Why are some people poor?

[IB12]

Julia

As to the long hours, I have seen it in many of the jobs that I have done - there is really a culture of work being priority and not worrying about the family.

Who says family should be a priority?
Not everyone gets married and has kids.

 

[gooner]

Who says family should be a priority?
Not everyone gets married and has kids.

Fair comment for single people. But not if you have kids - if you can't be bothered, don't have them. "You need a licence to own a dog but any a'hole can have kids" (from a movie, I don't remember which one)

 

[qe2infinity]

karma.

 

[Julia]

karma.

Perhaps you might like to explain what you mean.

 

[So_Cynical]

Perhaps you might like to explain what you mean.

Karma...like your very successful and drive a flashy car etc in this life, because in your last life you were a one legged, dirt poor, subsistence rice farmer in the Dutch East Indies in your last life.

 

[Julia]

Karma...like your very successful and drive a flashy car etc in this life, because in your last life you were a one legged, dirt poor, subsistence rice farmer in the Dutch East Indies in your last life.

So Cynical: I'm quite cognisant of the idea of karma. I was hoping qe2 would explain how he/she saw the relevance in this thread.

My understanding of it is that we will eventually experience the consequences of our actions, i.e. if we've dealt with others unfairly during our present lives, then we will experience the results of this in another following life.

So just the fact that you were successful and drove a 'flashy car' in this life, doesn't mean you're destined to be poor in the next life. If, however, you acquired the success and the 'flashy car' by cheating and doing wrongly by other people, then karma would suggest you would be penalised in the next life.

I don't necessarily subscribe to any of this stuff, but am interested in why qe2 would suggest some people are poor because of karma. It seems a simplistic and even irrational explanation to say the least.

People can be poor despite their very best and most diligent, honest efforts, e.g. someone becoming too ill to work.

 

[So_Cynical]

So Cynical: I'm quite cognisant of the idea of karma. I was hoping qe2 would explain how he/she saw the relevance in this thread.

My understanding of it is that we will eventually experience the consequences of our actions, i.e. if we've dealt with others unfairly during our present lives, then we will experience the results of this in another following life.

So just the fact that you were successful and drove a 'flashy car' in this life, doesn't mean you're destined to be poor in the next life. If, however, you acquired the success and the 'flashy car' by cheating and doing wrongly by other people, then karma would suggest you would be penalised in the next life.

I don't necessarily subscribe to any of this stuff, but am interested in why qe2 would suggest some people are poor because of karma. It seems a simplistic and even irrational explanation to say the least.

People can be poor despite their very best and most diligent, honest efforts, e.g. someone becoming too ill to work.

Well there you go Julia...i always thought it (Karma) was more a yin and yang type thing, like unlucky in this life = lucky in the next, not just a good v bad type of thing.

Karma is something i have little time for.

 

[akkopower]

So Cynical: I'm quite cognisant of the idea of karma. I was hoping qe2 would explain how he/she saw the relevance in this thread.

My understanding of it is that we will eventually experience the consequences of our actions, i.e. if we've dealt with others unfairly during our present lives, then we will experience the results of this in another following life.

So just the fact that you were successful and drove a 'flashy car' in this life, doesn't mean you're destined to be poor in the next life. If, however, you acquired the success and the 'flashy car' by cheating and doing wrongly by other people, then karma would suggest you would be penalised in the next life.

I don't necessarily subscribe to any of this stuff, but am interested in why qe2 would suggest some people are poor because of karma. It seems a simplistic and even irrational explanation to say the least.

People can be poor despite their very best and most diligent, honest efforts, e.g. someone becoming too ill to work.

Julia, Julia, Julia...
What is wrong with you!
your reply here and to the bank vault thread seemed quite negative. Are you a nasty person, are you having a bad day or is your humour just going str8 over my head.

To me the posts you quoted weren't meant to be taken seriously just an attempt to entertain the masses. You seemed to try to make the posters look like fools. Why are you doing this??

