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SkiBumGymMom
I wasn't born rich... I made my money the old fashioned way. I earned it. What's wrong with that?
I don't think "poor people are parasites". I think lazy people are. Poor does not equal lazy... I have been poor.
Amazingly, I know many who have overcome their circumstances to become successful in this "land of opportunity". Not all are rich.
You are taking important steps to empower yourself. Your drive to improve your circumstances is a great asset. You have made a wise choice to take advantage of the opportunity to increase your education.
I know about coaching for the love of the sport. My father coached 33 years at the small college level. He was never paid to coach.
I would regard myself as someone who has overcome some pretty horrible circumstances, ones I was born into (poor family) , ones I got myself into by poor choices (having my first child at 17) and other ones that were handed to me by life (illness, the death of my husband, etc.) At times I made bad choices, but my children didn't deserve to suffer for that. Other times I was working my bum off and still not able to make ends meet. I now would consider myself middle class. I was the first in my family to go to college (starting with an associates from community college while I was a single teenage mother). Two of my three children went to/are in college (the other is dancing professionally). The thing is I acknowledge that I had help to get to the position I'm in today. From the family of my son's father (even if he was absent), from my husband's family and yes, from government social programs (CHP+, Medicaid, unemployment, WIC, EBT and at one short low point in my life TANF). In the past I was ashamed of this but now (in my old age ha ha) have realized it helped make me who I am and having gone through it makes me supportive of providing these programs to those still in need. Everyone has had help from someone in their life if they're successful, whether it's their parents/family, teachers, employers or even just the luck of the draw. There's nothing wrong with having help.
I agree that it takes motivation and hard work to get yourself out, but that's not the only factor nor is it the answer to why people are poor. Like I mentioned before I don't think "throwing money" at the problem fixes it. But as a society we should have programs (that often take money but also other things) that provide opportunities to those without them. It goes back to the old "you can feed a man with a fish for a day or you can teach a man to fish and he can feed himself his whole life". But some people can't fish, be it disability or another problem. Sometimes there are no fish and no matter how hard you work, you still can't feed yourself. Some people have parents to teach them to fish, some have no family at all or ones that try as hard as possible to make it impossible for you to fish. (Sorry for the extended metaphor) As a society we should support people in these positions IMO. The world isn't fair, some people will be more successful than others and there's nothing wrong with that, but I believe we should try to make it as just as possible.