Poverty In The West = Lack Of Effort

Abstract · (#1 (**permalink**))

Yes Peeps, this will be controversial but I have to get it off my chest.

I was born in Nigeria in 1979. Now, Nigeria is country that has quite a big population, most of whom (by western standards) live in poverty.

Poverty in Nigeria is quite different to the west, In Nigeria, you don't get free food stamps, medical care, or free money (GIRO). There is no fall-back, no state safety-net. Most schools have fees, so there is NO free education.

Now, despite all this, how is it that many people still manage to not only survive, but thrive. For example:MyMother, who was a single parent, worked hard all her life, she went to school, university so she could become anurse, then she moved to England...leaving her kids for long periods of time (very distressing for a young me) so she could save enough money tobuy a house.Yes I said BUY, she didn't live off the social.

In 1991 she finally managed to bring her kids over to England, where she taught us that in life, nothing but hardwork will get you where you want to be. Fast-forward 15 years later- allof us (herkids) are graduates...doing very well for ourselves, living it up in London. I am the youngest and i'm currently at Uni.

--- So there you have it; my point is, if a poor African woman, born in a remote village to farmers can educate herself, rear 5 kids single-handedly and forge a succesful career 5000 miles away in a foreign country, why is it that 'poor' people here in the west keep comin up with countless excuses why they are at the bottom of the pile.

Can you honestly tell me that if some of these people worked hard, put some effort into their lives, that they too couldn't work themselves out of poverty????????

--African Americans, listen up. You were born in the richest country in the world, stop with the f*ckin excuses, educate yourself, motivate yourself and I guarantee you that you won't be poor.

impactplayer · (#2 (**permalink**))

stick-upKid wrote:

Quote:

Yes Peeps, this will be controversial but I have to get it off my chest.

I was born in Nigeria in 1979. Now, Nigeria is country that has quite a big population, most of whom (by western standards) live in poverty.

Poverty in Nigeria is quite different to the west, In Nigeria, you don't get free food stamps, medical care, or free money (GIRO). There is no fall-back, no state safety-net. Most schools have fees, so there is NO free education.

Now, despite all this, how is it that many people still manage to not only survive, but thrive. For example:MyMother, who was a single parent, worked hard all her life, she went to school, university so she could become anurse, then she moved to England...leaving her kids for long periods of time (very distressing for a young me) so she could save enough money tobuy a house.Yes I said BUY, she didn't live off the social.

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Who said that our poor isnt thriving, the thing is alot of people in the U.S. who are poorchoose to be poor. Being poor in America means a guaranteed check in the mail, a food card, practically free education, handsome insentives to start a business, and in some cases housing. In fact if these people didnt spend thier money on depreciatable items like electronics, leased carsand clothes they wouldnt evenbe poor. In some aspects there are incentives to stay poor, which is why its hard for some people to get off welfare.

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In 1991 she finally managed to bring her kids over to England, where she taught us that in life, nothing but hardwork will get you where you want to be. Fast-forward 15 years later- allof us (herkids) are graduates...doing very well for ourselves, living it up in London. I am the youngest and i'm currently at Uni.

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Poor people will be poor no matter who is the president in the U.S., because they live in a mental state of poverty. But you are 100% correct, hardwork and planning for the future is the key.

--- So there you have it; my point is, if a poor African woman, born in a remote village to farmers can educate herself, rear 5 kids single-handedly and forge a succesful career 5000 miles away in a foreign country, why is it that 'poor' people here in the west keep comin up with countless excuses why they are at the bottom of the pile.

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Dontact like ALL Nigierians are wealthy now.The blacks yousee on TVin one ofour poorest states in one ofour poorest cities. Secondly not every one you see was poor. There are middle class people who got caught up in the hurricane too.

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Although Nigeria is one of the best performing countries in Africa, lets not forget that Nigeria has one of the worst poverty situations in the world. Rising up from poverty is a mental thing you cant make some get out of poverty if they dont want to.

Can you honestly tell me that if some of these people worked hard, put some effort into their lives, that they too couldn't work themselves out of poverty????????

--African Americans, listen up. You were born in the richest country in the world, stop with the f*ckin excuses, educate yourself, motivate yourself and I guarantee you that you won't be poor.

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Excuses? The overwhelming majorty of African Americans are not poor, we live very comfortably over here..Compared toother African decentedgroups wecollectively have the highest incomes and lowest poverty rates in the world.

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Your preachin to the wrong people son..

