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I feel the same way, but for different reasons GOMEDOME
I know that this country was planned; Jefferson and postmaster Ben Franklin were self-sacrificng to a greta extent. Both happened to escape from their origins, including traditional religion. Franklin ran away from Congregationalism in Boston. So, we are foryunate that our Founding parents wanted to do better than the rest of the world...then share it. that is what Jefferson said about the rights in our Constitution, and opening the doors to immigration. Franklin called the poor Eurpean immigrants the equivalent pof vipers, scorpions and serpents. These life-forms turned out well. the message is OPPORTUNITY TRANSFORMS. has Europe kept all its [people, we would have kept our poverty, superstition and religious wars
posted by
ILLUMINATI8
on July 11, 2006 at 5:26 PM
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Good post, Gome, and great reminders!
posted by
JanesOpinion
on July 11, 2006 at 5:23 PM
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Gome, we have something in common..."childhood poverty"
As a daughter of Cuban refugees, I too experienced poverty in my childhood. It was a dramatic experience due to the drastic change in our family's economic lifestyle. Prior to Castro's intervention of all private enterprises, my father at the age of 40 left a family furniture business to come to the US, fleeing communism and seeking religious freedom. Not having relatives in the US and without speaking the language, it was a struggle for my father until he found a job in a furniture reupholstering factory. The little aid we received came from the Catholic Archdiocese in the form of can foods and used clothes. We lived in the poor side of town, wearing clothes from the Salvation Army but I had no clue we were dirt poor. Money was not fluent because my mother never worked. I didn't experience a movie, dining out or any entertainment until the age of 15 when I started dating. Yet, I have happy childhood memories of parks, zoo, beaches and outdoor family gatherings. I am thankful to this country for the opportunities it gave us. I'm not rich, but I go on vacations, out to dinner, movies, concerts and buy my clothes at the mall. 
Good Post Melody
posted by
CunningLinguist
on July 11, 2006 at 5:09 PM
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Quite a few years back I took time out
from a very comfortable job to freelance. It is a very powerful thing to know you can be self-sufficient. There is much less to fear that way.
posted by
Azur
on July 11, 2006 at 3:00 PM
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gomedome, very inspiring post. No, really. Thanks.
posted by
franciscan
on July 11, 2006 at 2:48 PM
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Sunnybeach7 -- necessity is certainly the mother of invention pertaining
to poverty.
Money management skills are the single most important survival asset. Some folks go their entire lives without ever developing these skills
posted by
gomedome
on July 11, 2006 at 11:54 AM
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Good Post
I've always felt the same way. It's not "only money" if you need it to keep your electric or gas on, or your car running, etc.
Living on a pretty limited income has always allowed me to use my gift of good money managment.
I can do a lot more with a little, than others I know can do with a substantial amount.
When you don't have much, you become accountable for what you do have.
posted by
Afzal_Sunny7
on July 11, 2006 at 11:45 AM
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Kiddo75 -- it seems to me that you need a plan
Nothing too ambitious or too risky but something that allows you to make a few extra bucks. Do you do anything currently in the way of online sales or sales of any kind? The reason I ask is that I have some experience with business mentoring. Without bragging, I've helped a few people find that second nickel so that they would have two nickels to rub together. My first question is always the same; what are your interests? Or more specifically, what product or commodity could you see yourself trading in?
posted by
gomedome
on July 11, 2006 at 9:54 AM
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Thank you for this post, it is so true. I grew up dirt poor, still am
really...lol... but I do not LIVE like it. When I say that, I mean I do not live the way my parents made me live. My kids probably do not know we don't have squat. I never let them in on the fact that we are almost homeless. People who say "It's only money" have never experienced the horror of "What the fuck am I going to do?" - and feeling that way with a smile on your face so that your kids don't have that fear as well. I'm going to do something with myself one day so that I do not have to live this way anymore. I know that for a fact. And no matter how broke I am or how much it appears I bitch, I too do the same thing as you. I am thankful every morning for what I DO have, because it is a shit lot more than I had growing up. At least I have desire for better, which is something I gave myself. My folks were just bitter about being losers,, so they decided to live in filth with losers and drug addicts locking me in my room. My house is clean, the things I do have I take great care of, and my kids say "Thank you" for everything they recieve. I want better, so I'll get it.
posted by
Kiddo75
on July 11, 2006 at 9:09 AM
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TVBlogger - I can identify with the glee
Except when I was growing up, we were the poorest of the poor in an extremely impoverished area and we knew that we were poor. The day I set foot in southern society is when things began to change. Where we had lived, north of the 55th parallel, there was no such thing as garbage night. It boggled my mind the things that people dragged to the curb to throw away. Where I was from, absolutely everything from every scrap of paper and cloth, to cans and bottles, were re-used. From my perspective, once a week on garbage night, the curbs were littered with gold.
posted by
gomedome
on July 11, 2006 at 8:13 AM
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I grew up poor
but I was lucky in that I didn't know it, partly because of my parent's attitude and partly because everyone around me was in the same boat. So thankfully I never developed that mental attitude of poverty. I really struggled when I first moved to LA and I remember the first high-paying job I got. I remember waking up one morning and literally giggling in bed with joy. Not because I was wealthy but because I no longer had to worry about how to pay my bills. A load was lifted and I felt pure joy. I remember thinking, "Maybe money can't make you happy, but it sure can help."
posted by
TVBlogger
on July 11, 2006 at 7:43 AM
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