classism gets boring,, I happen to prefer where the thread was taken too,,,

Classism gets boring? Aren't you the one who started this thread to rant about classism?

sure did, to discuss its existence, not to just be met by example after example of people suffering from it,,,

Are you saying that you can dish it out but you can't take it?

dish what out?

I prefer balanced conversation, not a one sided attack,,,

Oh, but there was balance. People pointed out all kinds of ugly classism, including the kind known as wealth envy.

not from where I m sitting

on the first page alone,,

I post an op addressing a MYTH about the lazy poor,,a very classist myth

how many simply agreed? how many refutd the myth?

instead the rsponses were,, they are lazy, they need to be made uncomfortable, they don't know how to spend their money,, all the way up to complaining about them doing their hair,,,

and you saw that as balanced? interesting,,

I didn't agree with those comments.

I thought it was appropriate for you to challenge those claims.
I apologize for not lending you enough support.

no need to apologize,,

I was just hoping for a more two sided discussion,,,

thanx for being decent though

I don't feel much has been accomplished in this thread.

So let's here some ideas about why some people are poor and others are not. What is the cause of poverty?

Who can you blame for it? And if you want to blame someone, isn't that refusing to take responsibility for your circumstances if you are poor?

Is poverty a state of mind? Is it a lack of money or lack of things that money can buy?

Yes! Thanks to everyone for bringing balance to this conversation. The OP was propaganda piece; which wasn't entirely wrong, but was very unbalanced.

The views expressed above - particularly about how so many of the poor mis-manage their money - brought balance to the conversation.


If people are going to get things for free from the government, then financial management classes, and classes in personal responsibility, should be among the *first* things that any anyone gets for free.

Here, here!!...Brava, brava!!!

It appear to me that participants in this discussion are a bit ethnocentric when discussing poverty.

The poverty in 3rd-world nations makes the poverty in the USA look like wealth.

If you were to look at my actual income, I am below the poverty level, and yet I know people (relatives and friends) whose income is double what mine is, even triple-- and I listen to them when they whine all the time about how broke they are and how they can't pay their bills... blah blah blah.

They usually have three cars, two houses, credit card bills... blah blah ...

yeh, I feel real sorry for them. They need to manage their money and live within their means.

Yes very much so.

So true David...Poverty level in America means flat screen 52" TV, cable, a car, internet and phone service, computers, .........................................................................................and food stamps!

Yes, I'm 'poor' by income and American standards. I have two t.v.'s and two computers, Internet, car, etc. (I would qualify for food stamps, but I have never signed up for them.)

Jeannie, there are so many things I like about you and the above post is one of them....

wow, good questions

I Believe we all have responsibility personally but I also believe we are all connected with a certain responsibility towards each other

example: If I walk down a dark alley at night, I am responsible for taking what I know is a risk(Whether it should be or not),, and IF I am raped, that rapist is responsible for his choice to rape me

so in that situation, but for my bad decision, I wouldnt have afforded the rapist his bad choice,, responsibility to go around


similary with poverty

I think people become inpoverished because they are not valued by society,,

I think there is a personal responsibility of knowing when you are one who will not be valued and take action to improve your value

I also think it should be that all people are valued, regardless of socioeconomic or 'taxpayer' status, so long as they are law abiding and being productive as a member of society

society puts value in material things and in status, if you live in the right neighborhood or know the right people of course you will be regarded as 'right' by association and looked upon more favorably in your endeavors

if you live in the wrong neighborhood or dont know the right people or hang in the 'wrong' circles , you are less likely to have favor in your endeavors

if I had to narrow it down(too late, right?;..lol)

ID suggest that knowledge and resource are the reason some are impoverished and others arent

working 'hard' is not what creates success, so much as working 'smart', and many have been brainwashed into thinking its the former and continue being impoverished in the name of 'hard work'

being able to 'work smart' is why some are not impoverished, some of them have networks around them to coach and assist them in working 'smart',,

the education and society mostly teach the rest of us to 'work hard',, which really does little to help most people survive in these times,,,

thats true, but we are talking about the USA

unless we only want our standard of living to be the equivalent of a 'third world country'