<prompt> Human: I mean this to be a civil discussion. Things are not black and white of course but as I am at a sort of crossroads with regards to how sympathetic I feel for the majority of Americans that are struggling.On the one hand, I know supply-side economics isnt as effective as giving the majority of Americans a tax break since doing so would stimulate the economy so much more aggregate demand increases need to hire people which creates jobs but on the other hand, they would use it to put themselves into deeper debt or make stupid financial decisions that dont help them at all, and then they get mad at the rich for being so wealthy and expect them to pay more taxes when they are already getting enough of a break.Is it right to feel like many of the impoverished deserve to be in the position that they are in? No one forced you to get a home you couldnt afford, or create a family you couldnt support, or to take out 100K in loans that could never be paid back with the meaningless college education that you got. I feel like if you just knew how to save money and knew a thing or two about being financially intelligent, you wouldnt be struggling that bad in the first place.How is it that people are that deep in debt? Ive done the math and if you stick with a budget and cut out the meaningless stuff in your life, it should be reasonably easy to pay off your debts.Edit: the average income would be what, like 50K? Thats a hell of a lot of money. If you have a family, you shouldve planned for how expensive it would be so I have no sympathy. If you cant save with that, you have too much shit and liabilities taking money out of your pocket. I just feel that a lot of peoples troubles are self-inflicted. I know I sound like Captain Hindsight, but no one told you to have a bunch of kids, buy that car that is sucking up your money every month, etc.Edit 2: I guess this question really is one of those kinds without a clear answer. Everyone has their own problems and its not like the answer is just Full extent. Complete truth and vice versa. You can feel sorry for some, but not all.  <response>: I would say as a general rule, we should all be sympathetic to our fellow manwoman despite his situation or how he got there. However, in the spirit of what youre saying, I feel like there are a lot of factors that come into play that make certain situations more or less sympathetic than others. The way we grew up basically, how our upbringings have molded us into people with very specific, difficult to shake habits, weaknesses, and issues, psychological problems, degree of intelligence, social skills, educationaljob findingnutritional resources and ease of their accessibility and use, medical problems and bills, family issues and obligations not just children, but parents, relatives, sudden unplanned death - as well as many other factors - can all contribute to unplanned financial hardship that is difficult to get out of and can seem almost handicapping to many.However, at the same time many do certainly have some sort of way out, with hard work, discipline, and some financial intelligence if they could acquire it. And I agree that many seem to make bad decisions and buy things they cant afford or live lives that they cant sustain and get themselves into completely avoidable problems, then turn around and blame other people for being successful when theyre not.I guess Id err on the side of sympathy until they prove to you otherwise, but thats just my opinion.edit: fixed a typo 