[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

I figure one requires at least two building blocks to insure real serious perpetual poverty.

Ignorance, and Sloth.
Both are necessary for a life of grinding hopeless poverty.

Ignorance soon falls to Ambition, and Knowledge often motivates the Slothful. Neither of those pairings have a guarantee, but Ignorance and Sloth are sure winners.

If one has everything else going for them, they can still be poor if they are lazy and ignorant enough.

If one is knowledgable and ambitious, it takes quite a persistant act of gods or men to keep him long impoverished. A man of limited intellect may prosper given a strong dose of Ambition, as can the truly brilliant, with little effort.

That is not to say that lazy slugs can't win the lottery, or those both brilliant and driven can't end up on the ash heap.

[Capt. Tom]

The chief cause of poverty is arithmetic.

Two poor people have 5 children equals 7 poor people.

Very few people in this country are poor because their families have lost their wealth. Most are born into poverty, or come here poor.

If your poor and you want to complain about it; blame your parents. - Tom