[rfc]

1) You have your own selection bias as we all do. I'm not ignorant to that. However, many of the folks that have gone through similar transformations don't come from "easy" backgrounds. They had their own tragedies (financially, emotionally, etc.) that they had to overcome. Being born into poverty is an excuse to sidestep responsibility of your own life.

2) An outside can't sabotage your own idea. Only you can sabotage it. Sure, it doesn't make it any easier, but if someone can change your mind on your definition of "success" then you will never achieve it.

3) Yes, people spend money on dumb shit. I was in the same environment. Keeping up with the "jones" was a thing. Succeeding was also looked down upon. You know what is consistent with folks who came into success from those areas? They said f-that, I'm going to make my own path, regardless of what others say. They had mental fortitude.

4) My first car cost $2,000. My second car cost $1,000. Both I saved up and purchased. If police are harrassing you about being homeless in a car, then leave that location. That sounds like a police state (Cali anyone?). And before you say "It's not that simple to just leave!" Yes, yes it is. In order to change my situation, I literally "YOLO'ed" across the country (no job, nothing) in order to get out. Much like many in this investment group, in order to get out of hell, you have to make huge bets.

I live in the USA in 2019. I lived in the USA when I was homeless during the height of the recession. It is easier now than it was then.

[fuqmachine]

> However, many of the folks that have gone through similar transformations don't come from "easy" backgrounds.

You just basically said - Folks that go from A to B come from A. Of course!

You act as if your situation is the worst possible situation. For example, imagine having to take care of a sick parent and 2 kids and a wife. Imagine being addicted to drugs. Imagine having a criminal or drug-dealing record. Imagine having a disability. Imagine being suicidal.

Even if you went through all the terrible things I listed, imagine not having any mental fortitude. Mental fortitude doesn't come easily or at all to a lot of people. This pull yourself up by your bootstraps is a nothing but a shiny pokemon.

I came from poverty and I have everything I wanted now. But I also recognize that 99% of the people that were in poverty with me didn't make it out.

[runjake]

I'll counter the crap you seem to be getting in this thread:

I think you're catching a lot of crap for being "hurtful", but I don't see it that way. I see you being direct and appreciate your comments in this thread.

[solipsism]

If understanding compound interest and (more generally) feedback loops is important, then so is critical thinking. For example:

> many of the folks that have gone through similar transformations don't come from "easy" backgrounds.

Some simple critical thinking skills and basic logic (often learned in a philosophy course, but not always) would help one understand that this shows only that the statement <it's impossible for any poor person to become wealthy> is false. It certainly says nothing about the idea that <all poor people could become wealthy>.