I admitted that for some it may be a choice, such as the example 12th gave. I would not consider that example to be the norm. What you need is to add a few quantifier to your statements. Yes, some poor people basically choose their lifestyle through a long line of bad decisions. Some people are poor because they were swindled out of their money by people they thought they could trust. Some were born poor, and that gave them less choices than people who weren't. I know one person who couldn't afford to pay for college, and was too ashamed to accept financial aid from the government. He works hard as a cook in a nursing home kitchen now and is scraping by financially. Is he irresponsible?

Conservatives often complain about the poor stealing their money through welfare programs, but growing up in a lower income neighborhood, I knew only a couple families who had any kind of welfare (food stamps), but they still worked full-time jobs. I never met anyone who relied 100% on welfare. As I mentioned earlier, many would never accept any kind of welfare. It's embarrassing.

After I returned to American from Japan with my pregnant wife, I had no job and no medical insurance. I briefly enrolled in medicaid for my wife. Since we were on medicaid after the birth we qualified for food WIC checks to buy food. I took one of them and used it at the grocery store, but I never went back for more. It's just too embarrassing.

Based on my experiences, I would say many poor people don't rely on welfare, and very few rely on it 100%. I would say about half of the poor accept no form of welfare, but I don't know the actual statistics. Does anyone know where they can be found and post them? That would be great.

The stereotypes about wealth and poverty are meaningless. Of course some poor people are lazy and irresponsible. Some wealthy people are, too. When push comes to shove, some people are just lazy and irresponsible. You'll always be able to find such people from all walks of life.

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LET ME SEE YOUR WAR FACE!!!