There is a phenomenon where people can rapidly become dependent on a certain level of income or money. People who earn or are given a lot of money certainly become accustomed to the lifestyle a certain level of money affords them. The effect of being dependent is exaggerated when the amount of money comes rushing in faster than one can handle in a thoughtful way.
An extreme example is when someone wins the lottery and has a large amount of money dumped in their lap almost overnight. Statistically a person or family who wins the lottery goes right back to having the money they had before the lottery winnings in 5 years or less. Sometimes they accumulate debt they didn’t have before the winnings.
The reason for this is simple but somehow not common sense. This is the big secret the democrats don’t want you to know; if you don’t know how to earn [whatever] you won’t know how to spend it, maintain it, use it or liquidate it. There is a lot of planning involved in earning money. People who have money have spent a lot of time thinking how they will work, invest, keep and spend their money from modest beginnings to a constant and predictable source for their earned income. Part of the discipline of earning money is taking more time in spending that money. People who put more care in what they do put more care in how they do it, with who and why. People naively think that people with an education make money because they have an education. It might be marginally true. The bigger truth is that people who have an education spend more time thinking in general. Spending time on their education is the indication of the interest in thinking. What the person learns is mostly irrelevant. The person who spends time on themselves will eventually learn something that will help them earn or keep income. Also they aren’t caught up in hasty decisions. See the marshmallow test done on several kids and what their results were with kids who could delay gratification over those who seemed to need instant gratification. Updated videos here and here.
Besides the extreme example of winning the lottery there are other circumstances that come to mind where someone is in a unique situation to earn more money then they are capable of earning without the “unique situation”. The sex industry finds girls who have above average looks or below average self-esteem. This combination is very good for both industry and individuals. The industry needs a youthful girl and the youth can cash in on their inheritance of good looks. The bigger the pay out per job the more dependent the girl becomes. This is typically why a girl who is stripping or in pornography finds it extremely difficult to stop putting themselves in such a compromising position to find another job that would be more in line with her family values or better judgment. They aren’t earning this money for anything they are able to sustain besides looking a certain way. Once those looks age or fade, those girls who haven’t thought long enough about their future find that they are not even close to sustaining their high-dollar lifestyle. To a lesser extent this could be said of models as well. If the girls are smart they will invest in themselves by using the higher income to pay for classes or seminars to gain knowledge valuable enough to carry them to the next phase of their life when they can’t use their looks any longer.
For the ones who squander their youth and above average looks, they will certainly lose all that earning potential once the sex industry stops calling. This happens more often than not and sooner than is adequately planned for. The lack of financial literacy leaves people wondering where the money went. For these people all you can suggest is that they keep their receipts and hopefully there is evidence in there somewhere for an investment in themselves.
There are so many reasons and excuses why anyone would want to let their minds go to mush causing a complete dependence on another person or the government. If there was ever a time where the list of excuses has been the shortest it is now. The Internet has removed all the barriers to distribution and information, although valuable, it is very cheap and easily accessible.
Information without initiative isn’t power, it is just a waste of time.
