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Perhaps the lessons of working hard to get ahead in life isn't something everyone is blessed with. Maybe the story of the American dream doesn't reach some people. I feel that the very ideals are what some people are missing. We were always told as children that we can be anything. We are nurtured to believe in ourselves and trust the nature of the world around us to reward us for hard work, but this isn't something we are born with. Plenty of people are trapped in a system that is stacked against them, they don't get any of the positive reinforcement.
Anyways, I always feel that the general argument is more along the lines of "should poor people get help from everyone else [government]" My feelings are yes, and while it is true people are lazy and cheat the system that kind of fraud is like a drop of water in a lake compared to the kind of fraud we see the wealthy perpetrate on the lower classes (see: ENRON, etc.).

There's a big difference when you come from a not-so-bad background, and you know that you aren't trapped down in the dregs. He may have had some of the experience of truly being homeless, but my guess is that his experience would have been much different if he were kicked down there, with nobody to turn to.

Here's the thing, though: While the underclass may be limited to some extent, anybody's success is dependent upon their not getting sick. Or being in an auto wreck. Or being mugged and needing hospitalization. All you need is a huge debt you cannot bankrupt out of (thank you, GOP) and there is no second chance, there is no do-over.

We need people to feel strong and secure enough to take some chances. That's how small business and entrepreneurialism thrives. But with no safety net to speak of, and bankruptcy laws favoring the banks at the expense of the entrepreneurs and business owners -- and healthcare costs skyrocketing in our "free market" healthcare system -- it's not exactly the kind of situation where we're maximizing our potential as a country of innovators, individualists and entrepreneurs.

I think we have to be very careful citing Krugman. We know what games he plays with statistics and how he deliberately misleads people. See the Armchair Economist for more evidence.

Be well,

Hi Joel!

I just realized you had linked to my post! I'm honored - thanks so much - and thank you for starting a dialogue about these issues on your blog. Let me know if you'd ever like to do a guest post for Quench!

Best,

-icarus
http://quenchzine.blogspot.com

I have nothing but admiration for anybody who starts from nothing and by dint of hard work ends up with something. The fact that it happens at all suggests, to me at least, that it could happen more frequently.

But to suggest that "hard work" alone guarantees success seems simplistic to me: We're now going through an economic fallow period which may well see a rise in unemployment; I doubt we'll blame broader economic trends on Bob the Carbuilder's lack of motivation, even if he ends up laid off and in financial trouble because of it.

Icarus nicely sums up Mr. Shepard's lack of disadvantages above, I think. One of the key advantages he had, in my opinion, was his education. I know: He said he wouldn't use it. But education is a funny thing -- it's not that you use that Tuesday afternoon spent reading Chaucer to make a better construction worker out of yourself. But a good education, broadly speaking, opens your eyes to the world and its possibilities, and gives you some tools to work its levers. The Economic Mobility Project reports:

84 percent of Americans born into the bottom quintile who earn a college degree move up at least one rung on the economic ladder—and 19 percent make it to the top. This compares to only 5 percent of those born into the bottom that make it to the top without a college degree.

Two other thoughts:

* Mr. Shepard disdains the fact that Barbara Ehrenreich slept in her car at one point of "Nickel and Dimed" -- but spent two months living in a homeless shelter and using food stamps. I wonder if that shelter received any government funding? I bet it did. I know the food stamps sure did. Without even that much safety net, Mr. Shepard and his $25 would've been sunk on the first night.

*It's telling to me that he ended his experiment in 10 months, instead of the whole 12. Why? A family member was ill.

But the working poor don't just get to walk away when life throws up a complication or obstruction: They have no choice but to stick with it. And that illness? If it's, say, your daughter and you're working without health insurance -- as is the case with so many of these jobs -- then that $5,000 in savings will be wiped out before you can take a breath.

And "hard work" will have had nothing to do with it.