Ben Carson Says Poverty Is A ‘State Of Mind’

[Wyatt earp]

Very true
But our economy USED to take care of our lower skilled workers. You could support a family on a janitors pay
Now, you need welfare

You will find no argument from me on that.
Corporatism has also found a way to make everything you do - a marketable cost...and to continue to find ways to increase that cost...while lowering their cost...which primarily is YOU.
In 1977 my dad bought a Malibu for just over $4000. My dad was a laborer at the time and earned $11 an hour. So the cost of the car is "worth" about 365 hours to him.
Today that same style of car, let's consider a decent packaged Ford Fusion is about $23,000.
A laborer working at a factory here makes about $18 an hour. Which equals 1277 needed hours to pay for the same style of car.
But WAAAAAAAAAAAAY worse is housing. In 1976 my parents bought a three bedroom home, decent yard etc. for $26,000!!!!!! - Which equals 2363 work hours.
Today that same house, here, cost roughly $130,000....7222 work hours!!!

And that list goes on and on and on and on.

Let's look at the hated minimum wage that conservatives rail about

I started working in the early 70s making a minimum wage of $2.10 an hour
I was able to put myself through college on that wage just working summers
You could buy a new car after six months work
You could buy seven gallons of gas for that car on one hours work

Yet you want another 20 million illegals go figure.


.

 

[Mac1958]

Carson's absurd comments are merely another example of how commitment to an ideology distorts both perceptions and thought processes.

For a child, poverty is not a fucking "state of mind", it's a way of life.

And are we really going to pretend that growing up in poverty is not an intellectual handicap for kids as they enter and proceed through school? Are we really going to pretend that a child in a poor school district has access to the same resources as a child in a better neighborhood? And this is NOT just about school choice, which I support. It's about the environment in which the child is raised during their formative years.

Here's an interesting study, one which has been backed up by several others: Tackling the "Vocabulary Gap" Between Rich and Poor Children

Studies have found that by age four, children in middle and upper class families hear 15 million more words than children in working-class families, and 30 million more words than children in families on welfare. This disparity in hearing words from parents and caregivers translates directly into a disparity in learning words. And that puts our children born with the fewest advantages even further behind. Among those born in 2001, only 58 percent of poor children started school ready to learn, compared to 75 percent of children from middle-income families.

This is happening here in America, where children are "free" to grow up with the burden of significant social & intellectual restraints in an intense and increasingly competitive world. Great "freedom" there.

Fucking ridiculous.

.

 

[rightwinger]

Very true
But our economy USED to take care of our lower skilled workers. You could support a family on a janitors pay
Now, you need welfare

You will find no argument from me on that.
Corporatism has also found a way to make everything you do - a marketable cost...and to continue to find ways to increase that cost...while lowering their cost...which primarily is YOU.
In 1977 my dad bought a Malibu for just over $4000. My dad was a laborer at the time and earned $11 an hour. So the cost of the car is "worth" about 365 hours to him.
Today that same style of car, let's consider a decent packaged Ford Fusion is about $23,000.
A laborer working at a factory here makes about $18 an hour. Which equals 1277 needed hours to pay for the same style of car.
But WAAAAAAAAAAAAY worse is housing. In 1976 my parents bought a three bedroom home, decent yard etc. for $26,000!!!!!! - Which equals 2363 work hours.
Today that same house, here, cost roughly $130,000....7222 work hours!!!

And that list goes on and on and on and on.

Let's look at the hated minimum wage that conservatives rail about

I started working in the early 70s making a minimum wage of $2.10 an hour
I was able to put myself through college on that wage just working summers
You could buy a new car after six months work
You could buy seven gallons of gas for that car on one hours work

I think this is part of the problem that people seek to solve.

It used to be that you support a house and family as a gas station attendant.

Those types of jobs are gone.

At the same time, if you look at the size of the house people used to live in, compared to today.....nobody is building them.

And cars have so much more crap associated with them (airbags, emmissions controls, everything electric). It used to be that the working class could pretty much care for their cars. Now, they too must rely on mechanics and pay a disproportionate amount of income to pay for repairs.

Kids today drive nicer cars than our parents ever thought of owning.

So, I think that expectations is also an issue.

