[carlosjobim]

Hard work is the first stepping stone, to crawl your way out of complete poverty. Where would a person otherwise get money to invest. But that doesn't mean you're out of the hole.

What I'm talking about are things like being able to own your own home without being born into it or getting it from inheritance. That is a big gamble trying to do with just hard and smart work.

> I'd probably suggest that poor people with savings start a business over investing.

I'd like to adjust that: Starting a business is a better option than hard work, because with your own business you can actually get a good return on working hard and smart. But unless you're a business genius, it's a good idea at one point to invest your proceeds into the stock market rather than investing all back into your own business.