Originally Posted by
Jeff Logan
The rich get richer and the poor get poorer because the rich exploit and manipulate the poor. Have you been a victim of these inequities?
Jeff :eek:
Can you give an example of this exploitation?
I can tell you about the working poor at the company I work for. New hires with no experience get paid above minimum at $8/hr. This still isn't enough to live on, but the hard truth is that the job takes few skills and most employees can be trained to do it in very little time.
I believe many people that are poor end up that way because they make incredibly bad decisions. Our company offers health insurance - the company pays 60% of the premium. Only 20% of those eligible take advantage of it because they claim they can't afford it. They can afford cigarettes, a new purse and/or shoes every week and to go partying every weekend, but can't manage to find $20 a week to pay for their insurance.
We have a young single mother who I have been trying to talk into signing up for our 401k program. I explained that if she contributed only $5 a week - the company would also contribute $5 a week and although that sounds like peanuts - after a year it is $520. When you are in your early 20s - that little bit adds up over time. But no, she can't afford to give a couple packs of cigarettes for that. Even fewer of those eligible take advantage of our 401k program.
Many are poor because they p!ssed away 12 years of free education. They come out of school dumb and proud of it and then are so dismayed that they can't walk into a 40k a year job. I have encouraged fellow workers to examine online degrees and/or trade schools. They have dozens of reasons they can't. There are so many grants and financial aid programs available that no one will be denied an education that wants it and it WILLING TO WORK for it.
I have a sister that I guess could be considered poor. She is constantly having to find a way to keep her electricity on and her landlord off her back. She is a writer - and barely eeks out a living doing that. She remarked to me once "I could have a nice house and stuff like yours if I was willing to work an office job - I just don't want to." She has made her choice. I don't work because I love the job. I do so to provide for my family and to make sure my disabled son doesn't become a burden on his family or society once I am gone. I would love to stay at home and paint, or play video games or write poetry, but I don't because my obligations are important to me.
I am sure there are exceptions, but I truly don't believe anyone is poor because a rich person exploited them.