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I also started from the bottom and experienced plenty of adversity on the way up, yet I feel that my path is very replicable. We live in a nation where if you d

I also started from the bottom and experienced plenty of adversity on the way up, yet I feel that my path is very replicable. We live in a nation where if you do well, even in a shit school, that's a fast track to admittance to a top tier university where you'll invariably have all the financial aid in the world, and then some, available literally [and exploitatively] at the click of a button. And from there success is not really in question so long as you major in something that's commercially viable. And in that regard it's not really an economic issue as much as a social issue. People that come from families with no value for education, or individuals that themselves don't take their education seriously are obviously going to struggle. But those actions are something beyond socioeconomic reasons - as the same is true of somebody born into a rich family - though granted in that case the individual will obviously have more resources to rely on to subsidize his failure. While I'm sure your circumstances may have dictated such, I'm not really understanding what you're talking about with such a high cost of failure. When I failed, and I did, it simply meant it was time to get a job and work myself up to be able to take shot #x. When one 'sticks', you're set and can use that to enable your future shots.

maxxxxx 8y ago
"When I failed, and I did, it simply meant it was time to get a job and work myself up to be able to take shot #x" Years ago I did some real estate deals together with a few guys from rich families. The first deal went bad leaving me with debt that lasted more than 10 years to pay off. The other guys got more money from family, did a few more deals that went well and are now successful businessmen. When you don't have money you often can't afford to fail in the same way wealthy people can. The consequences are much more severe.
fzeroracer 8y ago
I think we might have very different experiences and definitions as what counts as the bottom My bottom was having very little money in my name, with parents that were poor and disabled as a result of the hardships of being fishermen. I had barely enough to take care of my family and go to college (with financial aid) as a result of other very personal circumstances. Even then, I had to make a choice. I could either spend some of that money on my failing health and never graduate from college, or focus on my education and hope I can fix it later. I went with the latter. Financial aid can only go so far when you're one medical issue away from disaster. When I finally got a career I had to have multiple rotting and infected teeth extracted because I couldn't afford to get them fixed prior. My family had a history of bad dental issues and I managed to hit it hard. This is what I mean by the bottom. If my dental issues had gotten worse, then I would've been screwed. This is the reality for a lot of people that grow up in poverty. It doesn't necessarily matter if we can get financial aid when there are other circumstances stopping us, affecting our education or worse.
- TangoTrotFox 8y ago
  Yeah definitely a very different experience. I lived in the urban city with a mostly absent single parent enjoying fine cuisine like ramen and iceberg lettuce - actually pretty good eating! Probably a bit late now, but you can often get free dental and medical treatment at universities! My parent ended up getting cancer (and getting over it) largely through these programs.
  - fzeroracer 8y ago
    Free treatment requires you to be in the right place with the funds to seek treatment though. I lived in an area where most of the free treatment we could get was a decent drive out of town and largely only covered children. There were no universities near me that offered treatment and believe me, that was one of the first things I tried. You were lucky that you had the opportunity to get that free treatment; an option I didn't have. I'm sorry your parent had to deal with cancer, thankfully that's one way my parents have been lucky so far in.
    - TangoTrotFox 8y ago
      Why not take a grey hound? I mean I just don't understand this. You can get anywhere in the country for what amounts to a few hours of minimum wage work. I'm damn sure going to be doing that if my teeth were getting to the point that it was becoming a health crisis! This is the thing that confuses me in general. People do have this immense opportunity all around them. But they always find a reason for not doing something. And these reasons never seem particularly compelling. And there is no reason to be sorry for anything I went through. As bizarre as it is, I would not have had my life any other way and I doubt even my parent would have. No doubt as a part of the cancer it caused them to reevaluate their life and after I had gone off to college they started taking night classes at a community college for nursing, and succeeded and have now worked their way up to very comfortable middle class, starting with little more than a high school degree in their late 30s. Also caused them to catch the Jesus a bit hard, but hey if it completes their life then more power to them.

maxxxxx 8y ago

"When I failed, and I did, it simply meant it was time to get a job and work myself up to be able to take shot #x" Years ago I did some real estate deals together with a few guys from rich families. The first deal went bad leaving me with debt that lasted more than 10 years to pay off. The other guys got more money from family, did a few more deals that went well and are now successful businessmen. When you don't have money you often can't afford to fail in the same way wealthy people can. The consequences are much more severe.

fzeroracer 8y ago

I think we might have very different experiences and definitions as what counts as the bottom My bottom was having very little money in my name, with parents that were poor and disabled as a result of the hardships of being fishermen. I had barely enough to take care of my family and go to college (with financial aid) as a result of other very personal circumstances. Even then, I had to make a choice. I could either spend some of that money on my failing health and never graduate from college, or focus on my education and hope I can fix it later. I went with the latter. Financial aid can only go so far when you're one medical issue away from disaster. When I finally got a career I had to have multiple rotting and infected teeth extracted because I couldn't afford to get them fixed prior. My family had a history of bad dental issues and I managed to hit it hard. This is what I mean by the bottom. If my dental issues had gotten worse, then I would've been screwed. This is the reality for a lot of people that grow up in poverty. It doesn't necessarily matter if we can get financial aid when there are other circumstances stopping us, affecting our education or worse.

TangoTrotFox 8y ago
Yeah definitely a very different experience. I lived in the urban city with a mostly absent single parent enjoying fine cuisine like ramen and iceberg lettuce - actually pretty good eating! Probably a bit late now, but you can often get free dental and medical treatment at universities! My parent ended up getting cancer (and getting over it) largely through these programs.
- fzeroracer 8y ago
  Free treatment requires you to be in the right place with the funds to seek treatment though. I lived in an area where most of the free treatment we could get was a decent drive out of town and largely only covered children. There were no universities near me that offered treatment and believe me, that was one of the first things I tried. You were lucky that you had the opportunity to get that free treatment; an option I didn't have. I'm sorry your parent had to deal with cancer, thankfully that's one way my parents have been lucky so far in.
  - TangoTrotFox 8y ago
    Why not take a grey hound? I mean I just don't understand this. You can get anywhere in the country for what amounts to a few hours of minimum wage work. I'm damn sure going to be doing that if my teeth were getting to the point that it was becoming a health crisis! This is the thing that confuses me in general. People do have this immense opportunity all around them. But they always find a reason for not doing something. And these reasons never seem particularly compelling. And there is no reason to be sorry for anything I went through. As bizarre as it is, I would not have had my life any other way and I doubt even my parent would have. No doubt as a part of the cancer it caused them to reevaluate their life and after I had gone off to college they started taking night classes at a community college for nursing, and succeeded and have now worked their way up to very comfortable middle class, starting with little more than a high school degree in their late 30s. Also caused them to catch the Jesus a bit hard, but hey if it completes their life then more power to them.