People no longer believe working hard will lead to a better life

[Uncle Trill]

It doesn’t

If the average salary for a black man is 46k and black woman 41k a year and both are not married especially in this day and age, u just going to struggle with the high cost of living and have to live within your means and if u have kids and not married it’s really going to be hard if you not living with a good wage

Yeah but average women don't want the average men because why "submit" to a guy who barely makes more than you and aint even that tall or cute.

And the average men don't want average women because they don't want to have to pay for everything when the woman is almost making as much as him and she ain't even that cute and has been passed around.


whole time if they squadded up and learnt to work together they'd get somewhere.

 

[Scaaar]

It doesn’t

If the average salary for a black man is 46k and black woman 41k a year and both are not married especially in this day and age, u just going to struggle with the high cost of living and have to live within your means and if u have kids and not married it’s really going to be hard if you not living with a good wage

This!! I've told people this for years. The game is not set for people individually making 40ishk you gotta join these incomes together. But it's people out here making 40k single with 2-3 kids and wonder why it's so hard... You've put yourself in a hole from the jump

 

[Insensitive]

Notice how all the "work hard" advocates keep adding conditions to their position.

"It's not enough to work hard at your job, you have to climb the ladder to the highest position or else you deserve to suffer"

"You should also move to the middle of nowhere where the cost of living is dirt cheap or else you're just asking to be poor"

"And you gotta choose the right school and the right career field, or else your hard work won't mean shyt"

Either hard work guarantees success or it doesn't. If it did, you wouldn't have to keep moving the goal post.

We need a reasonable counterbalance to posts like this because the "Doom and Gloom" stuff is running into hyperbole:

1. For a very short period people were given relatively good lives JUST working a job. The creation of the modern job and working
at a corporation for LIFE or CLOSE TO IT is a relatively MODERN invention. An invention that many BREHS were locked out of.

The goal was ALWAYS to MOVE UP because the MANAGER is seen as a prestigious position and in 2024, being one is still
prestigious, it just depends on the Firm you're working at and the statement of work you're managing.

For example, until hiring became a crisis at my corp:
We made people make PRESENTATIONS and advocate for themselves just to be a General Manager 1. lol.

2. No one said you should "move to the middle of nowhere" however, living in the most desirable places with a low income never
existed ever. Back then it was Suburban Sprawl and huge homes, in 2024 it's in the middle of the city next to knowledge workers
gentrifying the former hoods. If you want a home in NY proper or Miami or Los Angeles or San Francisco, you need a competitive
salary otherwise you're living outside of a major city while staying in the same county where there's less competitive housing.


This has ALWAYS been the case, this is not a new thing at all.
I can agree that housing prices have reached a record high, pricing many out and/or delaying home purchases.
I can agree that interest rates are crazy high.
I can agree that average home buyers shouldn't have to compete with investors or large corporations.

But the game is the game, adjust accordingly.

3. Again, this has ALWAYS BEEN THE CASE.
The people in the Upper-middle class to the 1% have always been a part of a "walled garden" so to speak.
However, this DOES NOT mean that someone in the middle class is doomed to a "bad life".

Luck plays a part but you (and anyone else in this thread) needs to be privy to what's going on and how best
to position themselves to succeed.
I went to a private, no name university to get my Bachelors degree and prior to that I earned an
Associates at a small, local community college.

From there I transitioned from Blue Collar to White Collar.
Along the way, I saved until it hurt and invested just about every penny I could.
I had some good times (high end restaurants, concerts, traveling etc.)
But I also had a very skinny bank account due to all of my saving and investing.

I'm JUST NOW getting into a "West Coast Ivy" to get my Masters Degree.
I was not afforded any special opportunities or "backroom"/"handshake" deals.
I just networked and worked hard (at the same company) and my personal brand got me here.


We all know there are hundreds of hoods across America, filled with black folks denied an opportunity to participate.
- Barred out of higher education.
- Barred out of home ownership.
- Barred out of high incomes.

So again, I have no clue what America y'all are talking about.
Because whatever story y'all tryna present largely is not a reality for BLACK America.

Yall point me to the richest people in the world and tell me how many of them are there because of "hard work"

There's a gradient of "Rich people" though.

Not everyone is some phenomenally rich business owner.

This conversation is way more nuanced/complex than brehs are willing to admit.

 

[the elastic]

Not gon be slaving away for a cracker's pat on the back

We working smart now

 

[the elastic]

Doing the bare minimum will keep you from climbing the ladder though. I know a lot of people who do the bare minimum and they go nowhere in life. People working at Walmart all throughout their 20s and 30s, next thing you know, they're still working the same position at 70

What's wrong with that? Everyone don't gotta be ambitious. They kept food on their plate and a roof over their head for 50 years. That's a W.

 

[Genos]

Slaves and Mexicans would be kings among men if working hard got you rich

 

[Scaaar]

We need a reasonable counterbalance to posts like this because the "Doom and Gloom" stuff is running into hyperbole:

1. For a very short period people were given relatively good lives JUST working a job. The creation of the modern job and working
at a corporation for LIFE or CLOSE TO IT is a relatively MODERN invention. An invention that many BREHS were locked out of.

The goal was ALWAYS to MOVE UP because the MANAGER is seen as a prestigious position and in 2024, being one is still
prestigious, it just depends on the Firm you're working at and the statement of work you're managing.

