The holidays are always a good time to reflect on this. My father is one of ten children. They all grew up in a 900sq ft house. Most of them dropped out of high school, none of them went to college.
Now that they are all grown up (the youngest is 48?) it's interesting to see how they all ended up.
Some worked a factory job for years, and ended up with a nice house, retirement, etc. some worked the exact same job and are still paycheck to paycheck.
None of them were really skilled workers, professionals, etc. My one aunt has never had much more than a minimum wage job, had five children with three different fathers, and she's probably in the worst position of them all. She's been given cars etc by the others but always screws up. Her children (and grandchildren) have carried on the tradition.
Looking in from the outside, it seems like the big factors are your work ethic, who your friends are, and what you with your spare time.
My dad has a great work ethic but he's an example of work smarter not harder.
You seem to be an average of your friends, and my aunt for example, hangs out with some real winners.
Spare time is related to your friends a bit, but spending all of your time and money at the casino doesn't get you anywhere, and neither does hanging out drinking until 2am.
I come from a family with a lot of poverty. Whenever I hear people who have never been poor talk about poverty it sounds like they're from Mars. I understand that there's a certain amount of this that's just manners/politeness, but if your position on poverty is that everybody's doing their best and lack of success is never the result of individual choices or effort, then I just assume you've never actually met any poor folks.
And remember that I'm talking about my family here! These are the people I love the most in the world. I don't want them to starve. I'm glad there's a social safety net and I'd like to see it expanded. But these are not people who are giving it their all and coming up short in a society that's structurally in opposition to them. They're drug addicts and alcoholics and the ones who aren't watch 14 hours of TV every day. I never knew my grandparents to have even an ounce of ambition. My grandfather had a "nervous break down" in his 30s and never tried to work again. (He was by all appearances entirely capable of working.) I don't think my mother ever once made a plan for the future. Etc, etc.
Now that they are all grown up (the youngest is 48?) it's interesting to see how they all ended up.
Some worked a factory job for years, and ended up with a nice house, retirement, etc. some worked the exact same job and are still paycheck to paycheck.
None of them were really skilled workers, professionals, etc. My one aunt has never had much more than a minimum wage job, had five children with three different fathers, and she's probably in the worst position of them all. She's been given cars etc by the others but always screws up. Her children (and grandchildren) have carried on the tradition.
Looking in from the outside, it seems like the big factors are your work ethic, who your friends are, and what you with your spare time.
My dad has a great work ethic but he's an example of work smarter not harder.
You seem to be an average of your friends, and my aunt for example, hangs out with some real winners.
Spare time is related to your friends a bit, but spending all of your time and money at the casino doesn't get you anywhere, and neither does hanging out drinking until 2am.