Originally Posted by acroy
I honestly lean towards the belief that there is no excuse, no reason, for an able-bodied person to be poor. I know first-hand in my and my peer's jobs: companies have a hard time attacting and keeping good mid-paid people ($12-17/hr). All they really need to do is be reliable, just show up: no special skills needed! Yet the job market must be really good, cause they get bored after a few weeks, quit showing up, don't bother to call in... and get on "unemployment" till it runs out.
I don't give a tiny little rat's rear what your color is, where you used to live, what you watch on tv, what kind of accent you speak with, who you vote for; all I want is for you to show up on time and drive the dang forklift safely. In other words: to do the job you're getting paid for!
We have an epidemic of Laziness in this country. And a scarsity of personal responsibility, imho.
Then, I think you need to pull your head out of the sand and get a broader perspective. If it were that easy to get out of poverty, there wouldn't be any poor to begin with. You can start with these and give us a book report on Monday.
Joyce Foundation. Welfare-to-Work: What Have We Learned?. (April 24, 2002)
http://www.joycefdn.org/welrept
Lappé, Frances Moore and Rachel Schurman. “The Population Puzzle, The solution is found in addressing
the impoverishment of families and the imbalance of power that perpetuates it.” In Context #21. (Spring 1989)
Ruff, Allen. "Neoliberalism, The New Social Darwinism, and New Orleans." Monthly Review. (8 September 2005)
US Conference of Mayors' Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness (2004, 2005)
www.usmayors.org