For example, until hiring became a crisis at my corp:
We made people make PRESENTATIONS and advocate for themselves just to be a General Manager 1. lol.

2. No one said you should "move to the middle of nowhere" however, living in the most desirable places with a low income never
existed ever. Back then it was Suburban Sprawl and huge homes, in 2024 it's in the middle of the city next to knowledge workers
gentrifying the former hoods. If you want a home in NY proper or Miami or Los Angeles or San Francisco, you need a competitive
salary otherwise you're laving outside of the major city most likely in the same county where there's less competitive housing.


This has ALWAYS been the case, this is not a new thing at all.
I can agree that housing prices have reached a record high pricing many out and/or delaying them home purchases.
I can agree that

3. Again, this has ALWAYS BEEN THE CASE.
The people in the Upper-middle class to the 1% have always been a part of a "walled garden" so to speak.
However, this DOES NOT mean that someone in the middle class is doomed to a "bad life".

Luck plays a part but you (and anyone else in this thread) needs to be privy to what's going on and how best
to position themselves to succeed.
I went to a private, no name university to get my Bachelors deghree prior to that I earned an
Associates at a small, local community college.

From there I transitioned from Blue Collar to White Collar.
Along the way, I saved until it hurt, invested just about every penny I could.
I had some good times (high end restaurants, concerts, traveling etc.)
But I also had a very skinny bank account due to all of my saving and investing.

I'm JUST NOW getting into a "West Coast Ivy" to get my Masters Degree.
I was not afforded any special opportunities or "backroom"/"handshake" deals.
I just networked and worked hard (at the same company) and my personal brand got me here.


We all know there are hundreds of hoods across America, filled with black folks denied an opportunity to participate.
- Barred out of higher education.
- Barred out of home ownership.
- Barred out of high incomes.

So again, I have no clue what America y'all are talking about.
Because whatever story y'all tryna present largely is not a reality for BLACK America.


There's a gradient of "Rich people" though.

Not everyone is some phenomenally rich business owner.

This conversation is way more nuanced/complex than brehs are willing to admit.

They always have excuses. Everyone knows the game is rigged and the deck is slanted against you. If you're not wyte or born into money this has been the case for years. But they're just folding their arms up and pouting that's it's not fair. That's still not going to change your circumstances without putting work in. No one says you have to be doing back breaking work into your 40s and 50s or working 2-3 jobs. But if you're at that stage of life and that's your reality you made some bad choices in your 20s that led to that. It's always expensive in larger cities. If you want to stay there you have to make a certain income. That's the rule to engage. Go get it. What does whining about how it's not fair going to ever achieve.

 

[kevm3]

It will lead to a better life... for your boss

Companies are conspiring together to suppress wages, so you're not getting any of the real gains of all that productivity increase and massive inflation is also having many spiral backwards.

Working hard is great, but if you're not making sure you receive the proper proceeds for your work, you're just funding someone else's lifestyle. Might as well start looking at dabbling with entrepreneurship.

 

[NobodyReally]

yea I don't think that cliche applies to what OP is putting down.......

I clicked the link and their isn't even an article so who knows

Tell that to the working poor with two jobs, less than six hours of sleep and still have pennies compared to their bosses who work less hours.

 

[WesCrook]

"Hey, you two. Yes, you. I used to be just like you. Worked dirt for the man till my hands bled.........But no more.

Because I learned that a man can never drink his fill by waiting in line for the tap."

 

[HabitualChiller]

That's fair. I'd still say you're proof hard work leads to a better life. You got an education that most people wouldn't be smart enough or have the discipline to get.

That allows you to coast more now, but as you said had to put in work.

I'd call being a beast in school having extraordinary discipline as well as great work ethic as opposed to being a hard worker.

 

[HabitualChiller]

The harder you work the more work you get. Work a medium amount, enough to get that promotion, but not enough to stress you out too much

Learned this early on in the military. The kats that were great at their job never were able to take leave (vacation) because no one else in the work center / duty section were as qualified as them.

The fukked up thing is you could be trash at your job and have zero qualifications and still get paid the exact same as them.

For most jobs, [in the military and civilian sector] working hard actually puts you at a disadvantage in some aspects.

 

[Ezekiel 25:17]

What's wrong with that? Everyone don't gotta be ambitious. They kept food on their plate and a roof over their head for 50 years. That's a W.

Yeah and those are the same people complaining about inflation.

Nobody said you gotta be CEO. You should be learning new skills to make yourself valuable to demand more money

 

[maxamusa]

Tell that to the working poor with two jobs, less than six hours of sleep and still have pennies compared to their bosses who work less hours.

That's not what work smarter not harder means.

I'm surprised how many people are using the cliche wrong in this thread


....unless it means something elsewhere

 

[Wild self]

Notice how all the "work hard" advocates keep adding conditions to their position.

"It's not enough to work hard at your job, you have to climb the ladder to the highest position or else you deserve to suffer"

"You should also move to the middle of nowhere where the cost of living is dirt cheap or else you're just asking to be poor"

"And you gotta choose the right school and the right career field, or else your hard work won't mean shyt"

Either hard work guarantees success or it doesn't. If it did, you wouldn't have to keep moving the goal post.

All that moving goalposts also contributed to the skyrocketing school shootings.