DoughtyOne said:
"There are places where it’s hard to make things work though." An Asian friend of mine made his way across the border from China to Hong Kong years ago with nothing in his pockets.
He made his way to the U.S. and at one time lived in a chicken coop while he bicycled to work at a mortuary. Now there's a nice job.
I think he understood that at every point in time it was essential that he live within his means and accumulate something.
I have plenty of work that could be done around my place. But I have no intention of paying two or three times minimum wage which is what many of the illegals in my area are charging. So the work remains undone and there are no jobs.
I predict that in twenty years in the U.S. there will be many, many people living in what would pass for a chicken coop. Some will thrive and others won't. Few, however, will be on government assistance.
This year has been an interesting year for me. I had to pick between living in my car and having a nice positive cash flow, or living in my home alone and barely making ends meet. And then you have the prospect of knowing that any single thing that comes up to cause a financial impact of any size, and your thin margin is gone.
I sometimes think the chicken coop option is the best choice, if you can tap the local YMCA or something, to keep yourself clean and presentable.
Some folks get locked into a bare subsistence, and have a very hard time making something extra to apply toward a better life. If they could see their way clear to downsize for a period of time, it would probably be better.
I don't think folks who haven't had to ponder these issues fully understand the plight of the person who lives in a bad area. And as for moving out of that bad area, with housing rates what they are there, they can't move to a better area if they are barely making it as it is.
This isn't a trashing of our system here in the U. S. I do think it's a plight some people face, and the dynamics they face are foreign to those who haven't had to face it.