I guess that's lights out for the Cain campaign

I think "observation" would be the correct label to use.
Can someone really be classified as "poor" if they are able to afford $500 phones, $250 i-pods, $1000 tvs, $300 video games or $5 a pack cigarettes? You tell me.

 

.....well, we all see ourselves in the best possible light regardless of our actual behavior.

 

No. No, they can't. I'm certain that some members here would disagree, though. But, I wouldn't consider them "poor". Actually, who would?

 

Yes, they can... if they lack enough food, clothing, or shelter... food being nutritional and healthy -vs- junk food... or if their jobs (if applicable) pay low wages, meaning adequate health-care is lacking, and/or they live from one personal crisis to another (as in one week their car breaks down, so they pay a $500 to get that fixed... though they don't have the money so they borrow it, which ties them to that debt... then someone breaks a leg and there goes another couple grand they don't have... and that was a wage-earner in the family so now it'll take a few weeks longer to pay the car-bill...) Hopefully you get my point... but...

Your point is that they are wasting opportunities to save money, and I agree somewhat.

Most people, including the working poor, waste the opportunities given to them... out of laziness, despair, or simple stupidity. As for $1000 tvs, you may be wrong there... I've been getting free tvs for a while now, since the middle-class went to plasma and flat screens. That the poor or working poor have items like that isn't a real indication of wealth, only a sad commentary on America's wastefullness as a nation.

 

....sooooo....poverty could be a choice or at least the result of irresponsible actions?

 

Of course. And so can being poor (there is a difference between the two, poverty is usually defined by income, poor less so). So yes... you have a point. But it's never that simple. The choices people make are influenced by many factors, and irresponsible actions are more subjective... the actions require a judgement based on whatever factors influenced it. A person saying "I'm not going to work today" out of sheer laziness is different than when the person is feeling ill.

Everyone makes wrong choices, even yourself. Wrong choices alone are not the only factor in poverty, or being poor. And making the right choices doesn't always lead to success either, circumstances may not allow it to happen.