That's exactly on point. There's a guy I work with that grew up in Park City, UT. It's a ski town taken over by rich people. It's infuriating how detached he is from normal/poor people. He acts like being poor is worse than death and equally inescapable.
I tell him people join the military (i.e. the most socialized program in existence) to escape poverty and he's both disgusted and incredulous. I tell him people go to community college to afford college and get money thrown at them with grants and scholarships for being poor and he hates that they have to abase themselves with community college. (I don't think he's aware of how inexpensive it is). He doesn't know what subsidized housing is. ("How can people afford to live in Park City on minimum wage?")
Healthcare is a human right except for the unvaccinated. Education is a panacea (even for those who don't value it?)
Meanwhile I grew up in rural Oregon and my standard of whether childhood friends are doing well is if they don't do meth. They smoke pot and work at Starbucks or the Walmart distribution center and are happy as can be.
Anyways, my point is he has no clue how poor people actually live, why they're poor, and what resources are already available to them. He's only met ambitious people all his life. His dad was an Olympian and his mom is a philosophy professor.
Edit: Oh and the kicker is he resorts to some dirty emotional attacks when he knows he's wrong about his views and then projects detachment from the poor on ME, like a typical leftist. He doesn't have a clue how white trash my mom's side is and how trashy my hometown is. Nobody can comprehend that without seeing it. I'm the product of multigenerational good decisions on my dad's side and my mom knows for damn sure it only takes one generation to slide in or out of poverty.
I've had similar discussions with people. Mostly family friends that are 15-ish years younger than me and such that I get along pretty well with. This same type sentiment is there. They can only envision following any sort of path that is them going to follow their un-employable passion at an expensive popular university and there's nothing else they could ever bring themselves to do.
I also know one that went that road and it all blew up in his face and now he's basically a poor person. Not subsidized housing but not exactly doing well. I've tried to tell him to do those things you mention even now and it doesn't stick. I can't tell if it's laziness or just some sort of lack of follow through, but there seems to be a serious problem in these groups with just finishing anything.
I had dozens of friends in college studying architecture. 20 years later only 4 are still in architecture and only one is doing well and he went out and started a firm with two other guys. The others that are doing well left the field and became things like plumbers, electricians, HVAC techs and rage now about how instead of spending $100,000 they could have made well over $100,000 in those 5 years doing what they do now.
Sounds like our neighborhood. Although it's high income/high expenses and not any true wealth. Neighbors all concerned how we were going to afford our mortgage payment after we get fired for not being vaxxed. The look on their faces when shrugged and asked "What Mortgage? Haven't had one of those in 7 years now. We paid cash for this house and its the least valuable property we own. Hell I'm writing a check next week for 260 acres that is double what we paid for the house..."
I only work at friends businesses because they can't find any good help.
That's exactly on point. There's a guy I work with that grew up in Park City, UT. It's a ski town taken over by rich people. It's infuriating how detached he is from normal/poor people. He acts like being poor is worse than death and equally inescapable.
I tell him people join the military (i.e. the most socialized program in existence) to escape poverty and he's both disgusted and incredulous. I tell him people go to community college to afford college and get money thrown at them with grants and scholarships for being poor and he hates that they have to abase themselves with community college. (I don't think he's aware of how inexpensive it is). He doesn't know what subsidized housing is. ("How can people afford to live in Park City on minimum wage?")
Healthcare is a human right except for the unvaccinated. Education is a panacea (even for those who don't value it?)
Meanwhile I grew up in rural Oregon and my standard of whether childhood friends are doing well is if they don't do meth. They smoke pot and work at Starbucks or the Walmart distribution center and are happy as can be.
Anyways, my point is he has no clue how poor people actually live, why they're poor, and what resources are already available to them. He's only met ambitious people all his life. His dad was an Olympian and his mom is a philosophy professor.
Edit: Oh and the kicker is he resorts to some dirty emotional attacks when he knows he's wrong about his views and then projects detachment from the poor on ME, like a typical leftist. He doesn't have a clue how white trash my mom's side is and how trashy my hometown is. Nobody can comprehend that without seeing it. I'm the product of multigenerational good decisions on my dad's side and my mom knows for damn sure it only takes one generation to slide in or out of poverty.
I've had similar discussions with people. Mostly family friends that are 15-ish years younger than me and such that I get along pretty well with. This same type sentiment is there. They can only envision following any sort of path that is them going to follow their un-employable passion at an expensive popular university and there's nothing else they could ever bring themselves to do.
I also know one that went that road and it all blew up in his face and now he's basically a poor person. Not subsidized housing but not exactly doing well. I've tried to tell him to do those things you mention even now and it doesn't stick. I can't tell if it's laziness or just some sort of lack of follow through, but there seems to be a serious problem in these groups with just finishing anything.
I had dozens of friends in college studying architecture. 20 years later only 4 are still in architecture and only one is doing well and he went out and started a firm with two other guys. The others that are doing well left the field and became things like plumbers, electricians, HVAC techs and rage now about how instead of spending $100,000 they could have made well over $100,000 in those 5 years doing what they do now.
Sounds like our neighborhood. Although it's high income/high expenses and not any true wealth. Neighbors all concerned how we were going to afford our mortgage payment after we get fired for not being vaxxed. The look on their faces when shrugged and asked "What Mortgage? Haven't had one of those in 7 years now. We paid cash for this house and its the least valuable property we own. Hell I'm writing a check next week for 260 acres that is double what we paid for the house..."
I only work at friends businesses because they can't find any good help.