What an intriguing question!
I do have to side with the "PD is for everyone" faction. I grew up poor. My dad is a teacher, but he is a farmer as well. Basically, all the money he makes teaching is thrown into the farm, where it disappears (ever hear the joke, "what is a farm?" the answer: "a hole in the ground, surrounded by a fence, into which one throws money").
We lived paycheck to paycheck, in part because a lot of money was also thrown at my health problems. Did I say a lot? I mean "most".
(I felt guilty about it.) My dad was the first person in our family to go to college, but he wouldn't let go of his roots in ag, so he never got out of the hole that his parents were in. My sister, my brother, and are I are college kids. Nobody paid for it for us; we have student loans. My sister graduated from nursing school last year and is now an RN... paying off $40,000 in student loans. There were times when she worked 3 jobs and took classes in order to be able to afford a p.o.s. little grubby apartment in the ghetto. Worth it? I think so. Now, she's married, has a beautiful daughter (and number 2 due Thanksgiving!), and works as an ER nurse, and she loves it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tropicality  Personal development is meant for ANYONE, the reason people are poor is because of their beliefs, not because of personal development, also, who needs seminars? |
This really bothered me. Have you ever talked to a homeless person on the street? They're not all alcoholics and drug users. Some of them have mental illness, and that's not about choice. You can't magic schizophrenia away. And some of them just got into a situation where too many uncontrollable factors came down hard. These people have no social network to fall back on. And because they are poor, they don't have the opportunity to form a supportive network. It's a catch-22 a lot of times.
I've done a lot volunteering among really poor people, and no, it's not always about their beliefs.
People say, "Well there are opportunities that they could take, but they don't." Well, they can't always take those opportunities, usually because of a really human problem. Like -- if I take classes, I can't afford to pay someone to watch my kids.
It's easy, here, among people who are naturally talented, and often very driven, to sit back and pass judgement. Try going out and getting some human contact with these people, rather than just reading about them. Success is often a combination of talent, drive, and
opportunity. Take one away, and ... *poof*... no success.
And there are a lot of kids out there who are raised in homes where they are not exposed to "you can do anything" thinking.
So yeah... please don't put a value judgement on a group of people and stigmatize them... at least until you've been out and talked to them face to face.