But it goes beyond the low skilled jobs
Used to be that if you were skilled or semiskilled you joined a union. You didn't get rich but you could buy a house, have healthcare, send your kids to college, get a pension and eventually retire......the American Dream
Now, you struggle to keep a job, worry about layoffs, go into debt to pay for life's basics

 

[rightwinger]

Very true
But our economy USED to take care of our lower skilled workers. You could support a family on a janitors pay
Now, you need welfare

You will find no argument from me on that.
Corporatism has also found a way to make everything you do - a marketable cost...and to continue to find ways to increase that cost...while lowering their cost...which primarily is YOU.
In 1977 my dad bought a Malibu for just over $4000. My dad was a laborer at the time and earned $11 an hour. So the cost of the car is "worth" about 365 hours to him.
Today that same style of car, let's consider a decent packaged Ford Fusion is about $23,000.
A laborer working at a factory here makes about $18 an hour. Which equals 1277 needed hours to pay for the same style of car.
But WAAAAAAAAAAAAY worse is housing. In 1976 my parents bought a three bedroom home, decent yard etc. for $26,000!!!!!! - Which equals 2363 work hours.
Today that same house, here, cost roughly $130,000....7222 work hours!!!

And that list goes on and on and on and on.

Let's look at the hated minimum wage that conservatives rail about

I started working in the early 70s making a minimum wage of $2.10 an hour
I was able to put myself through college on that wage just working summers
You could buy a new car after six months work
You could buy seven gallons of gas for that car on one hours work

Yet you want another 20 million illegals go figure.


.

There were illegals at that time. They were picking our crops and being treated like slaves. There was no hysteria because some lady on the checkout line was speaking Spanish

 

[iamwhatiseem]

But it goes beyond the low skilled jobs
Used to be that if you were skilled or semiskilled you joined a union. You didn't get rich but you could buy a house, have healthcare, send your kids to college, get a pension and eventually retire......the American Dream
Now, you struggle to keep a job, worry about layoffs, go into debt to pay for life's basics

Absolutely.
One of the worst thing today is that for every older person that dies, that knew America before corporatism took it over, is replaced by younger person who only knows Corporate America. Like the guy your talking to with the above post.

In my community, like all communities across this country, I would say that in 1970 approximately 80% of all businesses were owned by someone living in this community. Today, I would say less than 20% are owned locally. Local ownership of businesses keeps power and wealth properly dispersed, across the nation. And a local business owner is overwhelmingly unlikely to sell out his labor force for cheaper labor in Mexico, or Honduras, or N. Korea or China. And many of those businesses are reliant on the economic health of his/her community to sustain his business and is therefore vested in the community.
Today, ownership is severely concentrated into fewer and fewer people. And a great many of thse owners DON"T EVEN LIVE IN AMERICA let alone live in your community.

It's called - THE HIGH COST OF A LOW PRICE.

 

[Sun Devil 92]

Very true
But our economy USED to take care of our lower skilled workers. You could support a family on a janitors pay
Now, you need welfare

You will find no argument from me on that.
Corporatism has also found a way to make everything you do - a marketable cost...and to continue to find ways to increase that cost...while lowering their cost...which primarily is YOU.
In 1977 my dad bought a Malibu for just over $4000. My dad was a laborer at the time and earned $11 an hour. So the cost of the car is "worth" about 365 hours to him.
Today that same style of car, let's consider a decent packaged Ford Fusion is about $23,000.
A laborer working at a factory here makes about $18 an hour. Which equals 1277 needed hours to pay for the same style of car.
But WAAAAAAAAAAAAY worse is housing. In 1976 my parents bought a three bedroom home, decent yard etc. for $26,000!!!!!! - Which equals 2363 work hours.
Today that same house, here, cost roughly $130,000....7222 work hours!!!

And that list goes on and on and on and on.

Let's look at the hated minimum wage that conservatives rail about

I started working in the early 70s making a minimum wage of $2.10 an hour
I was able to put myself through college on that wage just working summers
You could buy a new car after six months work
You could buy seven gallons of gas for that car on one hours work

I think this is part of the problem that people seek to solve.

It used to be that you support a house and family as a gas station attendant.

Those types of jobs are gone.

At the same time, if you look at the size of the house people used to live in, compared to today.....nobody is building them.

