One of our arguments, based in part on a Brookings analysis of Census Bureau data, is that young people can virtually assure that they and their families will avoid poverty if they follow three elementary rules for success – complete at least a high school education, work full time, and wait until age 21 and get married before having a baby. Based on an analysis of Census data, people who followed all three of these rules had only a 2 percent chance of being in poverty and a 72 percent chance of joining the middle class (defined as above $55,000 in 2010). These numbers were almost precisely reversed for people who violated all three rules, elevating their chance of being poor to 77 percent and reducing their chance of making the middle class to 4 percent.From Combating Poverty: Understanding New Challenges for Families.
3 Steps to Avoid Poverty
Knowing What Is Wrong
A college student from Texas believes he is lucky to be alive after a terrible crash. He was texting and driving when his truck flew off of a cliff.
Chance Bothe's truck plunged off of a bridge and into a ravine. One of the last things he typed indicated what almost happened to him.
He wrote, "I need to quit texting, because I could die in a car accident."
After the crash, Chance had a broken neck, a crushed face, a fractured skull, and traumatic brain injuries. Doctors had to bring him back to life three times . Now, 6 months later, he's finally able to talk about what happened.
Chance Bothe's truck plunged off of a bridge and into a ravine. One of the last things he typed indicated what almost happened to him.
He wrote, "I need to quit texting, because I could die in a car accident."
After the crash, Chance had a broken neck, a crushed face, a fractured skull, and traumatic brain injuries. Doctors had to bring him back to life three times . Now, 6 months later, he's finally able to talk about what happened.
Time To Surrender
One man faced the decision of who to
surrender to during WWII. Wehner Von Braun designed and headed up the
construction of Germany’s V-2 Combat Rocket was an amazing scientist. Near the end
of the war, he found himself near the city of Peenemünde, where he would be
captured by the Soviets if he did not take any action. He held a meeting with
his fellow scientists to consider whether they should surrender to the Soviets
or the Americans because they knew they would have to surrender to somebody,
and they decided that it would be better to surrender to the Americans.
So he developed fake documents and had him and his team of scientists transferred to Mittlemark, an area that looked like it would be taken over by the Americans.
On his way there, he was in a serious
car wreck. When he woke up in the hospital, he had them just set his arm so
that he could get out of there asap because he didn’t want to be taken by the
Soviets and wanted to make it to the Americans. He knew that a messed up arm
was far less worse than surrendering to the Soviets. Later, he would have to
have it rebroken and reset. But he made it to Mittlemark and waited for the
American troops to arrive.
The rest is history. After his
surrender to the Americans, Von Braun went on to develop the Jupiter – C rocket,
which launched America’s first satellite into space, and was the chief
architect of the Saturn V rocket, which took Americans to the moon.
The Wrong Guy
Jennifer Thompson was a 22 year old college student in North Carolina, described as "the perfect student, perfect daughter, perfect homecoming queen." Her life was forever changed one summer night when a stranger held a knife to her throat and raped her.
She was determined to remember every detail about her assailant so that she could identify her enemy and guarantee imprisonment for the rest of his life. She helped the police develop a drawing. She picked Ronald Cotton out of a lineup. She was calm and confident. The police described her as a perfect witness as this white woman testified against this black man. Although he insisted on his innocence, the power of Jennifer's eyewitness testimony helped to convict him and sentence him to life in prison. She never had a doubt.
A year after his conviction Ronald Cotton met another inmate in the prison kitchen. His name was Bobby Poole and they looked a lot alike. Poole was serving consecutive life sentences for a series of rapes. He bragged to other inmates that Ronald Cotton was serving some of his time because he had assaulted Jennifer Thompson. Cotton got a knife to murder Poole but his father told him not to murder but put his faith in God. He followed his father's advice.
A new trial was ordered for Ronald Cotton. This time they saw both men. This time the jury heard the other side of the story. This time they again convicted him on the basis of Jennifer Thompson' s eyewitness testimony. Again Ronald Cotton was sentenced to serve the rest of his life in prison.
After eleven years Jennifer Thompson had gone on with her life with marriage and children. Then one day the police detective she hadn't seen in years knocked on the door of her Winston-Salem home. He said, "Jennifer, you were wrong." The new technology of DNA analysis conclusively proved that Ronald Cotton was innocent. Her assailant was Bobby Poole after all.
Jennifer Thompson was shocked. How could she have made such a terrible mistake? She had stolen eleven years of a man's life that could never be given back. She agonized over this for two years and then asked to meet with Ronald Cotton and ask for his forgiveness. She prayed for strength to meet the man. They met in a church building in the town where she was raped. Her husband and the pastor waited outside.
