Poor people worry about these 7 things, but rich people don't even think about them

Carmen Rios grew up poor, but she knows things could have been much worse. Her brothers and sisters had a roof over their heads and hot food. The mother tried to surround her children with care and attention. And now that she has a college degree and her own office, she still finds it difficult to cope with this world. She still saves every cent and is not at all prone to unnecessary risks. She still feels awkward talking about where she was born.

Society puts a stigma

When communicating with strangers, business partners and work colleagues, the girl catches herself thinking that she is ashamed of her origin. People often form impressions of others based on their family’s wealth, their position in society, and their parents’ occupation. It is common in society to think that a mother’s poverty or wealth determines the nature of her parenting abilities. Carmen still feels this stigma. She is confident that poverty will never be eradicated unless a more favorable living environment is created for the low-income population. And we are not talking about financial well-being here. This is about society's attitude towards these people.

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“What else should we do?” Stories about life in the poorest region of Russia

“After all payments, 5 thousand rubles remain for a family of four”

Natalya Mikhailova, housewife, Pskov:

There are four people in my family: me, my husband and two sons - 5 and 8 years old. Only my husband works; his salary is 25 thousand a month. Of this, 14 is spent on a car loan, and about 6 on utilities. The rest is for living. Whether that kind of money is enough or not is an abstract question. When I had children, I went on maternity leave. Then I told the children that I wanted to go to work, but my son said: “Mom, why? We have enough of everything!”

My husband and I don’t complain either; we’ve already learned to live like this. We purchased housing with the help of the Young Family program and maternity capital. We buy clothes for the whole family from the temple. Our parents have a plot - this is a source of organic vegetables and fruits. The neighbors have cows and chickens - you can inexpensively buy natural eggs and very high quality dairy products, although in St. Petersburg, for example, a kilogram of farm cottage cheese costs 700 rubles.

We have the opportunity to go on vacation: last year I went to Abkhazia with my friend and children. We rented a room on the seashore - 500 rubles per night. My friend and I and our five children lived in it. 25 rubles per family were spent on food per day. We took a pack of oatmeal and cereal, ate well and inexpensively, and had a great rest. People who are used to living differently may be horrified by all this, but for us this is a normal situation. We rested like this for a month.

The biggest expense item is clubs for children. The eldest son has many interests: chess, sports, music school. We are looking for free mugs, but there are few of them. Our children are in family education: not for the sake of economy - we want them to develop freely. But for those who are forced to save a lot, family education can also be a good solution.

We haven't gotten worse over the past couple of years. When I also worked, it was, of course, easier. I would like to have a third child, but my husband is not yet sure that we can handle it financially. Recently, my youngest child’s sandals fell apart; there is no way to buy new ones yet, but it has become warm and you can walk barefoot. My youngest son is often offended that I don’t buy him some kind of toy, and I don’t remember the last time I was at the hairdresser... This probably doesn’t sound very normal from the outside. But we live like this, and it has become the norm. Among my friends, there are also no people who fell into financial depression.

But it hurts for those grandmothers who are forced to beg on the streets. It’s scary for children who don’t need the most expensive treatment, but their families don’t even have that kind of money. At the same time, a lot of money is spent, for example, on holding holidays and grand fireworks for Victory Day. The economy is in crisis—you can feel it. Not because they say so on TV, but because the unemployment rate has risen, pensioners receive pennies, and the price level for food and medicine has increased very noticeably. Maybe it’s better to spend budget money not on holidays, but on those in need?

“The city administration does not provide housing to a disabled child, because he will die soon anyway”

Tatyana Filippova, cleaner, Velikie Luki:

I live with my daughter and grandchildren - I have two of them. I work as a cleaner. My daughter is 25 years old, my youngest grandson is 4 years old, my eldest, Polina, is 6. My daughter does not work and stays at home with Polina: my granddaughter was born with hydrocephalus, and at 8 months she was diagnosed with an adrenal tumor. One adrenal gland has already been removed, but metastases have begun in the bone marrow.

My daughter lives on her granddaughter's pension. I earn 9 thousand rubles, Polya’s pension is 19 thousand, which also includes payments to the mother for caring for a disabled child. With this pension, my daughter pays for rented housing and for a kindergarten for her youngest grandson. In general, Polina, as a disabled child, is entitled to housing. But in our administration they know Paul’s medical history and are dragging their feet on this issue: they know that Paul may not live long, so they constantly find excuses. Even the doctors believe that she is not a survivor, and we have been fighting for six years already, although Polya was “buried” in the maternity hospital. According to the quota, we went to St. Petersburg for treatment; our granddaughter had a shunt installed. It is put on for a certain time. I asked when we should come to change it, the doctor answered: “Never.” Everyone believes that such children do not live long.

