가난해 지지 않는 열가지 비결

토론토에서 살면서 늘 그끼는 것은 소득 수준이 높다는 것입니다. 일하는 열정이나 일하는 강도 등을 고려할 때 한국에 비해 소득 수준이 높지 않을까 싶습니다. 물론 이곳에서 정규교육을 받은 사람들의 경우이지요.

토론토에는 특히 이민자들이 많습니다. 살펴보면 이민 1세대들은 비교적 어려운 삶을 삽니다. 언어가 자유롭지 못하고 문화가 다르기 때문에 적응에 적지 않은 시간이 걸리기 때문이겠지요. 하지만 이민 2세, 3세로 내려가면서 더 많은 기회를 얻을 수 있다는 게 개인적인 생각입니다.

살펴보면 이곳에서 부와 빈곤의 대물림 현상이 일어나고 있습니다. 부유한 가정, 좋은 환경에서 자란 사람들 중에 사회적으로 더 큰 영향력을 발휘하고 스스로 만족한 삶을 사는 경우가 더 많아보입니다. 반면 열악한 환경에서 자란 사람의 경우 빈곤의 악순환을 계속할 확률이 상대적으로 높지 않을까 싶습니다.

토론토 선(The Toronto Sun)지에 실린 ‘가난해 지지 않는 열가지 비결’이라는 제목의 글을 올립니다.

<10 ways not to be poor/ By Jerry Agar ,Toronto Sun>

The perpetually poor are not blameless.

Society’s efforts to curb violence and relieve poverty are for naught unless people want to change.

Anyone can find themselves in unplanned and unforeseen unfortunate circumstances.

Most people, eventually, by their own effort and/or with the help of others, overcome adversity.

Some people, however, are perpetually poor.

Why? Because they don’t do the things required of them to move up and out.

With apologies to Stephen R. Covey, here are the seven habits of highly unsuccessful people.

1.Mismanaging the money they have. Some low-income people find a way to save for the future, but they do so by foregoing $300 Nike shoes.

2.Believing in the quick fix. The lottery is not the ticket to the future and it would be helpful if the government didn’t advertise it as such.

3.Believing life itself is a lottery. Life isn’t fair, but the accident of our birth, regardless of circumstances, is no guaranteed predictor of success or failure. Successful people weather the storms, while unsuccessful people see themselves as victims, with no options.

4.Inability to manage emotions. Unsuccessful people get stuck in feelings of hopelessness, frustration and anger, letting those emotions rule them.

5.Picking the wrong role model. They let unsuccessful people school them on the ways of life, rather than seeking out people who have overcome the same challenges they face.

6.Setting low goals. The problem is that once a low goal is achieved, the person feels that is all he or she can do. Setting unrealistic goals is also harmful, but goals should always be a bit higher than what has already been accomplished.

7.Believing in wishing and hoping. Pop culture self-help programs encourage people to wish hard for success and claim it will simply happen. That is dangerous because it is appealing; something for nothing. It’s like praying for success while forgetting God helps those who help themselves. Everyone has a moral responsibility to provide for themselves as much as possible.

We should approach the issue of poverty from that standpoint.

We are not tough enough in society today with those people accessing the labour of others, through taxpayer-supported social programs.

Here is a three-point program for avoiding poverty.

1.Stay in school to at least obtain a high school graduation. It is free for the student, so it is not too much to ask. Perhaps we should make it more of a demand.

2.Don’t have children until you are able to financially care for them. It is not too much to ask. To do otherwise is a form of child abuse. Anyone can fall on hard times, but if properly prepared before having children a person will recover for their own and their children’s benefit.

3.Stay off illegal drugs and off alcohol if it causes problems in your life, according to other people. (Drunks are bad at self-analysis.) It is not too much to ask.

Poverty is no excuse for crime, but violent crime tends to emanate from impoverished neighborhoods.

We’ve spent billions on a “war on poverty” to negligible effect as there are still huge numbers of poor people.

Perhaps we should demand more from people who stay on public support for decades and for successive generations.

(From: The Toronto Sun, Tuesday, July 24, 2012 page 19)