Opinonated Question......Do you think people are poor by choice?

Question

Some people aren't poor by choice. Unexpected situations in life can cause a person or a family to poverty.

Answer 1

most of the mega millionaires that i have worked with on a professional (real estate investments) basis have been broke, then they got up, brushed themselves off, and went out and made it back again. a good example is donald trump (love that guy, he talks straight from the hip).

i do agree that some people face unexpected circumstances that cause them to go into financial ruin and that if they are older, it would be hard for them to get another job. age discrimination is so very real, and so is "fat" discrimination (older people just don't look like tv people, do they?) if they were injured in an accident and become permanently disabled (which really does amount to being poor unless they have stashes in their IRAs, the money too, to pay the stiff penalties to uncle sam for taking it out too "early," or are lucky enough to have truly good disability insurance), they really do not have the means to go out to get other work. so therefore, i do not think that it is their choice to be poor.

another thing i want to point out is the difference between thinking of yourself as "poor" or as "broke." if you label yourself as poor, you are giving yourself no way out--you are giving yourself a permanent condition. if you see yourself as broke, you have hope of not being broke all the time, right? attitude goes a long way, but yes, i still agree with you.

Answer 2

Interesting question. This is one I have been thinking about lately.
I think that there are some people who are poor by choice because they chose not to find a way out of poverty. I think that people have an unexpected life decision such as losing a job, house burning down, loss of the "bread winner", etc. These situations are uncontrollable and are generally the reason for poverty. People are also born into poverty and are stuck. no matter how hard they try, they just cant win.
So i think that no, people are not poor by choice but i do think that some, certainly not all or even the majority, chose to stay there because of the benefits that the government offers (even though these are not "all that and a bag of chips")

Answer 3

I don't think anybody actually chooses to be poor. Life can throw a lot of curves your way and before you know it, you've lost everything. They say the average American family is only 2 paychecks away from homelessness. Meaning, if they were unable to work for a month for some reason, they'd lose everything. That's what happened to me and my wife. She was injured and could no longer work. Although I was working at the time,we still lost our home and had to start over again. It could happen to anybody at anytime. No one would choose poverty. I know there are people out there who just don't like to work and get themselves in bad situations because they are lazy. Those people aren't the majority though.

Answer 4

Of course not. Who would choose to be poor?
Although some people make bad choices, which can end up contributing to their being poor. Some people do not have as many opportunities as others. Some people do not know how to overcome poverty (it is very difficult to get out of).

People are not helpless; very rarely is there absolutely nothing you can do to help yourself get out of a bad situation such as poverty. But not knowing what to do, or not having the ability to do what it takes, is not the same as consciously choosing to be poor.

Answer 5

Most people are not poor by choice. Many make poor decisions when they are very young, such as not getting an education which would enable them to earn a living wage. Others have been brought up in poverty and don't know any better, they don't know how to get out of it and have no role models to show them. Others are just not bright enough to get a good eduction, or to do well in higher paying jobs. This is certainly not their fault. Anyway the answer is a resounding NO. Most people would improve themselves and their life style if they had the means to do so.

Answer 6

Do you realize that one-third of the world's population doesn't even have electricity? That there are whole countries where famine and disease is the norm?

Today, we have succeeded in demonizing an approximate group of 12 million people by classifying them as "illegal aliens" when their greatest crime is trying to find a means to lift themselves out of a poverty that they have no choice to do anything about except to go North to a land where opportunity exists. For that, they have broken our laws and are thus described as "illegals" by those of us who are the more fortunate, most of us not by choice but by circumstance alone.

How many of their sons and daughters have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan?

The question is overly broad and cannot be answered intelligently without esablishing further parameters.

Answer 7

No, if you're from a poor family it would be much harder for you to gain the skills you need for a good career. And I do agree with you that unexpected things happen. However, there are Some people who are self-defeating and let themselves be poor because they are too lazy or afraid to take risks and get richer.

Answer 8

There are as many reasons for poverty as there are poor people.

Answer 9

i dont think anyone is poor by choice per se' but I do think that some people expect too much from the government, charities, etc and that they choose not to put more effort into finding a better job, birth control (so they dont keep having to add more mouths to feed), and betterment of their lives.

Answer 10

depends on what you consider poverty, but most people are not poor by choice, a lot of things are out of people's control.