Reply #159: I take issue with the whole poor=stupid or ignorant idea [View All]

[Nikia]

I grew up in a semi rural area and now also live in such an area. My family background is diverse social class wise. I went to a toptier private liberal arts college that is considered for rich kids by reputation but has a generous financial aid program which allows many poor students to attend. I now work in a food production facility where the majority of employees would be considered working poor.
There are plenty of poor people who are intellectuals, both in urban areas and rural areas. My grandfathers family from Appalachia prided themselves on being educated, even though for most of them it did not bring them out of poverty. Every place that I have worked with low wage workers, including where I work now, has had its share of intellectuals, discussing ideas and bringing books to break. At my own college, there were many poor students who appreciated their education more than than the rich student sitting next to them whose parents could easily afford the $25,000/year tuition.
By contrast, many rich people are not intellectuals. As I said, many of the rich students that I went to college with did not appreciate their education as much. They were not there to learn, but to get a degree so that they could get the job that someone (relative, parents business associate, ect.) had already gotten for them. Upper middle class parents always send their children to college and they help them find jobs. Regardless of ability, it is something that they feel entitled to.
We must also remember that colleges professors, who are very educated and usually very bright, often make middle class salaries, almost always under six figues and more often in the $40,000/year range. It is only bright people employed in the right fields or who own successful businesses who are wealthy.
As for going to college at all, many recent graduates are not finding jobs that make use of their degree. Other recent grads are finding jobs requiring degrees which pay poorly. I have seen job ads for lab tech requiring BS degrees in science paying as little as $9/hour. It is not enough to be educated to have money. One must either have good connections, which the already wealthy have a big advantage at, or go into a very specific high paying career field and get lucky.