Posted on 12/26/2013 6:46:14 AM PST by SeekAndFind
On Thanksgiving eve, a Nicholas Kristof editorial instructed us on how to think about poverty in The New York Times. The main reason there is poverty, he tells us, is bad luck.
We don’t choose our parents, after all. Or the household or neighborhood we are born into. Here are a few of his observations, with my emphasis added:
“As Warren Buffett puts it, our life outcomes often depend on the ‘ovarian lottery.‘
[T]he difference between being surrounded by a loving family or being homeless on the street is determined not just by our own level of virtue or self-discipline, but also by an inextricable mix of luck, biography, brain chemistry and genetics.
[S]uccess in life is a reflection not only of enterprise and willpower, but also of random chance and early upbringing.”
So what’s the solution to this problem? It is apparently very simple: All we need is love. (Kristof’s column is actually titled “Where Is the Love?”) And just in case you are not motivated in that way, Kristof draws on the work of Harvard professor John Rawls to give a rational philosophical reason to spend more on welfare programs.
But before getting into that let’s pause for a moment. Is being born really a matter of luck? Doesn’t that take willful activity on the part of two parents? And is the inability of parents to support their children really a matter of luck? Or is it the result of bad habits and undisciplined behavior?
Let’s grant that some people do have bad luck. But bad luck usually strikes randomly. Absent hurricanes and tornados, we don’t expect misfortune to befall entire neighborhoods ― to say nothing of entire cities.
Kristof’s particular focus is on Food Stamps, given the debate in Congress over whether to cut spending on the program. So let’s concede that misfortune can cause some people to be hungry.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Does anyone want to wager that IQ scores have no effect on income levels?
You got bad, bad luck
Bad, bad luck
You got bad, bad luck
Bad, bad luck
Thirteen's my lucky number,
To you it means stay inside.
Black cat done crossed my path,
No reason to run and hide.
You're looking through a cracked mirror,
No one really knows the reason why.
Your enemies are gettin' nearer,
Gonna hang down your head and cry...
You got bad, bad luck
Bad, bad luck
You got bad, bad luck
Bad, bad luck
Some people go to church on Sundays,
others they pray at home.
You tell them that there ain't no God,
that they're better off standin' alone.
You're always scratchin' at the eight ball,
No one really knows the reason why.
You get to the top and then you fall,
Gonna hang down your head and cry.
If you want to be rich, do what rich people do.
I have come to the conclusion that persistence is more important than intelligence.
Success is often obtained by playing a poor hand well.
RE: If you want to be rich, do what rich people do.
How does one do what George Soros does?
Fwiw, my Dad always said ‘seems the harder I worked, the luckier I got’.
It’s not just nature, nurture, or luck. People have free will. Their personal choices also determine their destiny.
Prov 23:17, Psalm 73:3
Don’t envy the prosperity of the wicked or desire to be like them.
It’s called LBJs “Great Society”. Making generations of people dependant on Government. Giving them the “it’s ok, the government will take care of you” mentality.
My father often said that you don’t have a choice of the cards you get dealt in life, but you get to play them any way you want.
The ability to learn from the mistakes of others would be pretty handy in climbing out of poverty, as well as learning from one’s own blunders.
The chief cause of poverty is poor people having children.
Two poor people have 5 children that results in seven poor people.
So if you don't like being poor don't blame rich people; take it up with your parents.-Tom
Likewise, I doubt you're going to find many nuclear physicists or heads of international corporations with IQs less than 125. But the myth that with simply hard work you can be anything you desire has been propagated by people who should know better. The truth is every human has capabilities limited by what's inside their cranium.
I know this may come as a shock, but I’ve made a few mistakes in my past. :-)
I’d like to think I’ve learned some valuable lessons from them.
“Does anyone want to wager that IQ scores have no effect on income levels?”
It is well documented that IQ have a lot to do with income.
Read “The Bell Curve” by Charles Murray.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bell_Curve
Me, too. But the best bang for the buck was learning from mistakes other people made. That saved me a lot of pain.
i retired at 56 not super rich, but more than comfortable.
i made 20,000 really bad financial mistakes, and 20 good ones.
The poor almost always are poor because of poor choices.
(though it is amazing how much the government helps them make poor choices.)
You don’t want to be poor? This is whaat you can do to keep from being poor (80% effective).
1. Finish School—go as far as you can after High School Even a single year of Jr. College will help
2. Don’t have a baby until your married.
3. Don’t get married til your 21.
4. Don’t get addicted to stuff: Drugs, Booze, Gambling, Sex, etc...
5. Don’t look to others to solve your problems—Not your friends, not your folks, not your Government— solve them yourself.
6. Don’t do welfare—if your on it—do what you can to get off of it—it kills your ambition and pride.
7. Don’t let envy invade your soul—life aint fair! It never has been and never will be.
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