Poor

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Everyone laments about how the poor are lagging behind the rest of the population in car ownership, broadband access, home ownership, health insurance coverage, etc. No shit! That is what poor means. In every society that exists or has ever existed, there is a class structure. No matter how “equal” a class structure is supposed to be, some people will not have as much as others and will consider themselves “poor.” The “poor” in the United States are not lagging behind in smoking, drinking, gold jewelry ownership, and illegal drug use; they always find money to satisfy their vices even if it means they, or their children, must go hungry, which is unlikely since we taxpayers give them food stamps.

Being poor is relative. There are natives living in third world villages who we consider to be poor, while in their villages and cultures they are considered rich. Being poor does mean you break the law or have to live in a filthy house. Many poor people are good, honest people who take pride in what they have, no matter how meager it may be. Being poor merely means you do not have the things others may have and you may have to work harder for what you do have. For most people, being poor is an incentive to do better; for others it is an excuse to do nothing. For most people, poor is state of mind.