> You have a lot to learn. Start by reading the article, and understand that the effects of growing up that way are hard to overcome - psychologically. The author has a Ph.D and still suffers from it.
The author grew up poor and has a Phd? Sounds like all the arguments here about how it is impossible to escape poverty are at odds with that fact.
> Disability! If you grow up poor, you can make it out as long as nothing goes wrong. You have no grace. The clock's ticking.
Hyperbole. As long as nothing major goes wrong. Lot's of things go wrong. As long as:
1. There is shelter,
2. There is rice and beans,
3. There is school,
The outcome looks good.
> Oh, and you'd best be prepared to leave your family, friends, and anyone who has helped you to drown.
Of course - if your family and friends cannot come with you to university, you should immediately give back the scholarship money and reject the acceptance letter! /s
Honestly, you come off slightly illogical (Is your MS in the humanities by any chance?). Your argument, taken to its logical conclusion, i.e. that you must not go to university unless all your family and friends can do so to, is frankly stupid.
My point is that education is not a guaranteed get out of poverty free card because it still requires you never needing a break, never having any health issues, never having to stop to support family or loved ones, etc. You also have less support for loans you took out, less of a network, etc. so you have way less grace when it comes to career decisions.
'Leaving your loved ones to drown' wasn't about not going to school. It's about the economic feasibility of dragging oneself into the middle class/PMC and how often the most economically 'responsible' actions mean watching your loved ones suffer. For example, my financial situation is terrible in part because I'm responsible for my mentally ill sister, who can't work. Or I have a friend whose mother has Parkinson's right after her father had early onset Alzheimer's. THAT'S what I meant by 'leaving your loved ones to drown': Having to make the choice between being economically stable/ensuring your future and helping your loved ones. Which is a pretty common poverty problem.
I was flippant, not illogical, and I don't have an MS. Different Master's degree.
I'm not arguing that poverty doesn't raise the bar, I'm saying that the arguments being presented in this thread are that poverty is impossible to escape.
Those of use that have escaped it know that you have to work harder for the same result, but this constant argument about poverty being inescapable is now tired and worn.
I think it is better to "advertise" poverty and its problems as very difficult to escape than saying something like "just get good" because it is kinda refocusing this problem on the person living in poverty
The author grew up poor and has a Phd? Sounds like all the arguments here about how it is impossible to escape poverty are at odds with that fact.
-- someone who grew up poor