24 Jan 2024 5:19 pm
Even after leaving the home, I stayed poor until age 28. Spent many hours thinking about how/why this kept persisting. I did not smoke 3 packs per day like mom and dad both did. I did not drink much (maybe 3 or 4 beers per year). So why was I struggling along paycheck to paycheck just like they did. Best decision that I ever made was to live with 200 yards of the job.. no need for a car that could break down. No car insurance, no tickets. nadaCannonpointer » 24 Jan 2024, 6:15 pm » wrote: ↑ I am from similar circumstances, and NOW you are being more - shall we say... comprehensive in your analysis?
Yes, people do stupid **** because they are poor. But they are also poor because they do stupid ****. And in this chicken/egg dilemma, my default is to put the accountability on the living organism, as opposed to something as ephemeral and mutable as his/her circumstances. Smart actions lead out of poverty as surely (if NOT as quickly) as stupid actions lead into it.
The problem is that for most.. they revert back to their old ways at the first struggle. They saved money in april and may but damn.. something in June messed them up so best go back to the old ways which you know. One sickness, one broken down vehicle, one frozen pipe.. their house of cards comes down.