A crucial distinction: almost <i>anybody</i> can do better, not almost <i>everybody</i>.<p>The &quot;go to school at night, hustle more, get a better job!&quot; rallying cry basically just pits the poor against each other.  That can work for an individual, but in an economy structured on X% low-wage work it can&#x27;t work for everyone.  All it does is raise the minimum standard to get the same mediocre work (see: high school and college degrees).<p>Yeah, any one unemployed person could probably find a job, but that doesn&#x27;t mean 25% unemployment in Spain is a laziness issue.  Similarly, an economy with 10% of workers earning poverty wages can&#x27;t be changed by telling those people to all get better jobs.