King Capo · (#3 (**permalink**))

I guess we know who cant see through media propaganda.
I don't get the logic of Africans from Africa sometimes, instead of speaking on what America is, it would be wiser to build Africa up so you wouldnt feel the need to air your sob story about having to travel thousands of miles from home to achieve wealth.

free · (#4 (**permalink**))

Stick up kid - I can honestly tell you that

a) your post isn't exactly going to improve anglo/american relations.

b) the last line is something that I would expect to hear from a right wing neo conservative.

@Impactplayer & King Capo

Seeking to learn a bit more about the situation, and other than what I have garnered on my own... How serious is the poverty gap in America for Black Americans?

Have governmental changes done anything to improve or worsen poverty amongst Black Americans?

I am genuinely seeking more, one of my friends state side is uber Liberal, so although his research is on point he tends to give me the 'doom and gloom' stories, so I would like to hear a more balanced viewpoint.

camerhogue · (#5 (**permalink**))

Sorry stick-upkid but your premise is naive to say the least. The west isn't this fairy land of equal rights and equal opportunity where people are judged by their hard work, especially when you're black. Your family made it, say thank God, but don't come preaching to less fortunateblacks about they too lazy and they only making excuses. You don't know what some black people have had to put up with, how many brothers with degrees and trade skills have to settle for mediorce jobs because the white companies not really interested in hiring blacks. Who the a$$ do you think you are?

Masai05 · (#6 (**permalink**))

You mean to tell me that your Mum had to move thousands of Miles away from your home country of Nigeria in order to "MAKE IT". You sound retarded! Why does an African woman have to go to another Continent to make it? You talk about lazy knowing full well that this parallel is foolish.

Impact player did a good job answering your questions so no need for redundant info. But when someone has to travel abroad, abandone their homeland to reach success and justifies this as a thread I have to wonder where Their head is at.Capitalism if you studied it works be having Strata, you have poor and ultra exploited, middle class and Exploited as well as your rich....Excuse me but I'm still tripping over you equating abandoning your poor nation as hard work? Wouldn't it be harder work to achieve success in Nigeria? If everyone worked hard would this country (Nigeria) be a more thriving place?

So Poverty in the East= Lack of Effort????

COLTRANE · (#7 (**permalink**))

stick-upKid wrote:

Quote:

Yes Peeps, this will be controversial but I have to get it off my chest.

I was born in Nigeria in 1979. Now, Nigeria is country that has quite a big population, most of whom (by western standards) live in poverty.

Poverty in Nigeria is quite different to the west, In Nigeria, you don't get free food stamps, medical care, or free money (GIRO). There is no fall-back, no state safety-net. Most schools have fees, so there is NO free education.

Now, despite all this, how is it that many people still manage to not only survive, but thrive. For example:MyMother, who was a single parent, worked hard all her life, she went to school, university so she could become anurse, then she moved to England...leaving her kids for long periods of time (very distressing for a young me) so she could save enough money tobuy a house.Yes I said BUY, she didn't live off the social.

In 1991 she finally managed to bring her kids over to England, where she taught us that in life, nothing but hardwork will get you where you want to be. Fast-forward 15 years later- allof us (herkids) are graduates...doing very well for ourselves, living it up in London. I am the youngest and i'm currently at Uni.

--- So there you have it; my point is, if a poor African woman, born in a remote village to farmers can educate herself, rear 5 kids single-handedly and forge a succesful career 5000 miles away in a foreign country, why is it that 'poor' people here in the west keep comin up with countless excuses why they are at the bottom of the pile.

Can you honestly tell me that if some of these people worked hard, put some effort into their lives, that they too couldn't work themselves out of poverty????????

--African Americans, listen up. You were born in the richest country in the world, stop with the f*ckin excuses, educate yourself, motivate yourself and I guarantee you that you won't be poor.
__________________________________________________ ___

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You are sounding more like MARGARET THATCHER

umbrarchist · (#8 (**permalink**))

I'll point out ONE FACTOR.

Black Americans have bought into this COMPETITION BULLSH!T. It's part of the SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY that is promoted so heavily in this country. Winning is interpreted as BEATING YOUR OPPONENT. So Black Americans focus on beating each other. My car is better than your car etc.

Now of course if I buy a more expensive car than my neighbor that probably means I borrowed more money from a bank, I pay more interest, I pay more insurance and probably buy more gasoline. So what it really amounts to is all these White owned corporations would be beating me but I'm supposed to be a dumb a$$ concentrating on beating my competition.

Over the decades I've heard about Black Americans making a total of $300 Billion, $400 Billion, $500 Billion a year. Where did all the money go? Black Americans are about the dumbest consumers in the United States.

