A quick observation on why some members of the lower class remain in their strata for life:
You know where working guys eat lunch? I mean the seasonal kind of working guys like carpenters, lawn workers, landscapers, etc. You might think fast food Mc Donalds, B.K., etc.
Nope. Gas stations.
Go to a Super America at lunch around here and the place is full of these types buying Deli Express sandwedges, chips, Mountain Dews, and maybe a pack of smokes. Easily dropping between $5-$10 I imagine. This is in addition to their morning trip to the gas station to get coffee or Dew, a donut, and their first pack of smokes for the day.
I experienced this first hand in a couple of my summer college jobs and these guys make it a routine. So how does this affect their economic status? They plan nothing and so never buy economic quantities of these goods. Instead a getting a case of soda at Cub for $5 they drop $1-2 a day on it. Instead of cartons of smokes they get individual packs. They could buy bread and meat and make sandwedges at home but its easier to drop $2-3 at the store each day. Many of them buy their booze in the same manner picking up a six or twelve pack on their way home to be consumed that evening and repeated the next day.
Perhaps they are like dogs and that if they had these items around they would be unable to not eat or drink them all at once. Whatever the reason it hits em' hard in the pocket book. When people talk about giving up your daily latte to save for retirement I usually scoff at the idea of frugality for the future. But for these guys there is usually no retirement plan from their jobs. No 401k or profit sharing. The $25-$50 a week that they could potentially save actually would have an impact on their future. If not for the future then as savings to pay the down stroke on a truck or house. Instead they're dumping their cash on the Apus of the world, willingly being gouged at every turn and then wondering why they don't have any money.
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