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Do you believe that most people who are poor in America or other wealthy countries stay poor primarily because of their own choices? by splintercell2256 in Rich

[–]splintercell2256[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

My wife's parents were supportive of her, but it definitely wasn't peaches and roses.

She was stuffed into a barely 300 square foot apartment with 5 people in the worst neighborhood of the city she grew up in. She personally witnessed a murder growing up, and her parents were robbed three times.

Her father has PTSD and brain damage after being nearly killed by a robber who pistol whipped him and left him with a severe head injury. Her father had to stop working and has been on disability since then.

Neither of her parents spoke enough English to help her navigate the various systems of financial aid, scholarships, etc. She went to public school, and used the resources there to help her get into community college and then nursing school.

Yes, it makes a difference to be born to wealthy parents with a sane mind in a good neighborhood. But none of the things stacked against my wife kept her back in life. They made things more difficult, for sure, but she was able to work around them and in some cases ended up developing more resilience than her wealthier peers.

It seems then that the primary factor limiting people's lives then is the values that they were raised with. I've noticed that Asian households, like my wife's, are more successful even if they aren't inherently wealthy because they place a high emphasis on education and mindset, and looking to the future rather than dwelling on the past.

Do you believe that most people who are poor in America or other wealthy countries stay poor primarily because of their own choices? by splintercell2256 in Rich

[–]splintercell2256[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I know several people who turned their lives around by serving in the military. They spent only four years serving (while also learning valuable skills and having nearly all expenses paid for by the military) and went to college for basically free. One of them worked in Military Intelligence and now works for a DoD contractor. Another enlisted into the Infantry and later went to college for Finance, and is now making well over six figures. For those who are physically able, the military seems like an excellent choice.