Show of Hands

The phrase “rags to riches” comes to mind.

Yes. I think someone who worked to get out of the situation is a prizewinning

I guess, so long as their highs were achieved by themselves. I find the whole concept of being 'self made' to be a slightly useless one anyway.

They are made by the taxpayers

All that means is they really did start at rock bottom unlike all those others with tons of advantages they are blind to.

If they went from welfare to work and then wealth, yes. That takes gettin off your duff!

Depends how much and how long

Is someone not self made if their mom wipes their ass when they were a year old? Obviously it’s contextual

youtu.be/0AMoBU7lFUA
“You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear: you moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for; you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate; you were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory, and hire someone to protect against this, because of the work the rest of us did.”

No one is totally self made...

Yes, I would.

If consider someone who is well-off now, yet used to receive government benefits, infinitely more self-made than those who were bankrolled by their parents.

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It is a hand up not a hand out.

It depends on how long and why. My aunt was on welfare just long enough to go to nursing school. She was a divorced single mom of three young boys. My husband’s mom was on welfare when he was a kid. She’d send him to the store with food stamps. He’d throw them away or give them back to her and use the money he’d earned at after school jobs.

Sometimes you need help but you have to always try to improve and feel remorse that you can’t stand on your own two feet.
If you feel on bad times with illness then a safety net is needed.
Too many scam the system. Howard didn’t. I hope he runs as an independent!

No one is self made.