Why poor people make poor decisions
&gt; Poverty is not a lack of character – it’s a lack of cash.<p>No. Poverty is a lack of education and, more importantly, mentorship.<p>I am battling this right now with my next door neighbors, who use HOC, a Maryland social service that basically puts poor people in middle class neighborhoods by subsidizing rent.<p>My neighbors have money. They spend it extremely poorly. It&#x27;s a single mom with 2 kids. Both kids have iPhones, iPads, PS4s, cable TV, you name it. I&#x27;m constantly cleaning up scratch-offs and cigarette butts from the shared sidewalk. Yet they are also on food stamps (SNAP) and near the end of the month the 11 year old boy inevitably starts coming over to our house for snacks because they are out of food. Just recently he boasted that his mom is going to buy him a brand new $1500 gaming rig. I remarked that seemed quite expensive and wondered where the money would come from. &quot;tax return&quot; he replied non-chalantly. He also said once they got their tax return they would be going to Disneyland.<p>I see this 11 year old boy on a trajectory for poverty. I&#x27;ve tried to help him with his math homework and with reading, but he is at a level far below his grade and seems to be constantly skipping school. He hates reading because his reading comprehension is low which means it will never improve because there are no adults in his life (other than me) trying to get him to read books. It&#x27;s a viscious cycle. He has virtually no adult supervision or guidance (other than what I can offer when he occasionally comes over) because his single mom is always absent or in the hospital or sleeping or working or with boyfriend.<p>It would require an insane amount of cash to make it so the single mom didn&#x27;t have to work, and even then, she is uneducated, can&#x27;t help her kids with their homework, doesn&#x27;t see the value in school having not used it herself, doesn&#x27;t know how to be a good parent, not having had them herself, etc.<p>These kids need mentors more than they need cash. They need adults they can emulate who can help them break free from the viscious cycle.