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pan6467 · 03-26-2010, 06:02 PM

In some posts above there is some reference about people from lower classes movbing upward. I'd like to comment on that.

My father started out coming from an extremely poor 1 parent household. He had 7 half sisters and 1 half brother, who's father died in WW2. After his death for whatever reason, my grandmother and aunts and uncle became extremely poor. Then she had my dad.

As his siblings grew, one sister married a vice president of Tappan, one became a cartoonist for Hanna and Barbera, the brother joined the Air Force and was on a team to rescue the hostages in 1979 (the mission never went).

And then there was my dad. His mom was so poor she tried to sell him after his birth. They were evicted and finally "given" a shanty in the worst part of town by the church. My dad grew up in literally a 1 room dirt floor house in Mansfield Ohio, where that was unheard of because at the time the town was extremely wealthy.

My dad kicked and thumped his way through high school, never being the smartest or best but he graduated. He met my mom, who herself didn't came from a poorer family.

My dad worked his ass off and was eventually able to get his engineering degree and become one of the foremost authorities in his field. Later, he bought his own company. He became one of the richest men in the area.

He was also lucky to have been given opportunities that came from government programs that do not exist today.

So, while in the past it was very possible through hard work and government help to "pull oneself up", it is next to impossible today.

Why is that? Because the programs that existed and helped my father no longer exist or are underfunded but programs that help the rich get wealthier became the norm. The jobs left and where you could go to college and work and get a degree in the field with that combination as my dad did, doesn't exist. Now, you have to go to college and get yourself heavily into debt hoping when you get out you find a job in your field that will pay you enough to pay the loans back and live on.

America once prided itself on being the land of opportunity... is today the land of fighting just to keep what little you have or IF you are lucky and in that top 5% getting as much as you can and not giving a damn about the people losing everything.

03-26-2010, 06:02 PM	#77 (permalink)
pan6467 Lennonite Priest Location: Mansfield, Ohio USA	In some posts above there is some reference about people from lower classes movbing upward. I'd like to comment on that. My father started out coming from an extremely poor 1 parent household. He had 7 half sisters and 1 half brother, who's father died in WW2. After his death for whatever reason, my grandmother and aunts and uncle became extremely poor. Then she had my dad. As his siblings grew, one sister married a vice president of Tappan, one became a cartoonist for Hanna and Barbera, the brother joined the Air Force and was on a team to rescue the hostages in 1979 (the mission never went). And then there was my dad. His mom was so poor she tried to sell him after his birth. They were evicted and finally "given" a shanty in the worst part of town by the church. My dad grew up in literally a 1 room dirt floor house in Mansfield Ohio, where that was unheard of because at the time the town was extremely wealthy. My dad kicked and thumped his way through high school, never being the smartest or best but he graduated. He met my mom, who herself didn't came from a poorer family. My dad worked his ass off and was eventually able to get his engineering degree and become one of the foremost authorities in his field. Later, he bought his own company. He became one of the richest men in the area. He was also lucky to have been given opportunities that came from government programs that do not exist today. So, while in the past it was very possible through hard work and government help to "pull oneself up", it is next to impossible today. Why is that? Because the programs that existed and helped my father no longer exist or are underfunded but programs that help the rich get wealthier became the norm. The jobs left and where you could go to college and work and get a degree in the field with that combination as my dad did, doesn't exist. Now, you have to go to college and get yourself heavily into debt hoping when you get out you find a job in your field that will pay you enough to pay the loans back and live on. America once prided itself on being the land of opportunity... is today the land of fighting just to keep what little you have or IF you are lucky and in that top 5% getting as much as you can and not giving a damn about the people losing everything. __________________ I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"