Face-to-face for the first time outside a courtroom, Jennifer said, "I'm sorry. If I spent every day for the rest of my life telling you how sorry I am, it wouldn't come close to what I feel."
Calm and quiet, Ronald Cotton finally spoke: "I'm not mad at you. I've never been mad at you. I just want you to have a good life."
They talked for two hours while the pastor and Jennifer's husband anxiously waited outside. When they all stood outside, Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton embraced. They held each other for a long time.
A few days later Jennifer wrote to Bobby Poole in prison. She asked to meet him. She wrote, "I faced you with courage and bravery that July night. You never asked my permission. Now I ask you to face me." She wanted to meet him to tell him that she forgave him for what he did. She reasoned that if Ronald Cotton could forgive her, she could forgive Bobby Poole. He never responded. Poole died of cancer while in prison, early in 2000.
She was determined to remember every detail about her assailant so that she could identify her enemy and guarantee imprisonment for the rest of his life. She helped the police develop a drawing. She picked Ronald Cotton out of a lineup. She was calm and confident. The police described her as a perfect witness as this white woman testified against this black man. Although he insisted on his innocence, the power of Jennifer's eyewitness testimony helped to convict him and sentence him to life in prison. She never had a doubt.
A year after his conviction Ronald Cotton met another inmate in the prison kitchen. His name was Bobby Poole and they looked a lot alike. Poole was serving consecutive life sentences for a series of rapes. He bragged to other inmates that Ronald Cotton was serving some of his time because he had assaulted Jennifer Thompson. Cotton got a knife to murder Poole but his father told him not to murder but put his faith in God. He followed his father's advice.
A new trial was ordered for Ronald Cotton. This time they saw both men. This time the jury heard the other side of the story. This time they again convicted him on the basis of Jennifer Thompson' s eyewitness testimony. Again Ronald Cotton was sentenced to serve the rest of his life in prison.
After eleven years Jennifer Thompson had gone on with her life with marriage and children. Then one day the police detective she hadn't seen in years knocked on the door of her Winston-Salem home. He said, "Jennifer, you were wrong." The new technology of DNA analysis conclusively proved that Ronald Cotton was innocent. Her assailant was Bobby Poole after all.
Jennifer Thompson was shocked. How could she have made such a terrible mistake? She had stolen eleven years of a man's life that could never be given back. She agonized over this for two years and then asked to meet with Ronald Cotton and ask for his forgiveness. She prayed for strength to meet the man. They met in a church building in the town where she was raped. Her husband and the pastor waited outside.
Face-to-face for the first time outside a courtroom, Jennifer said, "I'm sorry. If I spent every day for the rest of my life telling you how sorry I am, it wouldn't come close to what I feel."
Calm and quiet, Ronald Cotton finally spoke: "I'm not mad at you. I've never been mad at you. I just want you to have a good life."
They talked for two hours while the pastor and Jennifer's husband anxiously waited outside. When they all stood outside, Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton embraced. They held each other for a long time.
A few days later Jennifer wrote to Bobby Poole in prison. She asked to meet him. She wrote, "I faced you with courage and bravery that July night. You never asked my permission. Now I ask you to face me." She wanted to meet him to tell him that she forgave him for what he did. She reasoned that if Ronald Cotton could forgive her, she could forgive Bobby Poole. He never responded. Poole died of cancer while in prison, early in 2000.
In his book How Small a Whisper, Roger Carswell relates an amazing story of a Christian family's response to tragedy:
In May 1987, 39 American seamen were killed in the Persian Gulf when an Iraqi pilot hit their ship, the USS Stark, with a missile. Newspapers carried a picture of the son of one of these seamen, a shy five-year-old boy, John Kiser. He was standing with his hand on his heart as his father's coffin was loaded onto a plane to take him back to the U.S.A.
His mother said, "I don't have to mourn or wear black, because I know my husband is in heaven. I am happy, because I know he is better off." Later on, she and young John sent a letter and an Arabic New Testament to the pilot of the Iraqi plane, addressed to: "The man who attacked the Stark, Dad's ship, in the hope that it will show that even the son and the wife do not hold any grudge and are at the same time praying for the one who took the life of our father."
In May 1987, 39 American seamen were killed in the Persian Gulf when an Iraqi pilot hit their ship, the USS Stark, with a missile. Newspapers carried a picture of the son of one of these seamen, a shy five-year-old boy, John Kiser. He was standing with his hand on his heart as his father's coffin was loaded onto a plane to take him back to the U.S.A.
