This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I see what you are doing there.
First repeat the research that draws a line between a certain set of behaviors and avoiding poverty:
— The sequence to success — George F. Will | The Washington Post
" ... The success sequence ... is this: First get at least a high school diploma, then get a job, then get married, and only then have children. Wang and Wilcox, focusing on millennials ages 28 to 34, the oldest members of the nation's largest generation, have found that only 3 percent who follow this sequence are poor. ..."
— How to keep millennials from falling into poverty — Lois M. Collins | The Deseret News
"A record number of millennials who are parents, 55 percent, are having children before marriage, despite research that clearly suggests those following a more traditional sequence — get at least a high school diploma, find a job, marry and then have children — are less likely to wind up in poverty. ..."
Then detail the cost of everything and the value of nothing:
— A measure to rein in Medicaid's 'mission gallop' — George F. Will | The Washington Post
" ... When a military intervention expands beyond its original objective, this is called 'mission creep.' Domestically, Medicaid demonstrates 'mission gallop.' In 1965, it was merely medical insurance for poor people eligible for cash assistance. Now it covers, in various states, many cohorts at or near the federal poverty level — seniors, people with disabilities, families with young children and pregnant women, able-bodied childless adults, and people without adequate resources for long-term residential care. ..."
Then further demonize the poor as "thugs" who don't deserve "hugs" — even when you are one of the few people around who sees the horror that is the number of homeless in Salt Lake City.
— You can't 'hug-a-thug' out of crime near homeless shelter, Hughes says. But the House Speaker also isn't sure what to do just yet. —Matthew Piper | The Salt Lake Tribune
"While talking with Salt Lake City's mayor on Thursday, House Speaker Greg Hughes didn't mention deploying troops, nor did he use the word "czar" to describe a hypothetical state official who would take over efforts to combat homelessness. ...
" ... But Hughes' recent depiction of the area surrounding the 1,100-bed shelter at 210 S. Rio Grande St. — as a spiraling hellscape — highlighted conflicting narratives and left some to wonder what Hughes had meant when he called for more drastic measures. ..."
It's all a way of building a case that the homeless — and, more generally, the poor — are what and where they are because they are guilty of making bad choices and not being willing or able to delay their gratification.
It's building the intellectual underpinnings for the argument that the rich helping the poor is money wasted. It fits with the absurdly cruel story line, promoted by Sen. Mike Lee and Vice President Mike Pence, that being without access to health care is what freedom looks like.
What we are really dealing with here is the fact that people born into certain circumstances have huge advantages over others. Saying you'll do better if you get an education and delay marriage and child-bearing is like saying you'll do better if you are born rich, blonde, white and in a house full of books.
True. And, if you are the one being born, useless.
— Conservatives Think They Have a Magic Formula for Raising People Out of Poverty — Jordan Weissmann | Slate
" ... yes, you are more likely to get there if you both graduate from high school and promptly find full-time work. That's sort of like saying it's easier to go bear hunting with a gun than it is to wrestle a grizzly into submission—nobody would think otherwise. ..."
— Following the success sequence? Success is more likely if you're white. — Richard V. Reeves, Edward Rodrigue, and Alex Gold | Brookings
" ... The bottom line is that even when black Americans do follow all three norms, their economic prospects are worse than whites. ..."
— This Baby Boomer Believes Marrying For Love Is Hurting Millennials' Chances Of Success — Lisa Dunn | Elite Daily
" ... The notion that millennials who hit milestones in this order tend to be more successful is something upon which Will and I can agree.
"But here's where we differ: I don't believe this is causal. I don't think hitting milestones in a certain sequence is why people are more successful, but rather, more economically stable people (those with institutional and familial support) are economically able to do things in a more traditional manner. The burden of implied privilege here is heavy. ..."
Even George Will sees this. A little.:
" ... Success is, of course, more complex than adherence to the sequence. Much cultural capital often is unavailable to poor people.
"In J.D. Vance's 'Hillbilly Elegy,' his memoir of his rise from Appalachian poverty to Yale Law School, he recounts his experience in the recruiting process with prestigious law firms, during which he learned, among many other things he did not learn at home, 'use the fat spoon for soup' and 'your shoes and belt should match.' These may seem trivial matters; to upward mobility, they are not. ...
And so, a little, does David Brooks:
— How We Are Ruining America — David Brooks | The New York Times
" ... Recently I took a friend with only a high school degree to lunch. Insensitively, I led her into a gourmet sandwich shop. Suddenly I saw her face freeze up as she was confronted with sandwiches named 'Padrino' and 'Pomodoro' and ingredients like soppressata, capicollo and a striata baguette. I quickly asked her if she wanted to go somewhere else and she anxiously nodded yes and we ate Mexican.
"American upper-middle-class culture (where the opportunities are) is now laced with cultural signifiers that are completely illegible unless you happen to have grown up in this class. They play on the normal human fear of humiliation and exclusion. Their chief message is, 'You are not welcome here.'..."
Related:
— Inconvenient location, meeting times hamper public input on Utah's Medicaid expansion plans, health experts say — Alex Stuckey | The Salt Lake Tribune