And cars have so much more crap associated with them (airbags, emmissions controls, everything electric). It used to be that the working class could pretty much care for their cars. Now, they too must rely on mechanics and pay a disproportionate amount of income to pay for repairs.

Kids today drive nicer cars than our parents ever thought of owning.

So, I think that expectations is also an issue.

But it goes beyond the low skilled jobs
Used to be that if you were skilled or semiskilled you joined a union. You didn't get rich but you could buy a house, have healthcare, send your kids to college, get a pension and eventually retire......the American Dream
Now, you struggle to keep a job, worry about layoffs, go into debt to pay for life's basics

Again, agreed.

I pointed out that guys who worked in service stations could raise a family. Of course, they didn't pay for the kind of health care we do now and that is an issue.

One that has, in my estimation, not been discussed near enough (while I don't like Obamacare....I have never said we didn't have a health insurance/health care delivery issue).

But...back to the point. Most men who worked in service stations (like a lot of their counterparts) had 1000 square foot homes and good schools for their kids to attend.

Today, we seem to think anything less than 2000 square feet is below us.

We also take more elaborate vacations.

I don't know that we go into debt to pay for basics (as a rule), but we certainly are reminded of what we don't have on a regular basis.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Very true
But our economy USED to take care of our lower skilled workers. You could support a family on a janitors pay
Now, you need welfare

You will find no argument from me on that.
Corporatism has also found a way to make everything you do - a marketable cost...and to continue to find ways to increase that cost...while lowering their cost...which primarily is YOU.
In 1977 my dad bought a Malibu for just over $4000. My dad was a laborer at the time and earned $11 an hour. So the cost of the car is "worth" about 365 hours to him.
Today that same style of car, let's consider a decent packaged Ford Fusion is about $23,000.
A laborer working at a factory here makes about $18 an hour. Which equals 1277 needed hours to pay for the same style of car.
But WAAAAAAAAAAAAY worse is housing. In 1976 my parents bought a three bedroom home, decent yard etc. for $26,000!!!!!! - Which equals 2363 work hours.
Today that same house, here, cost roughly $130,000....7222 work hours!!!

And that list goes on and on and on and on.

Let's look at the hated minimum wage that conservatives rail about

I started working in the early 70s making a minimum wage of $2.10 an hour
I was able to put myself through college on that wage just working summers
You could buy a new car after six months work
You could buy seven gallons of gas for that car on one hours work

I think this is part of the problem that people seek to solve.

It used to be that you support a house and family as a gas station attendant.

Those types of jobs are gone.

At the same time, if you look at the size of the house people used to live in, compared to today.....nobody is building them.

And cars have so much more crap associated with them (airbags, emmissions controls, everything electric). It used to be that the working class could pretty much care for their cars. Now, they too must rely on mechanics and pay a disproportionate amount of income to pay for repairs.

Kids today drive nicer cars than our parents ever thought of owning.

So, I think that expectations is also an issue.

But it goes beyond the low skilled jobs
Used to be that if you were skilled or semiskilled you joined a union. You didn't get rich but you could buy a house, have healthcare, send your kids to college, get a pension and eventually retire......the American Dream
Now, you struggle to keep a job, worry about layoffs, go into debt to pay for life's basics

Again, agreed.

I pointed out that guys who worked in service stations could raise a family. Of course, they didn't pay for the kind of health care we do now and that is an issue.

One that has, in my estimation, not been discussed near enough (while I don't like Obamacare....I have never said we didn't have a health insurance/health care delivery issue).

But...back to the point. Most men who worked in service stations (like a lot of their counterparts) had 1000 square foot homes and good schools for their kids to attend.

Today, we seem to think anything less than 2000 square feet is below us.

We also take more elaborate vacations.

I don't know that we go into debt to pay for basics (as a rule), but we certainly are reminded of what we don't have on a regular basis.