 

[nioka]

Well there you go Julia...i always thought it (Karma) was more a yin and yang type thing, like unlucky in this life = lucky in the next, not just a good v bad type of thing.

Karma is something i have little time for.

Karma, in my view, is not tied to luck but more to actions. Bad deeds, lying,cheating etc deserve to be caught up with actions or happenings that cause punishing "happenings" later on in this life. Just as "one good deed deserves another" so does "one bad deed deserves another bad bad happening".

For believers it may happen in the next life but for non believers there is still the Karma payback probability.

Just as in the investing field, you make your own luck in life to a great extent.

AND There is nothing wrong with being poor if you are happy. I've seen a lot of happy poor people.

 

[sails]

Julia, Julia, Julia...
What is wrong with you!
your reply here and to the bank vault thread seemed quite negative. Are you a nasty person, are you having a bad day or is your humour just going str8 over my head.

To me the posts you quoted weren't meant to be taken seriously just an attempt to entertain the masses. You seemed to try to make the posters look like fools. Why are you doing this??

My interpretation of Julia's post is that she has simply expressed her opinion based on qe2's one word post of "karma" with no further explanation and was not personally attacking anyone. I didn't see anything at all "nasty" in her post.

Then you come along and take a nasty personal swipe at Julia. Now, who is the nasty one?

I don't know for sure, but I am assuming that Julia started this thread due to her untiring work in helping those less fortunate and is genuinely interested in the responses to this thread.

While she speaks her mind and calls a spade a spade, to assume she is a nasty person is absolutely unfounded IMO...

 

[Mofra]

While she speaks her mind and calls a spade a spade, to assume she is a nasty person is absolutely unfounded IMO...

Bingo - anyone who has read Julia's posts on this and other threads knows she is anything but nasty.

 

[Julia]

Julia, Julia, Julia...
What is wrong with you!
your reply here and to the bank vault thread seemed quite negative. Are you a nasty person, are you having a bad day or is your humour just going str8 over my head.

To me the posts you quoted weren't meant to be taken seriously just an attempt to entertain the masses. You seemed to try to make the posters look like fools. Why are you doing this??

And Happy New Year to you too, akkopower.

Am I a nasty person? Well, if you want to think so, that's OK with me.

I have no interest in trying to make anyone look foolish. But if someone posts something which doesn't make much sense to me, then if I'm interested in the topic, I'll seek clarification.

As Sails has pointed out, I have many years of voluntary assistance to poor people and it's a subject I think about a lot. So when someone just says "karma" in answer to the question posed in the thread, I probably find it a bit offensive, given I'm so familiar with much of the background tragedy that many people who are now poor have experienced.

To say it's karma (even if you believe in the concept) is to effectively say they have brought their poverty and misery on themselves. Sometimes that's quite true.
But I've seen hundreds of cases where, despite someone's most earnest efforts, their life circumstances and background are simply more than they are able to overcome.

So, if what I thought was simply an enquiry about why the poster deduced poor people 'had it coming' is to you my being nasty, then so be it. I can quite well live with your opinion.

And my thanks to Sails and Mofra.

 

[Tysonboss1]

yeah well done...but how many good sorts have you thrown your legover???while sitting around every friday night counting your cash?

I always had an active social life that allowed for many such opportunities, But thanks for your concern any way.

One big fallacy that I have seen in my life is that, Spending less than you earn = Enjoying life less. This is simply untrue.

I mean the best things in life are free, (or at least very cheap).

You can have a great night with friends drinking in moderation on $3 beers, waking the next morning and crusing out to the beach for some spear fishing or scuba diving, then head back to a mates for a BBQ and a beer, then waking sunday morning and taking your dog for a run, etc.etc the whole week end can cost less than $100. and you'll have a great time.

But some people think they will enjoy life better if they spend big on flashy clothes go to a night club and drink 20 $8 vodka and red bulls shout some random girls $12 drinks catch a $50 cab home at 5 in the morning (without the girls) sleep all day with a hang over and then go and do the same thing saturday night and be broke monday.

