I come from an officially poor background, but it wasn't until I started learning about my girlfriend's family back in her native, third-world country that I really got a sense for what third-world poverty is:
- Constant verbal, physical, sometimes sexual abuse--the stuff that really traumatizes people into doing these same things across generations. This isn't the stuff you learn about in the news because, sadly, to many people living in those conditions, it's part of life.
- Simply not have any positive role models at all to look up to. Their role-models are their parents, or their neighbors who have basically grown accustomed to living in poverty and can offer no guidance.
And I can go on and on.
My girlfriend and I have simply concluded: "some of these people don't know any better." If they had better role-models, they'd have a better shot.
So it is about the network in a way, but the author doesn't go enough to explain why. I'd like to give it a shot based on my observations: the network effect matters. Escaping one network to join a knowledgeable and competitive one exposes you to different ways of thinking, makes you question preconceived notions you have, makes you realize just how badly things really were, etc. I'm sure others here can relate even more, but coming from a modest background, it has been truly eye opening to be in the bay area, for example. There are so many talented, ambitious young people that inspire you every day to push your selves to the limits, that question your abilities, etc. Most people, I must say are unfortunate to not even know what YC is, entrepreneurship is all about, etc.
So for anyone who doesn't really understand poverty (I myself, included), I really recommend you visit a third-world country and actually live amidst them. Find a friend who comes from such a background and go stay with his/her family and him/her. You'll realize just how fortunate you are. By all means, don't feel bad about this, just gain some conscious about the fact that there are less fortunate people out there and begin to question what you can do with your companies, at your job to educate these people.
To finish, for anyone that questions a university's worth... remember this, an education isn't just the material you learn during lectures or books, it's what you learn about others and from others that really , also. And this latter component, I think is the secret to reducing poverty: simple exposure to new ways of life.
The graph is disjoint. I remember when I was in school and teachers were asking me what I wanted to do in college, and I had known not one single professional individual ever, other than teachers, with a teacher/pupil ratio of 33/1. How was I supposed to know?
The problem with being poor is that everybody else you know is poor and also doesn't have an iota how to get out of it.
They know. At least, they have a rough idea. Of course, it wouldn't be much help to have your mother say "learn to read" if she can't help teach you. The other problem (which will be well-known by many hn-ers) is that trying to get out of is discouraged.
Would you make friends with a guy who wants to study in another zip code, or a guy who wants to stay in the 'hood? If you think you are going to stay in the 'hood, then you are best hanging out with a fellow drop-out.
That's the economic explanation for the jealousy and sometimes hostility that social climbers get.
Whether or not the economic explanation is correct, it's hard to argue that a black kid in a black school who acts white may get beat up for it.
This is my experience(not coming from a poor family, but from closely knowing poor friends at various times) as well. Even if you mean the best for yourself, after growing up in an impoverished environment, you get trapped in a prison of your own creation - low self-esteem, violent rebellion, drug or sexual abuse - that leads you straight into poverty again.
The network is important in part because of the dominant cultural norms it has. Those norms will be anti-economic for the poor. Moving into a network where you become immersed in pro-economic cultural norms can make all the difference.
Also the pro-economic network will create & broker economic opportunities, whether they be internships, jobs, startup co-founding, access to investment etc.
The work of Samuel Bowles & Herbert Gintis touch on this.
I have a slightly related experience. My wife is from Sri Lanka, and while she haven't herself lived in poverty, I recognize the social structure keeping it in place.
As a trivial example, in Sri Lankan culture, you don't say "thank you", "you're welcome" or give anycompliments. Instead, it is common to tell someone they look fat when you see them after a long time.
Interestingly, the Internet is changing this. My wife has a lot of her school friends in her Facebook, and people are starting to complement each other on the uploaded photos. I believe this is a result of internationalization (many Sri Lankans have moved to Australia, Italy and France) and the percieved freedom when not having to talk face-to-face.
As a trivial example, in Sri Lankan culture, you don't say "thank you", "you're welcome" or give anycompliments. Instead, it is common to tell someone they look fat when you see them after a long time.
I am not sure what you mean by your example. Telling someone they look fat when you haven't seen them for a while is a kin to saying you have done well for yourself and would be a complement. Mostly it just sounds like a difference in culture that changes when the culture around you changes.
Interesting. My Chinese officemate greeted me with "I see you have more weight" when I came back after three months. Is it a popular thing in China too? Or was he just being a dick? (NB I really did have more weight, but everyone else was too polite to mention it...)
I dunno about China and Sri Lanka specifically, but in some cultures, being fat is seen as attractive. This is probably a signaling mechanism, being able to afford additional food and not needing to perform manual labor means that you are more successful. Being fat isn't so attractive in the West because having a sedentary job and access to excessive fat and carbs doesn't really signal anything much.
Fat is never regarded as 'attractive' at least in my native country (I'm from Vietnam. I believe Vietnam has a very similar culture compared to China.)
The most intuitive way to explain why 'being fatter' is regarded as a complement is this: People often say 'you look different' when they see each other after a long time. Now of course there are two way provided the person looks relatively okay, that is being fatter or thinner. However, thinner might imply that he/she was sick or something that caused him/her to lose weight. So saying 'you look fatter' is a way of saying you're doing well. In fact, Asian people tend to be thinner -- even in the US -- gttp://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparebar.jsp?ind=91&cat=2 . So it's _understandable_ why such Asian countries don't consider 'getting fat' as an offensive thing. Also it's more like a figure of speech now.
Too late, but I'm too self-conscious not to apologize for not proofreading. By the time I noticed the mistakes, I was caught in HN's anti-procrastination mode.
- Constant verbal, physical, sometimes sexual abuse--the stuff that really traumatizes people into doing these same things across generations. This isn't the stuff you learn about in the news because, sadly, to many people living in those conditions, it's part of life. - Simply not have any positive role models at all to look up to. Their role-models are their parents, or their neighbors who have basically grown accustomed to living in poverty and can offer no guidance.
And I can go on and on.
My girlfriend and I have simply concluded: "some of these people don't know any better." If they had better role-models, they'd have a better shot.
So it is about the network in a way, but the author doesn't go enough to explain why. I'd like to give it a shot based on my observations: the network effect matters. Escaping one network to join a knowledgeable and competitive one exposes you to different ways of thinking, makes you question preconceived notions you have, makes you realize just how badly things really were, etc. I'm sure others here can relate even more, but coming from a modest background, it has been truly eye opening to be in the bay area, for example. There are so many talented, ambitious young people that inspire you every day to push your selves to the limits, that question your abilities, etc. Most people, I must say are unfortunate to not even know what YC is, entrepreneurship is all about, etc.
So for anyone who doesn't really understand poverty (I myself, included), I really recommend you visit a third-world country and actually live amidst them. Find a friend who comes from such a background and go stay with his/her family and him/her. You'll realize just how fortunate you are. By all means, don't feel bad about this, just gain some conscious about the fact that there are less fortunate people out there and begin to question what you can do with your companies, at your job to educate these people.
To finish, for anyone that questions a university's worth... remember this, an education isn't just the material you learn during lectures or books, it's what you learn about others and from others that really , also. And this latter component, I think is the secret to reducing poverty: simple exposure to new ways of life.