Work 40 hours a week, minimum (again, even if employment isn’t available, you can still work. Fix lawnmowers on the side. Mow lawns, for chrissakes). Show up when you say you are going to, and work until you are finished. Learn a skill on the job if you can, but if not, learn one in your spare time and start putting it to work wherever you can.

2.) Put off having children until you can afford them (and really, in this day and age, is this really that hard?).

3.) Spend less than you earn, and eschew the use of credit except for major purchases like cars and housing (and even then, use it smartly and sparingly).

4.) Ensure that you insure. Life insurance isn’t strictly necessary unless you have dependents, but what is necessary is good disability insurance and a health insurance plan to cover care above and beyond routine checkups. That way, if you get hurt, or sick, you don’t fall into poverty as a result.

Four steps. That’s it. If you do these three things, you will succeed. I know several poor people, and to a person, they all have the same attitudes. Their jobs are inconveniences that they tend to not show up to regularly, meaning they have a hard time keeping a job, and those jobs that they can get are low paying and typically net low hours (they work an average of 20 hours per week). They use drugs and alcohol to excess, and show up for work hung over, and even drunk or stoned. They spend every moment that they can playing video games, not learning new skills or knowledge. A few of them have multiple children with multiple different women and when they do manage to earn a bit of money, most of it is garnished by the state for back child support. All of these are personal choices that they made. They CHOSE to be poor. I don’t feel sorry for them, nor do I feel a moment’s worth of responsibility to help them in any way.

I, on the other hand, put in 60 plus hours a week at my job and at other vocations and value building activities (like home improvements, for instance). I show up every day. I don’t drink to excess, don’t use drugs, and don’t even own a video game console. I am 30, and my first child is due in March. My life is 85 to 90 percent work and 15 to 10 percent leisure/play, whereas their lives are mostly leisure and play and very little work. Yet, when the final calculations come down, the government says that I OWE THEM??? I guess that is what they mean by “fairness”.