It's Difficult Being Poor
Many people receive food assistance from the government. Some receive cash assistance as well. I'm positive most people would like to have a job and regular income so that they can pay rent, go to the grocery store, buy gas or pay for a trip on the bus.
Even people with jobs and regular incomes feel the pressure these days. People with extraordinary incomes and capital behind them can cut back without really cutting back on much. Maybe they just don't grow their assets as much as they used to. Maybe that's because deferring gratification is easier if you are not on the margin.
At the end of the month or the week, the rent needs to be paid, the light bill, bus fare, and maybe quarters for laundry. This means different things at different rungs on the economic ladder.
As with most things we have selective memories, but if you have a family and need to scramble for a place to stay, food to eat, and a way to pay for it all, things can get complicated.
Money may not make you happy but it can steady your nerves. And even the great entrepreneurial class asks others for money. I've watched Shark Tank and some of the groveling that folks do for the opportunity to grow a business has been turned into a form of entertainment. Access to capital can move you forward or hold you back or if the terms are bad a pile of debt.
Ayn Rand thinks individuals can do it all. Margaret Mead agrees that individuals are important. But society, culture, education, democracy, compromise and a realization that things are interdependent makes progress for everybody easier.
Opportunity, resources and education need to be available for all, and people need to be able to take advantage of the resources that are produced. Too often access to resources and the development of people to take advantage of these things is restricted. The reason for restrictions too often are artificial or the result of gaming the situation, yet we continue to think the situation is the result of hard work when it might be dumb luck.
Even people with jobs and regular incomes feel the pressure these days. People with extraordinary incomes and capital behind them can cut back without really cutting back on much. Maybe they just don't grow their assets as much as they used to. Maybe that's because deferring gratification is easier if you are not on the margin.
At the end of the month or the week, the rent needs to be paid, the light bill, bus fare, and maybe quarters for laundry. This means different things at different rungs on the economic ladder.
As with most things we have selective memories, but if you have a family and need to scramble for a place to stay, food to eat, and a way to pay for it all, things can get complicated.
Money may not make you happy but it can steady your nerves. And even the great entrepreneurial class asks others for money. I've watched Shark Tank and some of the groveling that folks do for the opportunity to grow a business has been turned into a form of entertainment. Access to capital can move you forward or hold you back or if the terms are bad a pile of debt.
Ayn Rand thinks individuals can do it all. Margaret Mead agrees that individuals are important. But society, culture, education, democracy, compromise and a realization that things are interdependent makes progress for everybody easier.
Opportunity, resources and education need to be available for all, and people need to be able to take advantage of the resources that are produced. Too often access to resources and the development of people to take advantage of these things is restricted. The reason for restrictions too often are artificial or the result of gaming the situation, yet we continue to think the situation is the result of hard work when it might be dumb luck.
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