-Corpus - kudos to you.
But you of all people then, should understand that not everyone is as able or capable of getting out from under a rock. Humans are just that - human, and it's those human foibles and comlexities that make us or break us. For every person able to move up and on and past, there are 10,000 more that simply can't. Anyone who has been in that position generally accepts, acknowledges and understands that.
Most also fully comprehend that 50% of kids who grow up in abusive, drug filled or alcoholic homes will repeat the same pattern. It doesn't make them lazy, pathetic, idiotic or necessarily entirely responsible for their own choices, because we are all a product of our past in some way, shape or form.
It's too easy and simplistic to say that a kid who was raped as a child should just buck up and move on because you did. It's too easy to blame her following actions from a lifetime of sexual abuse, jumping into an early marriage and having children to an abuser, solely on her and then whip her for those decisions when she fails society. Too easy. It's too easy to assume that just because you can't see pain and struggle, that it doesn't exist and for good reason.
I find the libertarian point of view rather stone cold and simplistic. Life is not like that. Those of us who have endured whatever hardships along the way generally have more empathy - we don't necessarily always absolve people for their choices but generally we can recognize that all people are not strong. Those young JW kids who commit suicide from being shunned - poor choices? Perhaps the only choice they could see as a way out of a lifetime of pain and the hopelessness of a future with nothing to lean on from the past - is their death a poor choice or a symptom of their situation created by their environment? One thing is certain, we need to judge less harshly and instead of individual liberty, we need to realize that we do not live on an island alone....at some point in life the vast majority of people will want or need someone in their life....A lot of people never ask for help, they do not depend on the government to run to their aid, they try to survive alone - some make it, some don't.
Going back to your original point - being poor isn't about making poor choices all the time. Like I said - poor choices can evolve from circumstance or environment. Suviving a bad situation can be equal parts of luck, opportunity and will or ability - sometimes it's a matter of looking outward for help to get over a hump and help you survive while things turn around and there is nothing wrong with that - even if that help comes from government, school, neighbor, friend or community.
You should accept that you did start out in life with an advantage. You had the capability and ability to become self aware and the intelligence to act in a way that would change the course of your life. To think that everyone is capable of the same things is not logical else all people would be survivors of all things and they are not. sammies
