In my town there is a church that used to hand out food to the poor one day a week. They did this for almost 20 years, I think. I knew the preacher who ran this whole thing. Most of the people who volunteered were elderly. A lot of them volunteered so they could steal from the supplies. Isn't that sad? People from this church and other churches donated food and money to help the poor, but the free stuff wasn't enough for these people. These volunteers were mostly poor themselves. So they received the food and clothing that other people received, plus the preacher would let them take a few extra things for volunteering. But the free stuff wasn't enough, they had to take more. Unbelievable!
At the time, I had the luxury of scheduling my days off. So I would schedule my day off so that I could help out. Not just once or twice a year, but every week I was there. I think everyone should spend 1 day a week for at least six months (preferably a year or two), helping the needy. The reason for this, is because in some parts of American culture there is a tendency to romanticize the poor.
Don't get me wrong. There a people who are legitimately poor through no fault of their own. There are also those who want the proverbial "hand up, not a hand out." There are also those who are poor and will never be able to work again. But after 6 months of volunteering, you'll find that the most of the people you're helping are full of crap.
The first tell that you'll notice is that nearly every member of the family is on or is trying to get on disability. I'll admit, in a country of 300 million people, there will be instances where disabled boy meets disabled girl and together and they have disabled children. But even in a country as large as the US, this will be very rare.
When i say that every member in these families were "disabled" I don't mean mentally handicap or something legitimate. I mean the husband can't work because his back hurts, the wife has migraines, or little Billy has anger issues. All of their issues were easy to fake, and hard to disprove.
We saw dozens of families each week and overwhelmingly the majority fit this description. They weren't needy, they were lazy. The didn't want to work. They wanted others to make life easy for them. Out of all the people we helped, there were about 6 or 7 who really needed help. And everything we gave to the undeserving could have been given to the 6 or 7 deserving.
I share this story to make a point: Humans are prone to laziness. Some people are so lazy that they won't even do the minimum to take care of themselves and their families. Most people aren't that lazy though. Need and fear of being shamed motivates most people into working hard enough to meet their own needs, but just barely. Most people don't really ever work much harder than they have to. Most people live paycheck to paycheck and wonder why they can't get ahead.
Might I suggest something different? Might I suggest that, those of you in your late teens and early twenties start hustling. Those of us who are older and married are somewhat limited in our options. And I feel genuine pity for you poor bastards that have kids. But for those of you who are 18-25, start hustling.
These are your prime years. If you're smart, you'll put down your PS4 controller, quit going to the club every weekend, quit vegging out in front of the T.V. or computer and get a second job. At your age you should be working at least 50 hours a week. Preferably more like 60+ hours a week. And save or invest everything over your normal 40 hr/wk pay.
Now some who are soft-hearted (and soft between the ears) will say something like, "No one ever laid on their death bed and said, 'I wish I had worked more.'" This is a bull crap statement said by lazy hippies who want to rationalize their own laziness. And I will grant you that no one says things like this on their deathbed, but its because people who are dying have better things to think about than their careers. But that doesn't mean that working more during your early years can't have positive effects on the rest of your life.
Imagine, getting married and having a house that's already paid off. Imagine what you could do with that extra money now that you don't have a mortgage. Imagine leaving the rat race for good at 22, because you had the capital to start your own business. Imagine what kind of vacations you can take your wife & kids on because you worked hard when you were young.
You can do whatever you want, but I'm in my mid-30's and I regret not working more when I was younger. It would have made all the difference in the world.
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