Every person is the architect of their own future, be it good or bad.
People who start poor and stay poor either 1) don't mind being poor, 2)
make a lot of stupid choices that keep them poor, or 3) don't work hard
enough to change their socio-economic status. Period. In the US,
opportunities abound for a person to change their lot in life, and a person
can take advantage of them at almost any time in their life. Whose fault
is it if they don't take advantage of these opportunities? A clone would
be in a situation no different than everyone else.
One thing is for certain: the government does very little to help people
work harder or make intelligent decisions. Therefore, it should be no
surprise that the attempts of government to control poverty (by programs
like Welfare) do little to change the socio-economic status of the
individual involved.
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com