His mother said, "I don't have to mourn or wear black, because I know my husband is in heaven. I am happy, because I know he is better off." Later on, she and young John sent a letter and an Arabic New Testament to the pilot of the Iraqi plane, addressed to: "The man who attacked the Stark, Dad's ship, in the hope that it will show that even the son and the wife do not hold any grudge and are at the same time praying for the one who took the life of our father."
Bad Driving
A truck driver is sitting in a crowded roadside diner ready to eat his lunch. It’s not just any diner and any lunch. It’s his favorite diner on the road and his favorite lunch. Just as the waitress brings the truck driver’s meat loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans to his table, a motorcycle gang swaggers in the door.
Most of them seat themselves at the table next to the truck driver but there’s not room at that table for all of them. The gang members left standing turn to the truck driver and bark, “Move! We want that table!”
The truck driver calmly says, “I haven’t finished my meal.” One of the motorcycle toughs takes his dirty finger, swipes it through the mashed potatoes and gravy, sticks his finger in his mouth and says, “Hey, not bad grub.”
Another gang member takes the trucker’s cup of coffee and slowly pours it over the remaining food on the plate and snarls, “You’re finished now!”
The trucker stands, takes his napkin, wipes his mouth, walks to the cash register, pays for his meal, and silently walks out the door. All the bikers are laughing now. One of them says, “Ain’t much of a man, is he?”
The waitress says, “And he’s not much of a truck driver, either. He just backed his rig over your motorcycles.”
Most of them seat themselves at the table next to the truck driver but there’s not room at that table for all of them. The gang members left standing turn to the truck driver and bark, “Move! We want that table!”
The truck driver calmly says, “I haven’t finished my meal.” One of the motorcycle toughs takes his dirty finger, swipes it through the mashed potatoes and gravy, sticks his finger in his mouth and says, “Hey, not bad grub.”
Another gang member takes the trucker’s cup of coffee and slowly pours it over the remaining food on the plate and snarls, “You’re finished now!”
The trucker stands, takes his napkin, wipes his mouth, walks to the cash register, pays for his meal, and silently walks out the door. All the bikers are laughing now. One of them says, “Ain’t much of a man, is he?”
The waitress says, “And he’s not much of a truck driver, either. He just backed his rig over your motorcycles.”
Don't Miss The Main Event
There once was a little boy who had heard about the circus, but had never been to one. He had read stories about the circus—all the animals and acrobats and clowns, and he really, really wanted to see one. The boy was walking through town one day and saw a poster in a store window that said that the circus was coming to town. Tickets were five dollars, and this boy didn’t have five dollars.
The little boy asked his father for the money. The father said that he wouldn’t give the boy five dollars, but if he cleaned his room and organized all of his toys, the boy could earn the money. So the boy cleaned, tidied, organized, and put everything exactly where it should go. He told his father he’d finished the work, and his father paid him five dollars.
When the day of the circus arrived, the boy ran into town and saw people lining the streets waiting for the circus parade. The boy found a good place to stand, and the parade began—elephants and clowns, horses and acrobats, dogs wearing little hats, jumping through hoops—it was magical. Just like he’d read about. The boy was thrilled!
Bringing up the rear of the parade was the ringmaster in his wonderful costume and top hat. He looked exactly like the ring master in his favorite circus book at home. As the ringmaster passed by, the boy ran up to him and proudly handed over his five dollars. “Thanks, Mister!” the boy said. “What a great circus!” And the boy turned around and ran home.
He never even saw the circus—only the parade! The boy missed the main event!
The little boy asked his father for the money. The father said that he wouldn’t give the boy five dollars, but if he cleaned his room and organized all of his toys, the boy could earn the money. So the boy cleaned, tidied, organized, and put everything exactly where it should go. He told his father he’d finished the work, and his father paid him five dollars.
When the day of the circus arrived, the boy ran into town and saw people lining the streets waiting for the circus parade. The boy found a good place to stand, and the parade began—elephants and clowns, horses and acrobats, dogs wearing little hats, jumping through hoops—it was magical. Just like he’d read about. The boy was thrilled!
Bringing up the rear of the parade was the ringmaster in his wonderful costume and top hat. He looked exactly like the ring master in his favorite circus book at home. As the ringmaster passed by, the boy ran up to him and proudly handed over his five dollars. “Thanks, Mister!” the boy said. “What a great circus!” And the boy turned around and ran home.
He never even saw the circus—only the parade! The boy missed the main event!
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