Quote:I defy the the narrative only because I'm speaking the truth as it relates to my life.  Sure I make a considerable amount more now than I made when I was a young E-2 or E-3 in the military (actually I think I made E-4 by then, but it doesn't really matter).  I worked my way up as did my wife.

 

My point is though, it is possible to raise one's self out of poverty and it is still possible to reach the "American Dream" for anyone.  My wife and I, when we got married couldn't imagine ever buying or owning a house.  We started out in a trailer (single wide not double wide) on the West Side of Jacksonville. Our "kitchen table" was a fold up card table.  Our "end tables" in our living room were cardboard boxes covered by afghans that my wife made.  We had one car that was pretty crappy (I remember spending a lot of time either under the hood or under the car fixing it).  However, we made the best of what we had.  We spent a lot of times going to flea markets and yard sales to acquire what we could back in those days.

 

We saved enough money and developed a good enough credit report to be able to qualify to buy a home.  It wasn't a brand new home and it wasn't "grand" by any means, but it was something that we could call our own (even though the bank actually owned it).

 

My point is, if someone like me can take and survive that journey that my wife and I took, anyone else with a bit of discipline and courage can take the same path.

 

Wealth and/or achievement is not is not "distributed" it's earned.

 

This is where the leftists start making fun of you and using terms like "bootstrappy" to describe how you've succeeded. I, too, followed a similar path though without the military. I got married, worked what jobs I could find, found a career, went to college and grad school and am now told that people can't do what I did and I should sacrifice my family's financial means on their behalf.  I mean, living on a budget is somehow beneath all these people who think they shouldn't have to do what we did, that financial security is their right, even if that means other people have to subsidize it.

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