Rich Verses Poor (Poverty is a Cyclical Beast)

Dave Ramsey angered some people when he shared this list of the habits of the rich and poor. Tim Corley is responsible for the researching and compiling of this list. Ben Irwin wrote this alternative list for his blog in response to the Ramsey piece. Tim Corley's under-researched list, that Ramsey shares and defends, would be better put as a list of what rich people do BECAUSE THEY CAN. The assumed shortcomings of the poor in this list are actually by and large symptoms of poverty. Yes, poor people could want to read more, or want to gamble less, but, Corley's article has more to do with the symptoms of poverty than the underlying cause.

Some points about Tim Corley's article:
1. Rich people eat better, eat less junk food. Of course, they can afford better food. That one's a no brainer. 
3. The rich can afford gym memberships, and aren't as often to be stuck in situations that do not allow them to exercise, like working 80+ hours a week. 
7. Wealthy parents have time and opportunity to make their kids volunteer. 
10. Wealthy are more likely to get a job that demands that much career based reading. 
15. This is entirely dependent on the job. If you have to go to work at three a.m., then that means you wake up at midnight. Not very practical. Also, as Irwin writes, poor people are more likely to have multiple jobs, not allowing for a full nights sleep between jobs. His article is more accurate, more in touch with the reality of poverty.

The less a person is paid, the harder they tend to work. I spent time working with people making 9 bucks an hour, less than half of what I used to make. These people worked very hard, a hell of a lot harder than by buddies at my former job (including me at the time). The worst working, laziest, dumbest people I've ever had the misprivilege to work with made much more than me. Poverty level jobs are more likely to be inhibiting to advancing your situation. Take my former employer, for example. Your schedule was up in the air, you only knew it for sure a week ahead of time, and sometimes not even then. You were regularly worked 60-80 hours a week and your shift could change on two days notice. You usually didn't know what you were working Saturday and Sunday until that Friday. With a very strict attendance policy you couldn't call in very often when work changed your plans. You can't plan college or other job training around that. You can't plan anything around a job that gives you zero planned free time. Many people also work multiple jobs just to make a living wage, which doesn't leave time for stuff like college.

Poverty can be all consuming. It's hard to plan out your career and your life goals when you have to make three hundred dollars a week cover four hundred dollars a week in bills, and then feed your family on top of that. You can work hard, full time and then some, but still fall short. When you can't afford the gas to drive to something even if it's free, you are much more likely to spend your free time in front of the t.v. You are much more likely to despair if your situation looks bleak. Poverty is a cyclical beast. Yes, it's true that some people make it from poverty, but they are the exceptions. Most get caught in the cycle, for many reasons continuing the often generational poverty.

Maybe it's hard for those with opportunity to understand. The fact is, the current system isn't one that works if everyone pulls themselves up from the gutter and becomes a successful business owner. the system relies on poverty, it relies on the poor. Whole industries are structured around an underpaid workforce and a devalued consumer. Corporations have many lower level employees yet few upper level employees. If everyone was on top, who would be doing the work? Success does come from hard work, but it also takes luck and circumstance. No one makes it without all three.