I live in one of the most poorest neighborhoods in the United States, in the projects and on SNAP and other government assistance, and I used to be homeless living on the street and shelters, so I don’t need any lecture about not understanding how “poverty works”. There are different levels of poverty. Just because we live in poverty, is no excuse to still be careless with the little money we have. Be careless and pay the consequences. Be in dire straits, and pay the consequences. They’re called survival tips and being street smart and I’ve gotten them regularly from homeless people, drug addicts, prostitutes and other people who live in poverty that I’ve met in my life. We can’t do nothing about what the cronies in the government do, so sitting around crying about what they’re doing is pointless. We have to watch our own backs and be smart with what we have.

P.S. It is possible to pull oneself up out of poverty by the bootstraps because I know people who have and I also know people who were up, fall down into poverty. One can even dig themselves so deep into bad choices, that it’s impossible to dig oneself out of it. Hell, there’s a celebrity who lives in my building who’s living in the projects just like me. It’s a two-way street affected by life choices, education, financial literacy, health quality, environment, and other factors too broad to cover here. Being in poverty doesn’t relegate one to always staying in poverty.