Being Poor is Not a Virtue - It's Trends Evil

Where in the Bible or in Catholic doctrine does it say that being poor is a virtue?

Is there nobility in being poor?

Are individuals, families, neighborhoods, or cities better off if they are poor?

What advantage is there to being poor?

And yet the Catholic Church elevates the value of being poor, by assuming that poverty is inevitable and perhaps the goal attained.  The Church cares for the poor, like the government does. They GIVE stuff to people. That is caring, but it's not a real good example of caring.

A PREFERENCE FOR THE POOR must include a process, a path, and an education to accumulating wealth and self-sufficiency. Otherwise, IMHO, this "preference for the poor" is a bunch of crap. It is hypocrisy. It's self-perpetuating. It's evil. Gravely evil.

I acknowledge that some individuals are destined to be always poor. There are people that are not capable for any number of reasons of earning a living, keeping a job, or even getting out of bed without falling. I know that. But I'm not talking about such dear souls that exist so that we can learn to help those TRULY in need.

Instead, I'm talking about the otherwise capable, who need to be working at least 6 hours a day volunteering at ANYWHERE good, for the sake of raising their own dignity and improving their lives, and their community. Or, I'm talking about people that should take ANY job, even if it is boring or "beneath their dignity." Work, any work done well, creates personal dignity.

And there are those, in these camps that do feel victimized by society and so they are unmotivated to do anything but find ways to take from the producers, whom them feel owe them.

There is also such hate for those that are rich, that some poor avoid doing things that would help them out of poverty, because they don't want to be like the rich. Stupid thinking leads to a stupid life.

Over generalizations?

No.

I've seen it up close and personal.

It's abhorrent, evil and destructive. 

If you hate poverty, start doing what the rich do. What do the rich do? 

The rich study the lives of immigrants that came to the U.S. with no money, and today are millionaires.

The rich have gleamed and practice those virtues of character that differentiate the poor from the rich and follow them.  Ben Franklin and his book of virtues comes to mind.

The rich have fostered in themselves values such as these:

1. Foster a personal value that accumulating money is good.  Don't love it. But without it you're poor. (See No. 4)

I know of people who claim to be champions of the poor, who avoid money like it was a plague. My conclusion is that they don't want to be seen by their poor friends as being like the rich, because that would destroy friendships. What a stupid idea. The Bible reminds us that the rich have friends, whereas the poor don't. 

2. Study the work habits and traits, not the hobbies, of the rich and replicate those work traits in your life.

I visited a subway restaurant one time in Detroit. It had just changed owners. It was busy, a long line. The staff was short handed. And what was the owner doing? He was making a sandwich for himself, disturbing the work flow, and then he left. Any smart store owner, seeing the line of customers, would have been working to help the customers, not himself. This was also the man who had parked illegally, blocking customer's direct to the shop from the parking lot.

3. Work 12-14 hours a day at improving your education, skills and earning potential. Do not stop at 8 or 10.

4. SAVE MONEY, don't spend it.

I know a stock broker who was born in abject poverty. As a teenager he lived in a very bad, crime ridden urban community. As a teen he worked several odd jobs, and started buying stock. He says his first stock was McDonald's because he liked their food. He became, in that small way, AN OWNER of McDonald's. He was frugal. He also purchased OLD, USED cars. And today he's a rich stock broker that spends 50% of his time volunteering to help the less fortunate. BUT he could not be helping the poor today, if he can not worked hard, saved his money, and learned to be a good stock trader.

5. OWN things of value, not because they simple look cool or will impress your friends.  

See above example. There are numerous commercials that tell you to buy things because you'll impress your friends with your success. If you buy into this concept you'll be poor in no time. 

6. Be the last person off the treadmill, and the first one on the next morning.

This advice comes from Will Smith one of the smartest and hardest working producers and actors in Hollywood. I've been with Will and confirm that this is exactly what he does. While other producers will hire story consultants and writers like me, and visit us for an hour or so during a several day long story conference effort, Will will be the first one there in the morning, and not leave until everyone else is in bed, 14 hours later. Will is extremely talented. But without the hard work, he'd not be rich. Oh, and here's a secret that in telling you I'm probably violating my confidentiality agreement -- but it makes the point well: In his home's movie theater, there are TWO treadmills. Work, baby work. Harder than anyone else.

7. READ THE BEST INSPIRING BOOKS on how to be self-sufficient. Here's a short list. They are not contrary to Catholic teaching, although you'll not find a bishops Rescript in the front. HA! I've read all these and many more. And while we're not rich by some standards, we aren't poor.

RICH DAD POOR DAD:  What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not! (Richard Kiyosaki)

THINK AND GROW RICH (Napoleon Hill)

THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE (Stephen R. Covey)

THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING (Norman Vincent Peale)

TIME MANAGEMENT (Richard Winwood)

TOP PERFORMANCE: How to Develop Excellent in Yourself and Others (Zig Ziglar)

HOW I RAISED MYSELF FROM FAILURE TO SUCCESS IN SELLING (Frank Bettger)

RHINOCEROS SUCCESS (Scott Alexander)

How the Poor Can Become Rich

Subtitle A: What do the Rich know that the Poor don't?

Subtitle B: Secrets of the Rich that the Poor Could Use

The following lift from a website suggests to me that the rich have a secret which isn't really a secret, onto which the poor need to latch if they want to not be poor.

