[Pete98]

Poor people in the US are poor because of choices THEY MADE. They chose to use drugs, have children at 16, drop out of high school, whatever.

[Miss Marple]

Some of what you say is true, but some people are poor through an inability to overcome the handicaps they were born with (crack-head mother, absent father, poor public education, etc.)

It's all well and good to think that anyone in the USA can overcome their circumstances and become middle class, but when a kid starts with such handicaps, it requires tremendous perseverence and ambition to rise out of that type of situation. Most don't make it.

When we have solid middle-class background kids who end up sinking into poverty because they succumbed to peer pressure and got hooked on drugs, got pregnant, etc. it is easy to see that overcoming peer pressure is not a snap. And poor kids don't have the resources to figure out how to do it.

In our city we are starting to see churches initiating mentoring programs to encourage those whose home life is bad. It's a way to give kids a responsible adult who is available for advice and encouragement.

At any rate, I think it important to see the poor as individuals, and not as a group.