They’re right to an extent. I think we should have a lot of systems in place to help break generational poverty, like foster homes, public schooling, scholarships, etc. But if people don’t take advantage of those systems to escape that cycle, how far do we intervene to try to fix it?

I came from a lower class background and now I’m solidly middle class in earnings. I went to a trades college, got a diploma in an in-demand job, and here I am. One of my coworkers came from severe poverty and an abusive home, and she did the same thing.

There’s only so much you can do for people to help them change. The most important aspect required in that process is the will power of the person in question, and that’s usually what’s lacking.

I’m not saying it’s easy. Life is hard. It’s arguably as easy as it has ever been to provide for yourself in the history of the human race (I know it was easier 50 years ago, I’m talking about modern society in general). People need to appreciate that they don’t have to hunt and forage for food, they don’t really have to worry about rival tribes sneaking into their camp and slitting their throats while they sleep. Again, that doesn’t mean life is easy now, but in comparison it could be a hell of a lot worse.

A certain percentage of a species will naturally fail to thrive. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature. It’s the reason evolution was able to take place. I don’t want excess suffering to take place. I specifically went into medicine because I want to curb suffering. But we will never be able to save everyone. We save as many as we can. This is a truth in medicine, but it’s also applicable to society as a whole. No matter how small we manage to get that percentage, some people will always have too much stacked against them.

Most uncles don’t have so many comma splices. GenX makes up the majority of uncles, now, and they learned how to make a f’n sentence.