Imis9 wrote:Part of working hard is working hard at the right job. There's a difference between working hard dumbly and working hard. You say your mom worked to get through college. What kind of degree did she get in college because she should have been able to get a better job. If this is a good job, let's assume she got paid $20 an hour. 40 * 20 = $800 a week. $800 * 52 = $41,600. This isn't great money, and it doesn't take various taxes into consideration. That said, she should've been able to put some cash into a retirement plan.
I'm not going to go into her entire history here, but you originally stated that working hard would get you ahead. This is blatanty false, so false that you just had to modify it to working hard at <i>the right job</i> would get you ahead.
That is even debateable.
Not to mention that, as I believe others have pointed out, working "smart" means being very highly prescient or having rich relatives to put you on the right path.
Whether Paris Hilton has worked hard or not is debateable, but do you think she'd have half the opportunities she's had without her father being a hotel tycoon?
No.
Do you think the most unbelievably hot woman in the world would have Paris Hilton's chances if born to my family? Probably not, she'd depend entirely on luck to get discovered.
We all have to take responsiblity for our actions and choices. There's nothing that says you can't get a better job, just have some imagination and some drive. Hard work does get you places, stop whining to justify people's own laziness or lack of inspiration. Lastly, anyone that tries to raise a family on $8 an hour is just plain silly.
Some people don't have a <i>choice</i> in the matter you idiot. The fact that you dismiss such problems so easily shows you are not fit to making ANY decision about these issues.
Many people can't get something better than $8/hr. Hell, with my degree in computer science the best I've found is $9/hr as a temp without benefits! What is your average high school graduate who thought he'd be able to make a decent living in manufacturing and already has kids supposed to do when he gets laid off?
I try not to feel sorry for folks because that just reinforces their own victimization. Instead, I try to help folks rebuild their lives and actually make them better.
An interesting statement, considering that is exactly what welfare is supposed to be for!
Yes, it is currently implemented badly. But just getting rid of the safety net so many find themselves depending on is NOT a good thing, it is the exact opposite of what you just said you try to do.
My own thoughts are that welfare should provide job training and placement to actually help people out, rather than expect people to somehow work themselves back up with almost no resources. Of course, there would have to be some checks on that... I think they do this in some places and end up sending single mothers on two hour bus rides to work for minimum wage. This is very bad in my opinion, since you end up with kids raising themselves and under... well, under-everythinged.
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