I'll probably get jumped on for this but I don't give a sh!t.

I've never owned a new car. I haven't been to an auto show since 1965. 36 years after the moon landing and economists with PhDs from Harvard and the University of Chicago don't talk about planned obsolescence in cars. AMERICA RUNS ON LIES!

They define poverty on the basis of income not net worth.

Someone with an income of $100,000 a year could have less net worth than someone making $10,000 a year because the banks will encourage them to go into debt so that income goes to the bank as interest.

umbrarchist

Omaar · (#9 (**permalink**))

Stick-up Kid

You were born in the richest country in the world, stop with the f*ckin excuses, educate yourself, motivate yourself and I guarantee you that you won't be poor.

Maybe we should just become "stick-up kids" like you.....

I agree that too many AfroAmericans make excuses for thier plight and we need to get our priorities together; but the same thing can be said of Black people all over the planet.

The only reason Blacks in England and the rest of Europe are more educated and do better than Blacks in America isn't from their own doing.....they were fortunated enough to be brought up in a more liberal Western environment.
Europeans in general are more educated and do better and you happen to be born in that environment.

In other words one could look at it as a case of "your master treats you better than mine".

All it takes is one or 2 generations for the children of African immigrants to get caught up in the same vices AfroAmericans find themselves in.

We're all making excuses for our condition and it needs to stop.

Abstract · (#10 (**permalink**))

Masai05 wrote:

Quote:

You mean to tell me that your Mum had to move thousands of Miles away from your home country of Nigeria in order to "MAKE IT". You sound retarded! Why does an African woman have to go to another Continent to make it? You talk about lazy knowing full well that this parallel is foolish.

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Yeah right. People emigrate to better their lives. This isn't a new thing. You are basically dissin all the west indians that came to the UK in the 60s and all the africans since, not to mention the pakistanis, indians, chinese...

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Masai05 wrote: But when someone has to travel abroad, abandone their homeland to reach success and justifies this as a thread I have to wonder where Their head is at.Capitalism if you studied it works be having Strata, you have poor and ultra exploited, middle class and Exploited as well as your rich....Excuse me but I'm still tripping over you equating abandoning your poor nation as hard work? Wouldn't it be harder work to achieve success in Nigeria? If everyone worked hard would this country (Nigeria) be a more thriving place?

So Poverty in the East= Lack of Effort????

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I know about the ethics of brain drain from developing countries. this is unfortunate. But qualified people shouldnt be held back from moving abroad to earn better wages. Its not their fault that they are qualified.

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I used my families situation not to sound smug or to patronise people, but rather to put it across inmore personal way.

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I am merely pointing out that if my mother was not motivated enuff to do what she did,I would not be here now. I am glad for every single thing she did.

Abstract · (#11 (**permalink**))

COLTRANE wrote:

Quote:

stick-upKid wrote:

Quote:

Yes Peeps, this will be controversial but I have to get it off my chest.

I was born in Nigeria in 1979. Now, Nigeria is country that has quite a big population, most of whom (by western standards) live in poverty.

Poverty in Nigeria is quite different to the west, In Nigeria, you don't get free food stamps, medical care, or free money (GIRO). There is no fall-back, no state safety-net. Most schools have fees, so there is NO free education.

Now, despite all this, how is it that many people still manage to not only survive, but thrive. For example:MyMother, who was a single parent, worked hard all her life, she went to school, university so she could become anurse, then she moved to England...leaving her kids for long periods of time (very distressing for a young me) so she could save enough money tobuy a house.Yes I said BUY, she didn't live off the social.

In 1991 she finally managed to bring her kids over to England, where she taught us that in life, nothing but hardwork will get you where you want to be. Fast-forward 15 years later- allof us (herkids) are graduates...doing very well for ourselves, living it up in London. I am the youngest and i'm currently at Uni.

--- So there you have it; my point is, if a poor African woman, born in a remote village to farmers can educate herself, rear 5 kids single-handedly and forge a succesful career 5000 miles away in a foreign country, why is it that 'poor' people here in the west keep comin up with countless excuses why they are at the bottom of the pile.

Can you honestly tell me that if some of these people worked hard, put some effort into their lives, that they too couldn't work themselves out of poverty????????

--African Americans, listen up. You were born in the richest country in the world, stop with the f*ckin excuses, educate yourself, motivate yourself and I guarantee you that you won't be poor.
__________________________________________________ ___

Quote:

COLTRANE wrote: You are sounding more like MARGARET THATCHER