Ref: http://econintersect.com/b2evolution/blog1.php/2012/09/20/rich-vote-poor-and-poor-vote-rich

==== quote ==== 

The results [of several studies] conclude that lower income Americans vote in favor of their economic position (favoring Democrats).  With increases in income, voters can afford to follow social issues. 

The 2008 vote by income graph examines how income varies between rich and poor states.

Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the Union, Connecticut is consistently one of the wealthiest and Ohio falls in between.  Likewise, Mississippi is Republican stronghold, Connecticut is even more Democratic and Ohio is a toss-up.
The lower income level within the three states votes consistently in favor of the Democrats.  As income rises its clear which states follow conservative social ideologies.

 === end quote ===

The "secrets" may be these:

A. If you want to be rich, live by the philosophy (worldview) of the Republicans (see below). If you want to be poor, live by a Democrat philosophy. 

B. The Rich may read more, taking in a variety of input and make voting decisions based on what's the best way to create personal wealth; e.g. the candidate's understanding of how the economy works, proposed tax structure, proposed regulation structure. The Poor may read less, take in less input, and make voting decisions based on reasons other than personal wealth; e.g. on the color of a candidate's skin, political party affiliation, or promises to boost fiscal support to the poor. 

C. Regardless of what is vocally espoused, the self-made wealth generally lives by fiscally conservative capitalistic fiscal principles. I know a man who verbally claims to be a progressive social Democrat, that is, he favors socialism in terms of taxing the rich and giving it to the poor. But the man and his family guide their personal finances after a conservative capitalistic Republican philosophy, and he is easily in the top 10% income bracket among Americans.

Political Definitions can be subtle and confusing. Here's how I'll generally classify differences. I will probably not be consistent about one thing— the difference between a person's spoken political philosophy and the person's actions. That is, what a person says they believe and how they actually live are meant to be equivalent in the table below.

METRIC	Conservative Capitalist  (Trends Republican) Allows for unrestricted growth of personal wealth generation.	Social Progressive  (Trends Democrat) Allows for restricted growth of personal wealth generation.
Responsibility (Subsidiarity)	Takes Personal Responsibility for Well Being. Blames self when things go wrong. Pushes subsidiarity down to individual.	Looks to government, agencies, parents, organizations, hierarchy to take primary responsibility for well-being. Blames others when things go wrong. Pushes subsidiarity up to larger and more powerful social-political structures.
Laws (see also Govt. Regulation)	Believes in a Natural Law with absolute cause and effects that never changes regardless of laws. Believes that the goal of man made laws is to be fair to all people, that legislation is limited in itself to bring out that fairness. Believes, therefore, in adjudication for unintended circumstances.	Believers in Political Law cause and effects that can change by human law. Believes that the goal of man made laws to to be fair to all, and that much can be legislated to be fair to all. Believes in the homogeneous of humanity (everyone is the same and needs to be treated the same.)
Government Regulation	Believes in limited government regulation and broad judiciary judgement, but not in "legislation from the bench." Believes in a heterogeneous humanity (everyone is different and needs to be treated differently).	Believes in strong government regulation and narrow judiciary judgement, and would allow "legislation from the bench." Believes in a homogeneous humanity (everyone is the same and needs to be treated the same).
Order	Believes in a Natural Order, and the scientific method. If a pattern of behavior or structure observed, there is a natural law behind it that can be discovered but not fundamentally changed.	Believes in a Political Order. If a pattern of behavior or structure is observed, it can be changed by social interventions.
Human Solidarity	Believes in the solidarity of all humans, and that individuals and not bureaucratic institutions (e.g. faith based, and volunteer) should oversee distribution of earth's resources.	Believes in the solidarity of all humans, and that government should play a controlling role in the distribution of earth's resources.
Religious Liberty	Believes in absolute freedom of religious expression and practice, as long as individual human rights are not forcefully violated. Unrestricted freedom of conscience.	Believes in limited freedom of religious expression and practice; one person's religion should cannot be allowed offend another person's feelings. Limits freedom of conscience.
Taxes	Believes in low taxes to generate economy and high revenue for governments.	Believes in high taxes to generate revenue for government, even through economy is restricted in the process.
Charity	Believes in giving to charity out of individual's pocket.	Believes in giving to charity out of government's pocket.
Economy	Believes in free market capitalism.	Believes in politically controlled socialism. (In reality, the ruling class in socialism practices capitalism, using the people as currency.)
The Poor	Believes there are two classes of the poor: those capable of working and those incapable of working. Believes in helping the destitute with cradle to grave care, but those able to work, must work or not receive care.	Believes the poor are poor becasue they were represeed by the rich. Believes in helping all  poor with welfare support, and that those capable of working can't find a job because there are none to their liking.
The Rich	Believes that the best way to help the poor is to create jobs and the dignity that comes from work. Understands that all the money they earn is reinvested or spent, which stimulates the economy and crates secondary jobs.	Believes that the rich only care for themselves  and do nothing to help the poor. Believes that the rich should be taxed to redistribute their ill-gotten gains to the less fortunate.
Charity	Believes in their individual responsibility of giving to charity (which includes the poor).	Believes in their government's responsibility of giving to charity (and helping the poor.)  Believes in using OPM (Other People's Money) to help the unfortunate and fund programs.