I posted this under the Herman Cain section, but decided to post it again here after the this thread got started!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Croix68
If you aren't successful, it is no one's fault but your own. Cain is right on that.
THAT is one of the biggest loads of "bullpuckey" anyone can throw at a person! I went to a potential employer's presentation about 9 years ago. 5 millionaires who pooled their money and were training people how to find & buy under-valued homes that would produce at least a $20-25,000 profit. These homes were from: foreclosures; divorces; elderly etc. For every "closing" you would get a $5,000 commission. In our 2 state Metro area at that time, we were told there were at least 247 foreclosures alone PER MONTH! Great potential. You should at LEAST be able to successfully find and close on a minimum of 8 homes per year netting you $40,000 minimum. IF you paid them (up front) a $1,600 fee -- these guys would assign a personal counselor to you to train you, answer questions and put you on a faster track at finding these "types" of homes, doing minimal "quick" fixes and getting them back on the market within 30 days. If you paid the fee, they promised you 1/2 of whatever you made on the sale!! It wasn't a "scheme" -- all legit and from THEIR end -- having 50 or 60 people putting a minimum of $20K in THEIR pocket with each home found and quickly re-sold, I'm sure the pyramid effect would work out quite well. THEY had the cash to make it happen.
The man started his presentation with these words, "There are the ignorant poor and the lazy poor -- which are you?" I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up! I was purely outraged.
FIRST --- not everyone is given the same degree of "smarts." Just think of your high school class. Out of any random 100 students, maybe 20% were in the "upper" echelon of brain power/IQ. The next 50 or so were "average" and the bottom 30 were lucky to graduate! It doesn't mean the "ignorant" are destined to be poor, but in "my" day, those 30 people were destined for the 5 "M's" the Military, the Mines, the Mills, Manufacturing, or "Misc" (like working at roofing, the Grocery Store, bartending, etc. etc). A non-college bound person could actually make a decent living in any of those 5 areas. They were literally more "gunt" work than having a "titled" career, but you could make pretty decent money without the smarts. Depending on your definition of "successful" -- none of those people were destined to become wealthy. They would be lucky to "own" a car, a house or both someday.
But what happens to those people who could not AFFORD college and after 10+ years in their jobs -- their job suddenly goes away? What are they trained to do OTHER than what they have been doing? If they believed their jobs would BE THERE for a long time, perhaps they didn't save for the
express purpose of furthering their education. Some hated school to begin with and couldn't see "wanting" to go to night school or vocational school. Ignorant? Lazy? Or just busy living their lives falling in love, having babies, finding small pleasures in hobbies and making just enough to make ends meet. And when your job ends because of "downsizing" or "out-sourcing" -- how do you psychologically handle losing that part of you that helped to define who you were? Not everyone is prepared to just "pick up the pieces" and move on. They were not given those type of emotional survival skills. And if you're left a single mother with 3 kids in a messy divorce and you've been "out" of the workforce for 10 years, how do you start over meeting your new obligations? Waitressing? Typing & Filing? Cleaning Houses? And what do you do with your children while you're out trying to find a job -- or working 2 jobs to make ends meet? Ignorant? Lazy? And what if in any of this life -- either male or female you get a major illness or one of your children gets severely ill. Did your job provide good health insurance? How much does your 20% amount to in a situation of desperate or chronic illness? And if you have little saved -- what do you do with a new obligation of thousands of dollars of medical bills and drug costs? Ignorant? Lazy? Or trapped like a rat in the unfortunate circumstances of life that come at you blind-sided and unanticipated!
And I'm not saying that these people I've mentioned above are not "successful" in some ways: They may be a faithful friend, a really good neighbor, a tremendously competent mother or father. Success in LIFE has to be measured in more ways than simply finances!
Finally -- we live in a nation and at a time in history that severely under-values the skills of many professions. CNA's in nursing homes make horrible salaries. THESE are the people taking care of grandma's and grandpa's whose wealth might be able to BUY the nursing home they live in outright! But the people who SERVE them? Little more than slaves! Lazy? Ignorant? Or just undervalued. And there are too many jobs out there like this. A teacher with a Master's Degree starting out may make $35K a year. Their POTENTIAL, even after 20+ years of service MAY reach $60K a year. They are NOT destined to become wealthy. Successful? Well that depends on 1000+ variables governing their lives.
And Herman Cain ---- had you worked for Enron for 35 years and were told ONE month that you had $700,000 in your retirement account and the NEXT month you were told you had NOTHING --- how can you even dare to say that if you're not successful, it's YOUR fault? How about Companies that declared bankruptcy just so they could get out from under paying out their retirements to faithful employees with years of service??
And finally from my own experience of life. I've watched people close on deals worth $500K -- but on their way home, a little blood vessel in their brain just "snapped" and within weeks someone was wiping drool from their mouth and changing their diapers!
For those of you who think you've really really "made it" on YOUR OWN. Don't be deceived. Your abilities were a gift -- and you were not only to use that gift for your OWN benefit -- but also for the benefit of your neighbor. As I told my son when he was 15: "I'll consider YOU a success in life if there are 1,000 people at your funeral!"
In 2012 I strongly suggest 2 movies that drive home the "stuff" of life:
Scrooge & You can't take it with you!
God Herman -- wake up and just talk to people -- hear their stories! You might become one of the truly enlightened ones!