The reality is that even if 90% of poor people were hard-working and smart, the majority would still be poor. The economic superstructure demands it-- not everyone can be rich or even middle income in our system. A large pool of people must exist at the bottom of society due to the systemic demands of the economic engine of society, either as powerless, cheap labor, exploited to various degrees, or as a surplus army of labor (the unemployed) or as the parasitic underclass criminals feeding on the poor and working-class from the bottom, just as the parasitic ruling class and middle management feeds on them from on high.
True in the advanced capitalist countries, particularly the seats of imperial power and their clients in Europe, there exists some degree of social mobility for poor and working-class people who are intelligent and motivated, but there's some luck involved, and, as indicated above, an upper limit on how many can advance-- the opportunities for advancement are finite. So while some will succeed in moving up, some equally-equipped and motivated will not.
Short version-- you ain't all that.
Well Im clearly more than the 90% and alot of people who whine and bitch about being at the bottom of the barrel.
To an extent what you say is true, but to another extent, its bollocks.
Alot of people stay on the ground, not because 'opportunities are finite' but because they have no desire to achieve or too goddamn stupid to even provide the illusion of self-worth.
I spent plenty of months in job centres and work development programs and I'll tell you this:
I was the one sending out 100's of C.Vs per week,
I was the one who showed up every day,
I was the one who took every available course,
I was the one who spent the whole day in classes,
I was the one who spent any additional money on education, not them,
ME.
Whilst the other groups of 10's, 20's, 30's were doing eff all, reading the newspapers, smoking and looking out the window,
I was the one who
actually got off his ass and did something and I am the one who started to make something of myself, so you can cut the bullshit on how its societies fault for peoples standards and how it comes down to luck. Yes the chances are finite, but they're not 1 in a million or like a lottery.
Its not 'luck' that most self-made millionaires got to where they were, you cant claim its about financial help and you cant claim its about education, because in so many of the cases these people were just as much in the same position as said people. Its about work and responsibility and worth and ambition.
I presume you live in England, how many people on 'the secret millionaire' go back to the slums from where they lived? Did everything just miraculously deteriorate in the area the moment the cameras started rolling?
Theres a reason why I was
always the top of my class, why the staff at every appointment liked me the most, why I was always given the most flexibility, the most attention, the highest ratings, the highest applause, the most job opportunities, the highest work positions, the most pay increases, the most promotions, the most referrals, the best references in every single case and the reason why 10 of us went for interviews at a factory --9 of them getting work as sorters/packers and yet I (with no more experience or qualifications at the time) came out with trainee supervisor with an extra £3 an hour...It had eff all to do with luck, it had eff all to do with 'society' and it had eff all to do with my identical position to every other person in my class/ work group who were mediocre AT BEST..Gee, I wonder what the cause was for my consistent special treatment over the others..
Like you said, some people have the ability but never get the opportunity and sometimes thats true; But these people are not even close to numbers that would make such an excuse valid.
I cant even count the number of shop-owners and general successes in the area who don't even come from the country..people who come from nothing and with nothing more than a suitcase and can't even speak the language, yet manage to open businesses and gain higher positions in companies in a short time period...funny how that works for a society that forces people down..
The enigmas are piling up aren't they...
Hard work + Ambitious = respect + promotions + opportunity? Naaa, its a conspiracy from the corporate elites in their ivory towers..
So yes I am 'all that', I always will be, not something that can be said for most others, whether it be on this forum or in the local estate.
People are responsible for their own futures. Yes its hard some times, but its
1) Not unattainable
2) Not societies fault that some people just so happen to not make any effort or take any interest in being any more than a cog in a machine
3) Surprisingly to you and society, isn't
always everyone elses fault but their own.and forever making excuses for the 'victims' (as I tend to see certain people do on this forum, no matter what the scenario) helps no one, especially not the people who are having 'psychological' and 'social' excuses shoved down their throats for explanations as to why they're spray-painting the wall or downing a bottle of vodka in the street or launching a brick at a car windscreen.
Society needs some people to be poor? Well the market is pretty over-saturated and I seldom come across people who have the mentality of finding it enough of an issue to even make an attempt to get out of it.
Its one big nanny-state playing the violin where everyone has a sense of entitlement but no care of understanding of why life isn't providing.
Topic: Riots in London