Is It Really As Simple As 'Work hard and you will make it'?
Myth of class mobility?
http://news.com.com/2061-10788_3-5715278.html
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
If I said it once, I must have said it more than twice; working hard is not enough. Working hard is a key element to 'making it', but it is not THE element nor is it the only one.
The way I look at it, this is how it works:
Hard Work: 50%
Oppertunity: 25%
Take Risk: 10%
Connections: 10%
Other: 5%
(Other could be anything from winning the lotto to some odd beating event happening)
(Yes I pulled those stats out of my ass.. but I told you that already)
Hard work helps to get you there or gives you a chance to take advantage of an oppertunity or an inside connection, but the reality is that you can make it without hard work based only on oppertunity or connections (Or other).
In fact you can work hard all your life and still be poor. The US is based on captailism and taking risk, but the reality is that if you take a risk, you can end up poor... I guess that is why Poor People are Stupid. It is not whether you will make a mistake, it is about how fast can you get back up or fix it.
Never the less, it would sem that Americans believe that working hard is enough:
My key thing, even when it comes to Social Services, is that without giving people an oppertunity to add to the hard work that they should be doing, there is NO hope. Taking a risk literaly means becomig more edebted or worst. (and there are no real 'connections' to be made to find out where an opertunity exists)
It is not about ending Social Programs, it is about making them better. The people I met on public asssisance actually want to work and want good jobs. Most were kicked off of public assistance (like myself) when we found a job that paid us more than 67 dollars a week (mine pays about 100). What do some do? Find a part time job taking scrap metal to the junk yard or giving out free newspapers at the subway station.
There are always going to be people who abuse the system and drive Excalades while excepting food stamps, or people who have kids on perpose just to get aid (or catch deadly deseases or purposly hurt themselves to collect money) but without oppertunity to make something of yourselves, we all loose. We must give an oppertunity to those who work hard to make it.
So between living like your on The O.C. and being poor and stupid, is it really just about working hard and you will make it?
The way I look at it, this is how it works:
Hard Work: 50%
Oppertunity: 25%
Take Risk: 10%
Connections: 10%
Other: 5%
(Other could be anything from winning the lotto to some odd beating event happening)
(Yes I pulled those stats out of my ass.. but I told you that already)
Hard work helps to get you there or gives you a chance to take advantage of an oppertunity or an inside connection, but the reality is that you can make it without hard work based only on oppertunity or connections (Or other).
In fact you can work hard all your life and still be poor. The US is based on captailism and taking risk, but the reality is that if you take a risk, you can end up poor... I guess that is why Poor People are Stupid. It is not whether you will make a mistake, it is about how fast can you get back up or fix it.
Never the less, it would sem that Americans believe that working hard is enough:
According to the Times, Americans have a hard time accepting the notion that their society isn't terribly fluid. "Americans have never been comfortable with the notion of a pecking order based on anything other than talent and hard work," the authors write. "Class contradicts their assumptions about the American dream, equal opportunity and the reasons for their own successes and even failures. Americans, constitutionally optimistic, are disinclined to see themselves as stuck."
It's interesting that both the Times and Wall Street Journal are running series related to the relative health of the "American dream." These follow a set of stories in a similar vein, about workers and families facing increased economic insecurity, in the Los Angeles Times.
My key thing, even when it comes to Social Services, is that without giving people an oppertunity to add to the hard work that they should be doing, there is NO hope. Taking a risk literaly means becomig more edebted or worst. (and there are no real 'connections' to be made to find out where an opertunity exists)
It is not about ending Social Programs, it is about making them better. The people I met on public asssisance actually want to work and want good jobs. Most were kicked off of public assistance (like myself) when we found a job that paid us more than 67 dollars a week (mine pays about 100). What do some do? Find a part time job taking scrap metal to the junk yard or giving out free newspapers at the subway station.
There are always going to be people who abuse the system and drive Excalades while excepting food stamps, or people who have kids on perpose just to get aid (or catch deadly deseases or purposly hurt themselves to collect money) but without oppertunity to make something of yourselves, we all loose. We must give an oppertunity to those who work hard to make it.
So between living like your on The O.C. and being poor and stupid, is it really just about working hard and you will make it?
