it's not that easy to get out of poverty, stats on social mobility in America, home of "The American Dream", are not pretty. If you're born rich, you have a real good chance to stay that way, if you're born poor, you have a much harder chance of getting ahead. You tend to wind up in poorer schools, which means it's tougher to get motivated and tougher to get into a good college, you may not have as much info on other options, or as much info in general. Plus there's the idea of social capital and social networks, i.e. getting a job isn't just about being the most qualified applicant, it's about knowing how to do the interview and knowing somebody at a company even. The only arguments I really don't like is when people seem to imply that poor people don't want to get out of poverty, that they don't know how to spend money, and it's hopeless to try to fight the "culture of poverty". Some of this is stating the obvious, but I don't think it's wrong to argue that social mobility isn't all it's cracked up to be in America and that some things (especially education) need fixing, I think it sucks when that argument is used to say "poor people are hopeless and wouldn't know what to do with more information or money."


Nasty like the freaky deaky at your local sleazy speakeasy - MF Doom