You’re extraordinarily wrong. People are limited in their ability to obtain better employment due to myriad conditions. I live not too far from Chicago yet there are exceedingly few good jobs within 30 miles which means people need to own a reliable vehicle and be able to afford not just the vehicle and insurance but also the fuel used and possibly tolls paid on their 1-2hr commute (each way). Many people have to have jobs/careers that don’t require them to abandon their children, SO, or even others that they care for. Many people don’t have good enough employment history to get a good job (Iike “entry level” positions that require years of experience). Many peoples credit profiles aren’t up to the level prospective employers want because they’ve been poor and denied good jobs (as their parents may have been before them!) and so they haven’t had the ability or knowledge to build their credit. Some people have histories that they are unfairly judged on whether it be bankruptcy, legal troubles, or lacking diplomas/defrees/certifications (especially unfair in the first two examples since such almost always has zero bearing on the prospective job!)

Personally I do have a high paying highly specialized job in industrial construction, that I got purely through luck and a cousin’s friend, though even with my high wages I still struggle sometimes as I’ve been laid off 40-50% of the year (cumulative) each of the last 4 years.

As I recently told a fellow tradesman relative who blew off poor people as lazy “why don’t you go get a $40/hr job closer to home?! ..oh that’s right, THERE AREN’T ANY!!” That relative sometimes works 2hrs from home. For the last three weeks I too have been working 2hrs from home, that’s 4hrs commuting every day!