4 ms·

> So let me get this straight -- being a responsible adult is working 16 hours per day, living off of oatmeal, having no disposable income? If you want to own

by tjic 16y ago

> So let me get this straight -- being a responsible adult is working 16 hours per day, living off of oatmeal, having no disposable income? If you want to own a house, or bootstrap yourself into new skills, or otherwise escape poverty, then yes. That's what most of our ancestors did, and we're living in the society that they created and bequeathed to us.

kenjackson 16y ago
That's stupid. I'm not doing that. No one I know who has escaped poverty has done that. No one. In fact pretty much everyone I know who has "escaped" poverty has done so through their kids. I know a few NFL, NBA players. And some that went the academic route. Of the couple of adults I know who escaped poverty. They did so by less legal means.
- tjic 16y ago
  > That's stupid. I'm not doing that. No one I know who has escaped poverty has done that. No one. I was born with a net worth of $0. I now own two companies, and a house with no mortgage. I did it by working hard, and by working smart.
  - kenjackson 16y ago
    If you spent most of your life working two jobs for 16 hours per day, eating oatmeal, I quite frankly don't think you worked very smart. But each to their own, and what they want to spend their time on Earth doing.
    - illumin8 16y ago
      The point he is making, and that you don't seem to understand is that you need to live within your means. If your means consist of $8 an hour, $320 a week, $1000 a month after taxes, that means buying bulk oatmeal instead of Raisin Bran. That might mean eating beans and rice instead of stealing steak. Having been a poor, starving college student before, and living off of ramen noodles, mac and cheese, hot dogs, etc, I know this reality. I wasn't smart enough at the time to realize how unhealthy a lot of cheap food is, and if I had to do it over again I'd eat beans and rice and oatmeal as they're much more healthy. Anyway, the point he's trying to make is that even if you are extremely poor, making $8 an hour, you can choose to live on a budget. Rent a room somewhere for a few hundred dollars a month, buy cheap food for a hundred bucks a month. If you're smart and live within your means, you can be saving 10% of your income even with only $1,000 a month. Work a second job, pick up more income. Maybe splurge and buy some meat once in a while now that you can afford it. If you're getting a $200 payday loan every week and paying $250 a few days later, you're just plain stupid. That ends up taking $200 a month out of your money. And $200 a month can buy a lot of oatmeal...
      - kenjackson 16y ago
        The point he is really making is work hard, read your bible, and shut up. Everyone can make it, just do those three things. And if you end up broke and having wasted your life, like so many others, at least you have heaven to look forward to.
        ubernostrum 16y ago
        For some reason here I'm reminded of Malcolm X's autobiography...
  - elblanco 16y ago
    And apparently by not acknowledging any single person who helped you along the way. Way to spit on all of those people with such shameless self-aggrandizing pomposity.
    - dschobel 16y ago
      How can you make such a statement knowing nothing about how he achieved his success?
      - elblanco 16y ago
        Because he attributes his success to his own singular superhumanity. Nobody makes their way in this world completely on their own.
        dschobel 16y ago
        Sure, but there's no basis for knowing whether he had more or less help than any other human gets from just being a member of society.
  - dschobel 16y ago
    This post reminds me of an interesting phenomenon I keep noticing in my friends-- those who are the least sympathetic to the poor (in the 'those poor darlings never had a chance' sense) are those which came from the most modest backgrounds and have achieved some measure of success. The sympathy seems to be inversely proportional to the modesty of the background and the level of current financial success. Similarly, it's those who had everything handed to them who are most sympathetic (at least, vocally so).
    - ergo98 16y ago
      tjic said they were born with $0 net worth, which is generally true of all newborns, no? Your assumption that they bootstrapped themselves up seems misplaced. I would very strongly guess that they had a comfortable middle-class existence. Only such a person thinks it's just a matter of work hard versus laziness.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
  - kenjackson 16y ago
    Thing is... I don't know your dad.

by tjic 16y ago

kenjackson 16y ago

That's stupid. I'm not doing that. No one I know who has escaped poverty has done that. No one. In fact pretty much everyone I know who has "escaped" poverty has done so through their kids. I know a few NFL, NBA players. And some that went the academic route. Of the couple of adults I know who escaped poverty. They did so by less legal means.

tjic 16y ago
> That's stupid. I'm not doing that. No one I know who has escaped poverty has done that. No one. I was born with a net worth of $0. I now own two companies, and a house with no mortgage. I did it by working hard, and by working smart.
- kenjackson 16y ago
  If you spent most of your life working two jobs for 16 hours per day, eating oatmeal, I quite frankly don't think you worked very smart. But each to their own, and what they want to spend their time on Earth doing.
  - illumin8 16y ago
    The point he is making, and that you don't seem to understand is that you need to live within your means. If your means consist of $8 an hour, $320 a week, $1000 a month after taxes, that means buying bulk oatmeal instead of Raisin Bran. That might mean eating beans and rice instead of stealing steak. Having been a poor, starving college student before, and living off of ramen noodles, mac and cheese, hot dogs, etc, I know this reality. I wasn't smart enough at the time to realize how unhealthy a lot of cheap food is, and if I had to do it over again I'd eat beans and rice and oatmeal as they're much more healthy. Anyway, the point he's trying to make is that even if you are extremely poor, making $8 an hour, you can choose to live on a budget. Rent a room somewhere for a few hundred dollars a month, buy cheap food for a hundred bucks a month. If you're smart and live within your means, you can be saving 10% of your income even with only $1,000 a month. Work a second job, pick up more income. Maybe splurge and buy some meat once in a while now that you can afford it. If you're getting a $200 payday loan every week and paying $250 a few days later, you're just plain stupid. That ends up taking $200 a month out of your money. And $200 a month can buy a lot of oatmeal...
    - kenjackson 16y ago
      The point he is really making is work hard, read your bible, and shut up. Everyone can make it, just do those three things. And if you end up broke and having wasted your life, like so many others, at least you have heaven to look forward to.
      - ubernostrum 16y ago
        For some reason here I'm reminded of Malcolm X's autobiography...
- elblanco 16y ago
  And apparently by not acknowledging any single person who helped you along the way. Way to spit on all of those people with such shameless self-aggrandizing pomposity.
  - dschobel 16y ago
    How can you make such a statement knowing nothing about how he achieved his success?
    - elblanco 16y ago
      Because he attributes his success to his own singular superhumanity. Nobody makes their way in this world completely on their own.
      - dschobel 16y ago
        Sure, but there's no basis for knowing whether he had more or less help than any other human gets from just being a member of society.
- dschobel 16y ago
  This post reminds me of an interesting phenomenon I keep noticing in my friends-- those who are the least sympathetic to the poor (in the 'those poor darlings never had a chance' sense) are those which came from the most modest backgrounds and have achieved some measure of success. The sympathy seems to be inversely proportional to the modesty of the background and the level of current financial success. Similarly, it's those who had everything handed to them who are most sympathetic (at least, vocally so).
  - ergo98 16y ago
    tjic said they were born with $0 net worth, which is generally true of all newborns, no? Your assumption that they bootstrapped themselves up seems misplaced. I would very strongly guess that they had a comfortable middle-class existence. Only such a person thinks it's just a matter of work hard versus laziness.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
- kenjackson 16y ago
  Thing is... I don't know your dad.