No one is going to argue that society is a driving factor in overspending - over consumption. Both the government and society strongly encourage debt as spending. It is what allows both the government and corporations to generate their wealth.
However, guessing because of your age and therefore never lived in pre-corporate America, you seem to be marginalizing what he is saying.
For instance despite the fact that today's corrupt/compromised unions are generally worthless, America - all of America, owes a HUGE debt of gratitude to the unions of the 1850's-1960's that was critical in forming the middle class. Indeed, without unions, the middle class would have never even existed.
And today, unions are either not available or compromised. And what is happening? A shrinking middle class and dramatic concentration of power and wealth that was there before unions.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

"Ben Carson Says Poverty Is A ‘State Of Mind’"

Carson is as much an idiot as most others on the right.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

Very true
But our economy USED to take care of our lower skilled workers. You could support a family on a janitors pay
Now, you need welfare

You will find no argument from me on that.
Corporatism has also found a way to make everything you do - a marketable cost...and to continue to find ways to increase that cost...while lowering their cost...which primarily is YOU.
In 1977 my dad bought a Malibu for just over $4000. My dad was a laborer at the time and earned $11 an hour. So the cost of the car is "worth" about 365 hours to him.
Today that same style of car, let's consider a decent packaged Ford Fusion is about $23,000.
A laborer working at a factory here makes about $18 an hour. Which equals 1277 needed hours to pay for the same style of car.
But WAAAAAAAAAAAAY worse is housing. In 1976 my parents bought a three bedroom home, decent yard etc. for $26,000!!!!!! - Which equals 2363 work hours.
Today that same house, here, cost roughly $130,000....7222 work hours!!!

And that list goes on and on and on and on.

Let's look at the hated minimum wage that conservatives rail about

I started working in the early 70s making a minimum wage of $2.10 an hour
I was able to put myself through college on that wage just working summers
You could buy a new car after six months work
You could buy seven gallons of gas for that car on one hours work

I think this is part of the problem that people seek to solve.

It used to be that you support a house and family as a gas station attendant.

Those types of jobs are gone.

At the same time, if you look at the size of the house people used to live in, compared to today.....nobody is building them.

And cars have so much more crap associated with them (airbags, emmissions controls, everything electric). It used to be that the working class could pretty much care for their cars. Now, they too must rely on mechanics and pay a disproportionate amount of income to pay for repairs.

Kids today drive nicer cars than our parents ever thought of owning.

So, I think that expectations is also an issue.

But it goes beyond the low skilled jobs
Used to be that if you were skilled or semiskilled you joined a union. You didn't get rich but you could buy a house, have healthcare, send your kids to college, get a pension and eventually retire......the American Dream
Now, you struggle to keep a job, worry about layoffs, go into debt to pay for life's basics

Again, agreed.

I pointed out that guys who worked in service stations could raise a family. Of course, they didn't pay for the kind of health care we do now and that is an issue.

One that has, in my estimation, not been discussed near enough (while I don't like Obamacare....I have never said we didn't have a health insurance/health care delivery issue).

But...back to the point. Most men who worked in service stations (like a lot of their counterparts) had 1000 square foot homes and good schools for their kids to attend.

Today, we seem to think anything less than 2000 square feet is below us.

We also take more elaborate vacations.

I don't know that we go into debt to pay for basics (as a rule), but we certainly are reminded of what we don't have on a regular basis.

The guys working in service stations were kids. They were boys with a first job. They were not supporting families. A few of the more enterprising became helpers for the gas station mechanic. As a result of such apprenticeship, these boys became master mechanics themselves. They were very well paid and able to support families.

 

[OldLady]

“So is hunger apparently. Let’s Jedi Mind trick ourselves into eating a steak.”

People on Twitter took Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson to task after he said that poverty was a “state of mind.”

The neurosurgeon, who previously caught heat for suggesting that slaves who were brought to America were “immigrants,” made the controversial comment during a SiriusXM Radio interview with Armstrong Williams released Wednesday.

”I think poverty to a large extent is also a state of mind,” said Carson. “You take somebody that has the right mindset, you can take everything from them and put them on the street, and I guarantee you in a little while they’ll be right back up there.”

Carson’s comments sparked anger among Twitter users, including “Star Trek” actor George Takei. Here’s a sampling:

More: Ben Carson Says Poverty Is A ‘State Of Mind,’ Folks On Twitter Give Him A Piece Of Theirs

Well, Carson certainly lit up Twitter with his bizarre comment about poverty. Some very funny and imaginative ones.