We were given land, but were automatically removed from the queue for housing. Within three years, at least a foundation must be laid on this land. We have maternity capital, but we cannot build anything for 450 thousand. If we don’t lay the foundation in three years, the land will be taken away.

A branch of a St. Petersburg fund in Velikiye Luki helps us: once a year it gives us 10–15 thousand. But we spend 7 thousand on monthly care for Polya. We are also supported by ordinary people through the VKontakte group. We are fighting. We are already accustomed to this situation, what else can we do?

“Life in Pskov is not as bad as it appears in the ranking”

Valentin Korshikov, teacher, Pskov:

There are three of us in the family: me, my wife and a four-year-old child. My wife teaches foreign languages at the gymnasium, I teach computer science. I also work part-time in my specialty, for example, helping to make websites.

When we first started our family, we wanted to take advantage of the program to support young families: in our region, a certificate for the purchase of an apartment is 700 thousand rubles. But we did not have the opportunity to stand in line: to participate in the program, income is divided by the number of family members, and an amount per person must be less than the subsistence level. Our salaries were quite high.

I must say, the welfare rating surprised me. I don’t see a significant deterioration in the situation in recent years, and no one around me is falling into financial depression. Our family still has the opportunity to go on vacation to Egypt, study at a driving school, and buy a car. Now the main expense item is paying off loans, which costs about 16 thousand rubles a month. Utilities are about 3.5 thousand, and for us this is not so critical. According to the rating, it turns out that in families with children, after all payments, about 500 rubles remain from the family income. I'm very surprised how this is possible. As a rule, about 15 thousand remain in our family every month.

In addition, Pskov has recently begun to look better. And there are a lot of military people in the region itself. I work in a budget institution and I see very well that there is not enough money, but there is money for the army in the country. Military salaries are very respectable. It is clear that they are also all on loans, but it seems that everything is not as bad as it turned out in the rating.

“Everything is fine in Pskov, but in the region it’s difficult to make money if you don’t engage in smuggling”

Yuri Strekalovsky, social worker, tour guide, Pskov:

Despite the general situation in the country and region, life in my family and immediate circle has not gotten any worse in recent years. My family consists of three people, there are also children from my first marriage and my adult parents, whom we try to help. My wife’s parents don’t need help and sometimes help us themselves. Our daughter, for example, is dressed in almost everything that her grandmother sends from Germany.

I have several jobs: in a rehabilitation center for alcohol and drug addicts, and I also teach music classes. In addition, I am an art historian and lead excursions. My wife works in the theater, but her salary is very small. Our total income is approximately 60 thousand rubles. For Pskov this is a lot: Rosstat shows that our average salary is 14 thousand. With this income we were able to save, but now we have made a fairly large purchase and are paying off debts: about 30 thousand a month.

We live in a small apartment in the city center, and it seems to me that over the past three years the quality of life in Pskov has even improved: serious programs have been carried out to reconstruct the urban environment. It’s convenient to live and walk here, there are excellent parks, landscaped areas, cafes.

We have a specific border position: it is the only subject of the Federation that borders on three foreign countries - Estonia, Latvia and Belarus. We used to regularly travel to nearby foreign countries to buy something and have fun. This summer we will go to a festival in Estonia, a ticket costs about 70 euros. Now you are starting to pay attention to this and counting money much more scrupulously. And at the border they are now constantly asking about sanctioned products.

For work, I have to travel around Russia quite a lot. If you cross the border of the Pskov and Novgorod regions, you will not notice the difference. General depression has been the emotional background of the last 25 years for most regions. Just as it all started in 1991, nothing much has improved in the province; no one noticed the “fat years” and “years of abundance.” But still, I don’t see such a gap as shown in the ranking. Many of my friends are grumbling about life, but at the same time they can afford to buy a car, buy an apartment, and go abroad.

And although everything is not so bad in Pskov, the region itself is still unfavorable. This is the first region of the indigenous Russian regions where extinction began back in the 1960s and an excess of mortality over the birth rate was recorded. There are no mineral resources or large factories here. The border position offers almost no food, unless you work on the border or engage in some small-scale smuggling.

“Every fifth resident of the region lives below the poverty line”

Lev Shlosberg, head of the Pskov regional branch of the Yabloko party, Pskov:

In last year's ranking, the Pskov region was also last; only then they counted 83 regions, without Crimea and Sevastopol. In 2015, the number of people living below the subsistence level reached almost 20%, this is every fifth resident of the Pskov region - 126 thousand 900 people. The average pension is 11,432 rubles, only 38 percent more than the subsistence level. The average salary is 21,455 rubles.

