Monday, January 2, 2012

Why the Poor Stay Poor

I must admit, there are times I read articles about the difference of mindset between the wealthy and poor or on why the poor in America stay poor with great amusement. I read these articles and the whole time I wonder if the people that gathered the information or wrote the article were ever actually poor themselves. Something tells me it is highly unlikely that they were ever poor or bothered to ever actually get to know a variety of families in the low-income levels of living. Frankly I would have to disagree with most of what these articles or statics say.

Health Care

If you look at the Alabama Cooperative Extension  they will discuss health care and the fact that 20% of Americans turn down Employer offered insurance, many siting it is too much of a cost. The article goes on to say if only they could get them to sign up for it how it would reduce the non-insured in America. Well personally I was in this situation myself at one time, I was offered AFLAC for a little over a $100 a month for a family coverage at the time. At the time I was a single mother working 16 hour days for about $1100 a month with a $700 mortgage a month and with a winter electric bill that equaled and sometimes surpassed my mortgage! (Yeah my stupid house had ELECTRIC heat in a winter state with a son who hiked up the heat when I went to work, the more I worked to pay the bill, the more he hiked up the heat!)

While people look at $100 and say it is not that much, well it is a whole LOT of money when you just do not make that kind of money. I was always in foreclosure at the time, my cars were always broken down, my house was the MONEY PIT of all houses where over $10,000 in repairs happened the year I got a divorce. Also looking at the plan they offered , never covered anything that actually went wrong health wise with my family! So yeah, I turned it down!

My husband was also offered BLUE CROSS for a small fee of $550 a month ummmmmmm yeah like that is gonna happen at exactly one whole pay check out of two! Don't think so! How exactly do they think they are going to get low income working families to sign up for ridiculously high cost insurance plans when offered? Sorry to burst their bubble but it is not gonna happen unless they offer a good plan at low cost.

They will also go into the fact that many poor refuse many of the free government programs such as food stamps and such. Refusing a system that is designed to help keep one poor keeps you poor?


It Takes Money To Make Money

I have heard the poor stay poor because they do not have the resources financially to seize the opportunities that would lift them out of poverty.

Seriously? Seriously? No really, Seriously?

Every American in this country has the same opportunities as everyone else, it is indeed an abundant universe. Why is it an immigrant can come over here with only a dollar in their pocket and end up running a successful business or become wealthy? Yet an American once starting the downhill spiral, spirals downward out of control? An immigrant sees opportunity in EVERY situation and are willing to act on them and work hard, failure is NOT an option for them.

While money CAN open more doors to the beholder of wealth,  it is certainly not lack of money that keeps the poor America in poverty. Perhaps lack of know how but knowledge can be acquired and learned if one is motivated enough to do so.Making money has never been easier or faster than right now in history not to mention all the opportunities that do not take much money at all to start a venture.

Gone are the days where it takes 30 or 40 years to see the fruitation of an idea manifest itself into wealthy enterprises. Things go at super hyper speed now that we are in a super information highway age, and what took Henry Ford 30 or more years to accomplish can happen in the matter of days in a garage today.

It is not lack on money that keeps one poor, it is the lack of willingness to gain new fresh knowledge combined perhaps with the letting opportunities slip on by when one can not see an opportunity for what it is when it is presented to them.

Fear if Success- It is easy to understand, what we know yet fear rises when new waters are to be tested. I would say that many who have lived a long time in poverty KNOW poverty. They know how to live, how to cut corners, how to struggle! When success becomes evident, anxiety of unknown territory rises, panic sets in and self sabotage comes into play. How we feel about money and wealth may have a great impact in this area as well. If we have been been raised with the "money is the root of evil, the rich are greedy, the rich are mean and evil, they take from the poor blah blah blah, the fear of ourselves becoming wealthy scares the living stuffing out of us!

Some literally can not picture a life of a decent house, nice furniture, paying bills on time, plenty of food, decent clothing, reliable cars.......it is too foreign of a thought if it has NEVER been experienced. The common reaction is to pull the rug out from under that unknown scenario when it is on the horizon and seems so close. A victory perhaps one does not really think they deserve or simply would not know how to live like that.

Poor Health/Poor Choices- Sometimes a lack of good health would defiantly keep one in the loop of poverty, I do know a few where their health would never allow them to forge ahead and this sadly can keep one poor. You have to have OKAY health at least to keep moving forward and to have energy to put effort into achieving goals. Without health you remain in a pickle jar and this can not always be helped.

On the other hand, some start out on the wrong foot making all the wrong choices. Miss money management, not knowing how to do anything frugal. Living above ones means, getting pregnant or married too young, drugs, alcohol, get rich quick scams, whatever.

Bad choices are bad choices and until a correct course is established nothing will change. This is really an area where if one is not willing to change, they will remain where they are in the out of control spiral going downhill the whole way.

It is easier to start out making the right choices, then to go back and try to correct 30 years of mistakes. Bad choices and decisions can defiantly keep one in poverty.

Poor People focus on Problems not Solutions:

Really? Have you ever sat around a table with a bunch of poor friends? First of all many poor people for a variety of reasons, DO NOT FEEL POOR! Shhhhhhhhhhhhh I let the secret out of the BAG, we have learned to enjoy and see the beauty in the simple things life has to offer. We smell the roses and have deep gratitude for the things we have in our daily lives. Many outsiders that would see certain things in our lives as a problem, we don't have a problem with! For example, many outsiders had a problem me and hubby went without furniture for 3 or 4 years, we used bedrolls instead of beds and such and we lived very comfortably in this manner yet many thought this crazy, bizarre and a great lack. You ever see a Japanese house? How we lived would of been perfectly acceptable there but not in AMERICA. Hmmm interesting how this bothered so many others when it NEVER bothered us at all! Gave us more floor space!

On the other side, sitting around a table with poor friends, while yes they may worry about meeting the heat bill, or if they will have enough food for the month, the ideas and hilarious scenarios that fly around the table are HUGE. They have big ideas, GREAT ideas, Innovative ideas all of which could be possible solutions. However this is the main problem here is that these ideas are just TALKING THE TALK and remain dreams as many times they simply do not know how to WALK THE WALK. This points back to the original statement of LACK OF KNOWLEDGE. They do not take the steps of goal planning or gaining the knowledge they need in order to turn an idea into a reality. Ideas without action keeps one poor.Lacking the knowledge of how to get the idea moved into a reality, keeps one poor. Knowledge is something few seem to want to seek out which in today's age has never been easier to do!

While there are many other ideas of why the poor stay poor or the difference between the wealthy and poor mindsets, these are just a few of MY personal observations and opinions. You may or may not agree with them but at least these opinions are coming from someone who is not a stranger to poverty. I may cover some more of the differences in future articles as there seem to be many!

Hope ya all have a great day, MAKE IT AMAZING!

2 comments:

  1. Great post with lots of excellent points! Sometimes you have to "Just Do It!" if you want to get ahead! :)

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  2. Speak your truths girl. Let your voice be heard!

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