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The GM thread and the society fails this man thread prompts this question.

In today's America an average (GED, working class, family man with two kids and a household income of $50K) person is more likely to become rich or file for bankruptcy?

Is this an important question or a who cares?

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I would say a person in these circumstances is very unlikely to become rich by U.S. standards, although they are wealthy beyond belief by worldwide standards.

Don't really see the importance, though.

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tooo many variables here to give a correct answer(is the guy motivated, hows his spending.......)but in most cases much more likely to become rich than file for bankruptcy

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tooo many variables here to give a correct answer(is the guy motivated, hows his spending.......)but in most cases much more likely to become rich than file for bankruptcy

[/ QUOTE ]

This seems highly unlikely. How many people without much education or skills and who already have stable families do you think strike it rich?

I'm sure its a lot less than the number who file for chapter seven.

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i have 2 friends that are highly motivated with kids and make nothing right now(both of their families are poor too) but one is in law school about to graduate and the other just got his first job as a chiropractor, in the US there are no excuses for not becoming successful.

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First of all, it depends on what you consider rich. But according to most American definitions of rich, the average person is more likely to go bankrupt. However, the opportunity is there for that person to become rich. As another poster pointed out, that person is already rich on a worlwide standard.


Anyway, if the average person was likely to become rich, then the word rich would no longer have the same meaning, so I think it is a moot question.

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[ QUOTE ]
i have 2 friends that are highly motivated with kids and make nothing right now(both of their families are poor too) but one is in law school about to graduate and the other just got his first job as a chiropractor, in the US there are no excuses for not becoming successful.

[/ QUOTE ]

Since the orginal question was not about "excuses for not becoming successful" but rather an empirical comparison of bankruptcies versus success stories, and since neither of your examples seem likely to fall into the category the OP was talking about, I'm not sure what your point is.

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Since the orginal question was not about "excuses for not becoming successful" but rather an empirical comparison of bankruptcies versus success stories

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You have to be "rich" to be a success? I like the technique of comparing a well-defined failure condition with a vague, easily-redefined-as-needed victory condition with a huge grey area in between. That's some useful dialogue right there, and no way there's any ulterior motive!

You must be a poker player
 

You know what EV means.

For those who still dont get it -- we are not talking about the opportunity to become rich -- we are talking about the relative likelihood across the population.

I think it is an interesting question, specially if the likelihood of become bankrupt is growing relative to the likelihood of becoming "rich".

I suspect (but dont have hard data) that with the health care issues, the abundance of debt, and the likelihood for this average person to be outsourced, the numbers may be troubling -- to some.

The opportunity to get "rich" in America is still better than the same opportunity in Asia and Africa.

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I don't see rich -

I don't even see how a guy with a wife, two kids, on 50K a year could even really buy a house or build up a nest egg - wages aren't rising with inflation and cost of living increases are almost non-existant.

Maybe in Bumfuck, WY, but not in any major city I'm aware of in the United States, which is where most 50K/yr jobs are located.

RB