Newsgroups: soc.culture.african.american

	
	Blanche,

	Your message seemed well considered and intentioned... and 
	unfortunately, it missed addressing David's question/point.

	It is simply this.  It was noted that different income classes
	tend to retain their 'membership'.  That is, that those with
	low incomes tend to stay in the low income group, and similarly
	with other wealth classes.  It was also noted that in fact, some
	people DO cross, leaving their previous status behind.

	Income class effects are certainly not the only areas where people
	tend to 'stick' to particular ways...   Religious beliefs, political
	alignment, etc. are more examples of traits that tend to stay
	with families generation through generation....  someone
	born in a Catholic home is EXTREMELY likely to remain Catholic.
	Someone born into a Democratic home is likely to become a
	Democrat.  Someone born into an abusive home is likely to become
	abusive.  etc. etc. etc...   

	This is a common effect.

	We also know that some individuals DO IN FACT change from one group
	to another.

	David asked the correct question.  He asked "Why?" (do people tend
	to retain the environment they are born in).  Let's stay with
	economics as a topic.  

	It may surprise you but ALL CLASSES OF INDIVIDUAL, rich, poor, black,
	white, and otherwise, often find it difficult to move to a higher
	level of economic success.  And not just because it takes more
	resources (because it often does not....) but rather because
	of something some success trainers call the "comfort zone".  The
	comfort zone is just a name for all the things that any individual
	is comfortable or familiar with. 

	The reason success trainers take an interest in this "comfort zone"
	effect is simple (and quite interesting).  These trainers know that
	the single biggest reason that most people fail to improve their
	situation is simply _inaction_.  These success "guru's" developed
	ways to get people motivated, and focused on the things they
	wanted to improve.... and it works.  But an interesting thing
	kept happening....  quite often, these success "guru's" noticed
	that their 'students' would do very well at first, and then for
	no apparent reason start sabotaging themselves and their success!

	It has been called "fear of success".  Sounds crazy, but it
	is something many people experience.  (myself included)  This
	is but _one_ of the many areas where leaving a "comfort zone"
	causes us to 'stay where we are'.

	When people start to experience a great deal of success, it often
	means leaving behind large parts of their 'old' familiar lives...
	and brings them into unfamiliar territory.  They become uncomfortable.
	Then they sabotage ther new found success and slip back into their
	old ways.  Their comfortable ways.  Not to mention the difficulty
	in getting people to even *start* down the road to success 
	in the first place!

	Everyone knows that better education (even self-study) brings
	a greater opportunity for greater economic wealth.... but how
	many people do we all know that sit in front of the t.v. for
	hours-on-end, drinking beer and watching "the game".  Maybe
	that person is 'me'.  The fact is, people dislike change.  They
	dislike changing their beliefs, they dislike new ideas.

	There is an old phrase that pretty much sums up all this, and
	that is that "people become set in their ways".

	The single most overwhelming factor in why our lives never seem
	to change very much (at least in the direction we'd like) is simply
	because we fail to take the neccessary action required to create
	that change....   It requires human thought and effort, and since the
	vast majority of us are indeed 'set in our ways', we stay right
	where we are....

	-Mike-

		
	
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