The Ministry of Finance claims that among the regions of northwestern Russia, the Pskov region ranks last, eleventh in terms of the share of budget expenditures per capita. 44,680 rubles were allocated per year for all types of state and municipal services per person. Of this money, 10,480 rubles are spent on education, 1,290 rubles on culture, 3,350 rubles on housing and communal services, and 39 rubles on the environment.

So the general situation in the Pskov region is an almost complete absence of an economy. Our main source of finance is the budget. The peculiarity of Andrei Turchak as a governor is that, having come to the Pskov region, he brought behind him, through his people, a whole host of St. Petersburg companies, which began to triumphantly win state competitions for road construction, for the development of construction sites for housing and for the creation of special economic infrastructure Moglino zone (where over 3.5 billion rubles of federal regional money were ultimately “buried underground” and only four jobs were created).

The Pskov region's own revenues amount to 14 billion, all types of subsidies and subventions from the federal budget - 9 billion. The public debt of the Pskov region is equal to its own income - also 14 billion. 45 percent of the income to the budget of the Pskov region comes from the income tax of the residents themselves, most of whom work in the public sector. This is an artificial circulation of money: they received a salary, paid income tax, and then received a salary from it.

When a region like Pskov, located on the border with two European countries, turns out to be the lowest in terms of family well-being, this indicates that no one is engaged in the development of the region. When the governor is a stranger, when he is here on a business trip, he is not interested in tomorrow, he will not live here later and will not look people in the eyes. The second term will end, he will not be able to run for the third time - he will go to St. Petersburg or Moscow and forget everything, like a bad dream. This is the psychology of a temporary worker who performs political tasks: the level of voting for the president, the level of voting for United Russia, so that two-thirds of the votes of the deputies of the regional assembly are from United Russia. And the task of developing the economy is not very important for him, because if you start today, the result will only appear in ten years.

The most important quality of the human psyche is addiction. Many have already gotten used to it. And those who do not want to tolerate it, but cannot correct the situation, simply leave.

Poverty forever changes the way we think about money.

When our heroine watched her mother’s struggle for a place in the sun, she firmly understood for herself: a poor person differs from a rich person not only in the thickness of his wallet, but also in his mentality. Every upcoming event is centered around money. Ironically, such a person worships green notes to a greater extent, he almost prays for them, because he so rarely possesses them. Thus, money (thoughts about it) occupy a central place in his life. A rich man is unlikely to understand a poor man, and here's why.

