Why does it suck? Because it's a country which says basically "float to the top or sink bitch". You're on your own. Either you are lucky and born into wealth or you are lucky and are born with the genetic makeup to go from rags to riches. If you don't belong to either of those two groups, you're fucked because the social services are GARBAGE. No health insurance, no funded education without debt... it's all non existent.

I've said this for the last 10 years. If you're rich, the US is heaven on earth. If you're poor? Pure hell. You might as well move away to some European country where the government actually takes CARE of you.

That is a good point. I personally don't believe happiness is tied with money so much after a certain point. If you have shelter, food, and necessities you can be happy. There are many middle-class and rich people who are less happy than poor people I know because they are still overburdened with responsibilities even though they are making more money. So it is all about perspective. It is healthy to have a concern about your financial status, but it becomes unhealthy when you start to feel as if you aren't measuring up to how others are, despite having a lot of stability and progress yourself. 

I think the bolded is insulting. People who come from poor families in the U.S who later are successful aren't solely successful because of their genetics. It is also how they learned to succeed from their environment. 

Also I already explained  that you do get health-insurance, funded education, housing and food  if you are poor enough. In Pennsylvania if you make less than $1,300/month (if single, more if you have children) you get medicaid. If you make less than $1,500/month you get food stamps, more if you have children. The federal and state government give just as many grants as they do loans, and if you go to a private school you are likely to get financial aid, because these schools want to compete with the cost of community colleges. 

I can tell you, I did not grow up in hell, nor did any of the other successful poor kids in my apartment building. Both are graduating from college this year, and the one almost failed a grade in high school, now he is graduating college with A's and B's. So he wasn't genetically special either. 

That's because most people's idea of "poor" in the United States means only having one car, having to shop regularly at Walmart or the local "dollar" store, and not being able to afford the latest iPhone or the new Air Jordans. If you are considered at or below poverty level in America, you're still doing better than over 90% of the world's population.

Bullshit. Going from rags to riches is like winning the lotto... of DNA. The reason poor people stay poor has nothing to do with environment. They don't do drugs because they learned to do them. They don't drink all day, because they learned to drink all day. They do it because their parents were addicts, and their parents etc. People are poor because they flat out don't have what it takes mentally to go out there and succeed. You can give these people all the tools in the world, and almost all of them will just fuck it up and end up RIGHT back where they started.

Steve Job's and people of his ilk are born, not made. In the US, the problem is that we actually have this delusion that "all men are created equal". They're not. And the sooner we accept this, the sooner we can get to the business of taking care of those who can't take care of themselves and the sooner we can stop being an international disgrace. 

Being poor sucks no matter the country

Yeab, because if you're not born into wealth or have the genetic makeup (I'm assuming you're talking about athletes here) to go from rags to riches, then you have zero chance at success?  Damn... so you consider 99% of the US population as "poor"?

And yes, we know how generous many European countries are with their social and economic benefits... that's why they're being overrun by migrants from the 3rd world looking for handouts while contributing absolutely nothing in return to their generous benefactors in the EU.  At least here in the US most legal and even illegal immigrants work hard and contribute to the economy instead of mooching off Uncle Sam all day like many of our own deadbeat citizens of all backgrounds do.

That makes no sense. It is not the environment, but it is the environment is essentially what you are saying. That was precisely my point. Their parents do drugs, and that is the environment set up for them, that is what they know. However, the majority of poor people aren't drug addicts, so your point is moot. Like I said, I had a friend in my grade who lived in the same apartment building, who would get C's and D's in high school. He was accepted to college conditionally, he had to get A's and B's over a summer before his freshman year. He got serious, put in the work, and succeeded. He will be graduating this year. My babysitter from when I was a child lost all of her children because she tampered with hard drugs when she was young, and then after she had her kids, she went to jail for continual marijuana possession. The adoptive parents of her daughters still give her information about them, and they are all doing very well. It is environment primarily and genetics secondarily..

We aren't all equally capable biologically, I agree. But the variation in our biology is small enough for all people to be able to determine their status in life with a well though out plan, assuming there are not too many obstacles socio-economically. The economic portion is covered in the U.S, if not overly so, but wrongly it is the belief of many that it is not.  The social part has ways to go, but what do you expect from a diverse country vs. homogenous ones? 

sc94597, that was a very interesting original post and many interesting points were made in the replies both by you and others. You said you didn't have to work as a teen, and that is probably both good and bad. You have been able to achieve, but holding a part-time job as a teen can be a very useful experience. I think that many youths have no role models for the notion that if you hold a lawful job, you will get paid, and if you make a good impression and improve your skills, you can get paid more. The labor force participation rate for the 16-24 age group has declined by over 11% from 1992-2012. As for single payer, the Veterans Administration defeated General Shinseki, who was one of the best generals. There is a high probability the whole system will turn out like that if we do single payer. Please note, I private messaged you.

I think being poor kind of sucks no matter what country you live in. But having food stamps, subsidized rent or health care is a problem in itself since it doesn't help people out of poverty but rather cement it. It would be better if you received enough cash from the state so that you can make full payments for housing, having health care insurance and so on while you work towards getting a better paid job, good education and so on.