There are some people in this world who fault those who are poor because they blame “the poor” for their own poverty.  They start their litany:

<?xml:namespace prefix = o /> They are poor because they

• don’t work hard, are lazy


• didn’t bother getting a good education


• make foolish life decisions


• are stupid


• prefer a handout

 However, when we actually talk with “the poor”, are these things true?  I have been poor – I feel like I am barely away from the slippery slope of poverty today.  When I was poor, I

• worked very hard


• had a college education


• had married later than most of my peers, and waited a few years after that before having children


• was very intelligent


• loathed asking for assistance, and often only tolerated receiving it because it benefited my children or because my life depended on it

 Let’s turn it around.  Why are the wealthy “wealthy”? 

Do the wealthy all

• work hard?


• Have good educations?


• Make intelligent life decisions?


• Have high IQs?


• Obtain their money through their own ingenuity and work?

 Some of the wealthy work hard, or have worked hard to get where they are.  But not all.  Many of the wealthy obtain most of their income from investments and do not directly work for the money they earn.

 I don’t know what the percentage of college graduates are among the wealthy versus the poor – I suspect there are more college grads among the wealthy simply because without the barriers of money there are more opportunities available for education.

 If the tabloids are anything to judge by, I’d wager that the wealthy don’t make life decisions that are any more intelligent than the average person.

 Some wealthy people are highly intelligent.  Some are not.  A lot of it may have to do with how they came into their wealth….

 Many wealthy came from wealthy families.  Some, were just in the right place at the right time – a lot of wealth was generated by people who bought homes in California when prices were low, and sold when prices were high – but they didn’t do it by plan, it was merely “just the way it worked out”.  The same can be said about a lot of other people who ended up well-off. 

 One thing is definitely true – no one is wealthy without having the labor and intelligence of many, many more people supporting them from below.  Without the tellers working long hours on tired feet, the bank CEOs would not be able to command their high salaries.  The wealthy always glut – to some degree or another – off of the labor of others.  They never, never, ever generate all that wealth solely on their own. 

 It is when I dwell on these topics that I remember the rallying cry of Karl Marx: “Proletariat, unite!!”

 However, violence is not the answer.  Violence will merely lead to repression and death.  (Remember the French Revolution?)  Somehow, our culture needs to realize that concentrating wealth in the hands of few is not beneficial to anyone in the long run.  How do we change things?  I wish I knew.  Where do we go from here? 

 I am open to suggestions.