Coming from Ben Carson, I'm not at all surprised. No one should be. He's in bizzaro land.
He's not entirely wrong -- except it's a skill set, not a state of mind, unless you consider a skill set a state of mind. And even the best skill set and most confident mindset in the world doesn't always get you back off the street. Wonder how he's doing over there at HUD. This is the first I've really heard from that corner.

 

[Siete]

Ol Ben needs to finish closing his eyes and stfu.

 

[BrokeLoser]

"Ben Carson Says Poverty Is A ‘State Of Mind’"

Carson is as much an idiot as most others on the right.

The excuse making and coddling is over bud...that's all.
When is the right time to ask grown adults to put down the bong, the 40oz of booze, to stop reproducing more of their filthy same and become self accountable and pull their own weight?

 

[EvilCat Breath]

Poverty absolutely is a state of mind. That's why the poor cannot be helped. Very poor people have won millions in the lottery. Most were back to being poor within a year.

 

[rightwinger]

Poverty absolutely is a state of mind. That's why the poor cannot be helped. Very poor people have won millions in the lottery. Most were back to being poor within a year.

I guess being rich takes practice

 

[BrokeLoser]

Poverty absolutely is a state of mind. That's why the poor cannot be helped. Very poor people have won millions in the lottery. Most were back to being poor within a year.

I guess being rich takes practice

Very little...it's actually super simple.
It goes something like this....get educated, take pride in achievement and success, work hard....TA-DA...you won't become someone's human pet...and you won't count on me to feed your pathetic ass!

 

[rightwinger]

Poverty absolutely is a state of mind. That's why the poor cannot be helped. Very poor people have won millions in the lottery. Most were back to being poor within a year.

I guess being rich takes practice

Very little...it's actually super simple.
It goes something like this....get educated, take pride in achievement and success, work hard....TA-DA...you won't become someone's human pet...and you won't count on me to feed your pathetic ass!

Pick yourself up by your bootstraps, hunker down, work hard and everyone will be rich

 

[BrokeLoser]

Poverty absolutely is a state of mind. That's why the poor cannot be helped. Very poor people have won millions in the lottery. Most were back to being poor within a year.

I guess being rich takes practice

Very little...it's actually super simple.
It goes something like this....get educated, take pride in achievement and success, work hard....TA-DA...you won't become someone's human pet...and you won't count on me to feed your pathetic ass!

Pick yourself up by your bootstraps, hunker down, work hard and everyone will be rich

Well, something like that...but thanks for humorously depicting the norm that we see from our bottom feeders:
"Believe it's impossible and it will be..because you won't try."
Becoming RICH usually requires a bit of luck to go with your hard work and determination...but to become wealthy and self funded only requires one to follow a very basic manual already written and followed millions of times before. SIMPLE SHIT HERE.

 

[FJO]

Of course poverty in America is a state of mind. Anyone not aware of that has their head buried deep in sand.
Poverty should only be a temporary state for anyone.

Wouldn't that be great!
Pay fair wages, provide opportunities in impoverished areas, help those who need help

Impoverished areas are impoverished because the people who live there have impoverished will power to move where jobs abound.
Those who need help should make at least a token effort to help themselves.
I know, I been there, done it.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

Poverty absolutely is a state of mind. That's why the poor cannot be helped. Very poor people have won millions in the lottery. Most were back to being poor within a year.

I guess being rich takes practice

Very little...it's actually super simple.
It goes something like this....get educated, take pride in achievement and success, work hard....TA-DA...you won't become someone's human pet...and you won't count on me to feed your pathetic ass!

Pick yourself up by your bootstraps, hunker down, work hard and everyone will be rich

The poor work very hard at being poor. It takes effort to ferret out all these government programs. I have a step granddaughter who takes down over 5 thousand a month in cash and benefits.

 

[rightwinger]

Of course poverty in America is a state of mind. Anyone not aware of that has their head buried deep in sand.
Poverty should only be a temporary state for anyone.

Wouldn't that be great!
Pay fair wages, provide opportunities in impoverished areas, help those who need help

Impoverished areas are impoverished because the people who live there have impoverished will power to move where jobs abound.
Those who need help should make at least a token effort to help themselves.
I know, I been there, done it.

Which country do you live in?

Is Apalachia impoverished because the coal miners did not work hard enough?
Is Detroit impoverished because the people shut down the car factories
Is the Rust Belt failing because the workers stopped working hard?