TBH, I find the OP question a little naive (no offense, Miles).
It's the equivalent of the question: "Did you stop beating your wife, yes or no?"
Being poor is not a choice for a great many people.
Sure, your points (Miles) about fatherless families where the mother gives birth to 10 children is totally accurate and well received. I agree 100%. It puts a needless burden on society and at this point it's inconceivable that women without much to contribute to society would be spitting out kids by the dozens. It's irresponsible, especially when usually the plan is that "Well....... the government will take care of us."
But that's only a certain segment of society. Sure, a very big segment, but it cuts across all races and ethnic groups.
You know who's really at fault, IMO? The governments.
Governments that lazily draw up welfare plans and implement them just as carelessly are entirely to blame. They make it possible for people to FREELOAD as much as they possibly can. Generations upon generations decide to live off the government and of course have as many kids as they can, as the number of kids is many times rewarded under these systems. Governments have f*cked society up as royally as possible.
So little Johnny (I always use that name
) is born from a single black mother in the tough neighborhoods of Detroit, one of 10 kids born to this woman. They all live in the projects. They all live off food stamps, welfare, and whatever the mom can scrounge off the streets. Going to and staying in school is the first major challenge little Johnny is going to have to make. Just making it through grade school will be a challenge. The nearby public school is probably crime-ridden, teacher attendance is poor, and the lure of drug trafficking looms large as the way to some good, easy money. Let's say by some miracle Johnny makes it through the 12th grade. What chance does he have for a college or even a trade school education, all of which costs money? What grants are there available? Who's going to loan him money? By this time, all of Johnny's friends are either dead, or living the good life dealing drugs. Tough position to be in, is it not? What percentage of these kids actually make it through a post-high school education and make something out of themselves? I doubt anyone here has come from that background, and it would be interesting to see how each of us would deal with odds like that.
So asking "why do people stay poor" is in effect a superficially-sounding question that makes it seem like you're at Baskin Robbins choosing between chocolate or vanilla. It's not quite that simple.
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