If you ever listen to Carson talk for yourself and not just read extractions from articles, I think you'd have a better sense of the context of the things he says. Yes, some things he is ignorant on, but he has become something of a punching bag for the left to beat up on as he represents everything they hate. Nuance and meaning are lost in short blurbs and excerpts. Carson was likely stating that, in a general sense, poverty is a state of mind. Not that the single mother with two kids and a mortgage can just "decide to be wealthy" one day, but that where we end up in life is a series of tough choices. For instance, two people who grow up the same way and neither one has any advantages over the other can come out completely different simply because of choices. My mother was raised dirt poor. Lived on her own when she was 16 waitressing restaurants. Her and my dad had me when she was 27. They split and she was on her own again. Worked her way up the chain at a restaurant to become the kitchen manager. Set enough aside to raise me and pay for college. Got a degree in accounting. Fast forward 20 years and she makes 200k a year and owns her own accounting business. A lot of people will simply brush off these statements that sound harsh because the thought of them actually having to make tough choices and endure the consequences (either good or bad) is much more difficult than getting to blame anyone and everyone else.

He's not entirely wrong. The right outlook on life can have worlds of difference. However, to suggest that it is the only factor, or even​ the most significant, is ignorant and naive.

But it is a mindset though. If you are given the opptunity to be middle class you will probably just end up being middle class. Ie post secondary, with job experience in any certaib field. I just picked industrial.

I can tell you from personal experience that it [b]is[/b] true. Some people are an exception to the rule. You may be one of those exceptions

Carson catches a lot of shit but there is some truth to this. Look at all the millionaire athletes and lottery winners that piss away their money in a short amount of time. I wouldnt call it a mindset, but it is tied to financial literacy.

Most of the people who come into your soup kitchen saying they work hard are most often having unsafe intercourse with everyone they can get near, spending all of their money on expensive and useless shoes, and sitting outside a Walmart holding up a cardboard sign saying, " Need money, family of 9, any money would be appreciated." Just to spend all of that money on drugs and alcohol.

Literally who

He is absolutely right. poverty should only ever be a temporary problem. Working your ass off at a crap job isnt enough. You need to work your ass off, sacrifice, save and plan just to get by.

He's a horrible speaker but he has a point if you want me to explain it for you

Morgan Freeman says basically the same thing.

"I think poverty to a large extent is also a state of mind. You take somebody that has the right mindset, you can take everything from them and put them on the street, and I guarantee in a little while they'll be right back up there,"  Is also a state of mind. Is also. Is [i]also[/i]. It is almost like he is saying there are other factors involved....... "And you take somebody with the wrong mindset, you can give them everything in the world, they'll work their way right back down to the bottom," Carson added. As someone who went from poor white trash to a nice middle class life, you do need a certain drive. I also needed to leave my hometown which had zero prospects for this change. Took years to achieve that move, but in the 9 years since I moved, it has paid off. My sister's husband, he works hard & is a good man, but no drive or self esteem. He could be making a lot more money, but instead, he willingly stays in his job, that he is very good at, & won't move, even though he has been offered double & triple his current salary to join with them. He hates the company he works for, just loves the actual job.

I think he conveyed a logical point very poorly.

Ben Carson, in the same article: [quote]"I think the majority of people don’t have that defeatist attitude, but they sometimes just don’t see the way, and that’s where government can come in and be very helpful," he said in the interview. "It can provide the ladder of opportunity, it can provide the mechanism that will demonstrate to them what can be done."[/quote] It seems clear that he isn't saying that poverty is a literal choice, as many in this thread are inferring.