Why are poor people poor?

[Confabulator]

For most poor people, it is impossible to really ever escape poverty.  You can't stay in high school if you have to work to support your family.  It's really just impossible, unless you are one of the lucky few who are geniuses.  And if you don't have a high school graduate, then you can't get any sort of good job. 

There are some poor people who are poor because of themselves, though.  There are a lot of people who live as if they were in the upper middle class, but really just cannot afford to do so.  It's a big problem here in the US, and what happens is that whenever we have a recession these people are screwed.

[Confabulator]

Maybe in whatever paradise you live in.  What exactly do you think people do when they drop of school?

[Confabulator]

A poor child with average intelligence has no chance to make anything of himself.  Everyone pulls these great examples out about kids who worked their way out of poverty-but those kids are probably extremely intelligent.  A child of average intelligence in the upper class is virtually guarranteed a place in college.

I'm not advocating redistributing wealth or anything, but public schools should be funded equally everywhere, OR we should completely cut public schooling and privatize everything.  One less thing to tax on.