Is it the American way to blame the poor for being poor?

Question

Is that how more fortunate people can sleep at night?

Being born into a wealthy family doesn't make someone 'harder working'.

I know people who have worked their butts off for over 50 years and they still can't make ends meet.

Answer 1

No, it is the Republican/ Conservative way of doing things. They fail to realize that there are people in this country that are not capable of attaining a higher degree of education.

They will tell you that that person should get a second or third job without realizing that many already do that. They also claim to be the "family value" party, yet insist the poor (both parents) work two or more jobs.

several responders on here have proved what I am saying. They think only this "rich" work hard. When in fact, in many situations, the richer you are, the less hard you work.

they don't realize that a person making minimum wage that works 60 hours a week will make less that 20k a year. That is a lot of work for that kind of money.

seriously, look at some of the remarks by Conservatives on here:

GET UP AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
more fortunate people become more fortunate through their hard work and efforts
This is the land of opportunity.
In most cases, it IS their fault they're poor
You must be bitter and poor or you wouldn't care
Let poor people fight their own battles
Is it the liberal way to finance other people's sloth and drug habits
You have it backwards: It's now the American way for poor people to expect the hard-working, tax-paying citizens to take care of them
You get what you work for
Of course. The poor are poor because they're just lazy

Pretty sad stuff. Just more examples of where the right went wrong. Even scarier is that these people vote.

Answer 2

Yes. It's a central tenant of the "American Dream" ideology. The truth is there is little class mobility in any society. If you are born poor, you will most likely stay poor no matter how hard you work. The wealthy have access to more resources. It's very simple, really. It is easy to say that poor people are drug addicts and lack ambition, but there is no shortage of lazy or drug addicted wealthy people, as well. Wealth and poverty have more to do with birthplace and time than Americans want to admit.

Providing more resources and better education is the only practical answer to poverty in any nation, but that costs money. I believe it's a morality issue and I don't mind paying taxes to help provide resources for less fortunate people. Conversely, it is up to the individual to utilize these resources and those that don't shouldn't receive benefits.

Answer 3

Being poor is a state of mind, not a condition.. You must live under your means regardless of how much that is.. The problem I see is the gap between the possible availability of gaining your needs is getting larger..(example) If you want health insurance to protect your family you have to pay an ungodly figure to obtain that. Many lower and middle class income families simply can't afford that.
Being poor creates an uncaring attitude and eventually you'll give up. Have you ever worked a 60 hour week at a minimum wage job and go home at night and field threatening collection calls from a situation over a medical issue that you couldn't afford because you were unable to afford health insurance? Then you make attempts to pay them but thats not enough for them they want ungodly interest too? So you don't pay your electric bill so you can get them off your back, then next week the electric company calls and wants their money with interest too or they shut you off and you now have two collectors calling.. So you in turn don't pay cable bill so you can keep the electric and the cable shuts you off? You now have a reconnect bill if you are some how able to get caught up. Yes eventually you'll give up..
I agree that there are bad people who just do nothing and expect the govt to take care of them.. these people are really just a hand full in comparision to the ones battling the greed of the medical and utility companies..
Soi I'm not accused of having this opinion due to my finacial state.. I am one of the few who is lucky and can afford to live.. But I also have seen both sides of it and poverty is losing!

Answer 4

It all started a while back when some man, forgot his name, said the harder you work the more money you get. It has been set in American minds (capitalist) that the less fortunate people don't work as hard. However it's complete BS my father works very hard at a company in Nassco, a welder, and is barely making any money (but every night comes homes tired, burn -literally-, and sometimes sick, yet his boss is make over 100 grand a year just inspecting stuff without doing any work..

Answer 5

Fault lies partially at their feet, plus at the feet of the politicians who push welfare programs. Why not have programs that help the poor start small businesses? That said, there are poor people who are poor despite their best efforts. I am poor, am working on a master's degree, and know that fact may not guarantee me a big paycheck. I am happy to be born in this great country, and I am privileged to even have a CHANCE at wealth. I have been down on my luck before, and have had a small amount of help, but as soon as I could I pulled myself up by my bootstraps. Everyone who is able should do the same.

Answer 6

The personalisation of poverty is the reason why americans have adopted christianity, the only religion whereby poverty is a moral personnal issue.

Poverty is a economic and governmental issue...that is a direct result of governenmental polices....

Some governments have even been accused of using poverty to control and basically blackmail minorities, but of course everything has to be infected with a morality these days and poverty is no exception.

The people doing this have their own agenda - the most fundemental of which is being dead against Tax and redistribution.

Or taking money off the top 8%.

This is the reason they portray poor people as scum as it is in their shorterm/longterm economic interests to do so.

Answer 7

I do not blame the poor for being poor. I state that people do not have to be poor as a general rule. There is ample opportunity in this country, but you must be willing to work hard and take advantage of the opportunities offered. It is dangerous to bestow victim status on the poor and this is what many well meaning people do in our society. We must set the bar high and expect that people will meet the challenge because this is the only true path to success in life.

Too many people want to blame their bad life choices or unfortunate circumstances on society as a means of avoiding the real truth. The truth is that only they have the power to change their lives. Sure we can provide assistance, but it should only be a means to an end, not a lifelong choice to receive the assistance of others.

I ask questions about the poor often and some of the answers shock me. I have babies, I lost my job, or can't get a good job. These are excuses for not succeeding. When you set yourself up as a failure, failure will indeed be the reward for your efforts.

My mother raised 3 children as a single parent. She did so without assistance or child support. In those days if you had a job it was almost impossible to get any kind of welfare no matter what your circumstances. There were many times that we barely got by, but the point is that we did get by. Today we are all successful. My brother is a trained physician's assistant and makes a comfortable living. My sister is listed in the National Who's Who registry for her work with the elderly and I am a middle manager. None of us were even able to attend college, but we succeeded none the less. The reason is because of our experience and guidance from our mother. Through her example and teaching we learned the value of hard work and self reliance. These lessons have served us well.

I do believe that we can help the less fortunate in our society, but we cannot make them successful and we cannot erase their poverty. Only they can accomplish this. Too many well meaning want people are looking for causes of povery and then look to place blame. It is almost like they believe that success is an aberation in life. It is not an aberation, but it is also not bestowed. It must be worked for. Demand that people take responsibility for their own lives. Stop coddling them by trying to make them unresponsible and incapable of fulfilling their rightful destiny. Poverty in the United States is not the fault of society and the sooner we accept this, the better it will be for all.

Answer 8

It is the way of the world, and always has been.
I have been poor, and I'm poor right now, but I've been out looking for a job. My final interview is coming up for a very nice position.
Some poor people have themselves to blame: others have had bad luck. Some poor folks really don't care.

Answer 9

Of course. The poor are poor because they're just lazy. It has nothing to do with racism, sexism or the privilege of the wealthy. And, the rich are rich because of hard work. It has nothing to do with being born into a rich family, nepotism, tax breaks, white collar crime, or market manipulation. By the way, I'm a unicorn. Nice to meet you.

Answer 10

You have it backwards: It's now the American way for poor people to expect the hard-working, tax-paying citizens to take care of them without giving anything in return. Have you listened to people on welfare? We OWE it to them. They have every right to sit on their fat lazy butts and have more children that they don't want (just so they can get a bigger welfare check every month) and watch Jerry Springer all day while the rest of us go out and EARN a living and pay taxes that enable them to be leeches on our society. We'd all sleep and live better if these layabouts would get jobs.