Me and my mates took option 1 after we got sick of the night club seen, and to be honest option one gave us more oppotunity to meet good girls,

 

[Wysiwyg]

One big fallacy that I have seen in my life is that, Spending less than you earn = Enjoying life less. This is simply untrue.

I mean the best things in life are free, (or at least very cheap).

You definitely have the right attitude and practices for creating wealth. Enjoy your input on this forum.

However, the economy keeps ticking over because people SPEND. Without the majority of people spending their money (consumerism), businesses would not prosper. Imagine if everyone lived their lives as you do. Society, status and the whole system would collapse.

So let us not forget that without the spendthrifts, the misers would be broke.

 

[Tysonboss1]

However, the economy keeps ticking over because people SPEND. Without the majority of people spending their money (consumerism), businesses would not prosper. Imagine if everyone lived their lives as you do. Society, status and the whole system would collapse.

So let us not forget that without the spendthrifts, the misers would be broke.

I think we have seen in the american example that an over consumption mentality and a failure to save can weaken even the strongest nation.

Trust me I spend and consume, I just don't over do it. their is a firm middle ground that the average guy should aspire to where he spends less than he earns, and saves for a comfortable future.

 

[Tysonboss1]

However, the economy keeps ticking over because people SPEND. Without the majority of people spending their money (consumerism), businesses would not prosper. Imagine if everyone lived their lives as you do. Society, status and the whole system would collapse.

So let us not forget that without the spendthrifts, the misers would be broke.

 

[Wysiwyg]

I think we have seen in the american example that an over consumption mentality and a failure to save can weaken even the strongest nation.

Trust me I spend and consume, I just don't over do it. their is a firm middle ground that the average guy should aspire to where he spends less than he earns, and saves for a comfortable future.

Fair play to you. Be interesting to see in the years ahead if the richer countries mindsets do adjust or whether it's back to Plumperville in better economic times. The amount of waste is phenomenal and accepted.

 

[Smurf1976]

But some people think they will enjoy life better if they spend big on flashy clothes go to a night club and drink 20 $8 vodka and red bulls shout some random girls $12 drinks catch a $50 cab home at 5 in the morning (without the girls) sleep all day with a hang over and then go and do the same thing saturday night and be broke monday.

Me and my mates took option 1 after we got sick of the night club seen, and to be honest option one gave us more oppotunity to meet good girls,

You'd be amazed at just how much money some of these places take in on a Saturday night especially. Truly amazing when you look at the $ taken in and then look at how many people are actually there. It's not cheap that's for sure.

As for people getting sick of the scene, for most there's a point where they realise that the hype doesn't match reality. Let's face it. Of all the people you know who are in long term relationships or who are married, how many of them met their partner in a night club? Not many...

A pub maybe, or a retro night at a club (which won't likely be dominated by the 18 - 20 crowd), or any other type of dancing situation you could well meet someone. But a packed dancefloor, smoke machines and stobe lights, music you'd never listen to anywhere else played at 110 dB and with the staff wearing ear plugs? Not a likely place to meet a long term partner really. Hence the dominance of the 18 - 20 crowd in those places for whom a short, not long, term "relationship" is the objective.

Not unusual to find 50% plus of a young person's total income being spent at night clubs...

 

[prawn_86]

Of all the people you know who are in long term relationships or who are married, how many of them met their partner in a night club? Not many...

But a packed dancefloor, smoke machines and stobe lights, music you'd never listen to anywhere else played at 110 dB and with the staff wearing ear plugs? Not a likely place to meet a long term partner really.

My fiance and I are obviously the exception to the rule

We still do enjoy going out clubbing but certainly not every week

 

[Mofra]

Not unusual to find 50% plus of a young person's total income being spent at night clubs...

I'm not a fan of many Gen Y traits by any stretch of the imagination, but preliminary studies have shown they are generally far more frugal with their finances than given credit for. They're probably as varied as every other generation in Australian history though.