Poor means stupid

The impetus for the research, during which such outstanding conclusions were made, was an ordinary everyday situation. The American scientist Martha Farah had no one to leave her children with, and she decided to resort to, Farah recalls in her work “Neuroethics”. Observing twins from a poor family, Ms. Farah found that an individual's intellectual potential depends at least as much, if not more, on social status as on genetic predisposition. Even children born healthy can lose their intelligence. The fact is that a person is especially susceptible to external influences at the age of one and a half years. If a child feels comfortable and supported, then he develops a positive vision of the world. Aggression, suppression, prohibitions and lack of love place a little person on a dangerous, hostile planet, where in order to survive, it is necessary to build impenetrable armor around himself. All the strength of such a child goes into defending himself. The creative, active, vital function of the intellect is inactive. Its development stops. From a physiological point of view, this, as Farah’s research has shown, negatively affects the condition of brain cells. Russian neuropsychologists confirm the researchers’ data. “Bad social conditions certainly affect the human psyche and brain,” research director Anastasia Suntsova told NI. – A negative social environment imposes certain restrictions on the child. Under their influence, he cannot reveal his abilities and realize the talents given by nature. Accordingly, those areas of the brain that are responsible for these abilities do not develop.” “Not so long ago, German and Russian scientists conducted a study,” Konstantin Sumnitelny, director of the Moscow Montessori Center, candidate of pedagogical sciences, tells NI. – It turned out that the intellectual development of a person very much depends on the love of others received in childhood. This is why most children in orphanages are inferior in intellectual development to well-to-do children.” Scientists divided the children into two groups. Some babies were placed in favorable, almost greenhouse conditions, while others were placed in ordinary conditions. After some time, it turned out that the intelligence indicators of children from the first group were growing at a faster pace. So poverty really does damage the brain. But why, then, very often in life do we see how difficult conditions become positive motivation? Many famous people were brought up in poor families. Henry Kissinger, winner of the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize and a pillar of American political science who long shaped US foreign policy, was the son of refugees. Andy Warhol, the world-famous founder of pop art, the man who influenced modern art more than anyone else, was born into a family of poor Slovak immigrants. Charlie Chaplin, Madonna, Fyodor Chaliapin, Mark Bernes, Zinovy Gerdt and many others, including Mikhailo Lomonosov, are children of the poor. “Firstly, there is no need to equate material security with the psychological background in the family. Still, it is the background that mainly influences the personality and its mental capabilities, explains Konstantin Sumnitelny. – Secondly, success in society does not necessarily mean high intelligence. It is known that Hitler had low intellectual abilities, but this did not prevent him from deciding the fate of the world.” Often, children with outstanding talent are significantly inferior to their peers in terms of basic intelligence. Thus, Albert Einstein did not speak until he was 3 years old, and at the age of 15 he dropped out of school. The professors at the Zurich Polytechnic had a low opinion of him and did not recommend him to pursue a scientific career. Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who is today the richest man in the world, was even taken by his parents to a psychoanalyst to find out if everything was okay in his head. Psychologists believe that two concepts such as mental development and social adaptation should not be confused. “It is children from poor families who often achieve great success through perseverance and the ability to adapt,” says Anastasia Suntsova. “Poverty becomes an incentive for them. They want to overcome it, and this pushes them to develop. And many children of rich parents waste their lives absolutely meaninglessly. It’s hard for them to figure out what they want because they already have too much.” Teachers working with disadvantaged children also agree with this point of view. “In a difficult socio-economic situation, children learn to survive,” Sapar Kulyarov, president of the Childhood Shelter charity foundation, told NI. – Life puts them in conditions in which, in order to survive, they must act very effectively. Some children show their best qualities in such conditions, while others, on the contrary, close down. It is difficult to calculate the percentage of both. I have a friend – a pupil of an orphanage – now he is one of the ten best lawyers in Russia.” But such cases are rather the exception. "Poverty is not a vice. Poverty is a vice,” said the literary character. Experts state that he was absolutely right. Beyond a certain point, where physiological needs turn into daily suffering, the evolution of personality is extremely difficult. The most unfavorable psychological background surrounds street children. Their intelligence is most at risk. According to various estimates, there are from 0.5 to 2 million street children in Russia. Experts say that accurate data simply does not exist. It is known that most of these children have families, but they prefer to live on the streets. “The Russian family is going through difficult times,” Boris Altshuler, head of the public organization “Child’s Right,” told NI. “Usually the police return the children home, but they run away again because no educational work was carried out in these families.” Every year, 130 thousand orphans appear in Russia - 1.5 thousand in each region of the Russian Federation. Now there are more orphans in our country than there were after the Great Patriotic War. Moreover, 95% of these children have living parents. There is no point in expecting these children to grow into great scientists. “To change the situation, society must work not only with children, but also with adults,” says Boris Altshuler. – First of all, it is necessary to adopt the idea of social patronage at the legislative level. In some regions, this system is already in effect - social services assign guardians to difficult families. For children whose parents don’t care about them, they become the only mentors.” Interest groups will help preserve the intelligence of a child from a dysfunctional family. “Only then will the child develop when he is taught. This is an obvious thing. If we want to save the intelligence of street children, there should be many times more leisure centers. And most importantly, they should be free,” says Altshuler. Child psychologists argue that the situation of children in Russia also raises a lot of concerns because Soviet stereotypes for a long time had a destructive effect on the very institution of the family. There are seeds sown in the Soviet past that are still sprouting today. “Agree, such a phenomenon as Stalinism, with its slogan “the son is not responsible for the father,” and the phenomenon of Pavlik Morozov have a very adverse effect on relationships within the family,” says Konstantin Sumnitelny. – Simply put, they destroy it. And children definitely need support within the family.” Together with the fall of the Soviet regime, these stereotypes did not disappear without a trace. Instead, in the mid-80s, against the backdrop of a difficult socio-economic situation, many Russian parents developed a guilt complex towards their children. Such fathers and mothers began to become interested in child development methods. As a result, they formed two social groups. The first includes those who, with their excessive zeal and active position, place the child on a level that he cannot perceive. Such parents are very disappointed when their daughter, having studied at Harvard for a lot of money, gives up her career, gets married and spends the rest of her life dealing with everyday problems that have nothing to do with the education she received. The second group of parents, on the contrary, are too passive in relation to their child; they do nothing. Experts say that the child’s intellectual development suffers in both cases. In the first, because the direction of intellectual efforts does not correspond to internal predisposition. And in the second - because there is no such direction at all. What can be advised to parents who would like to keep their child’s brain healthy? “Stick to the golden mean,” says Konstantin Sumnitelny. – A child has an innate spontaneity and liveliness. Watch her very carefully and maintain this light. Don’t force your opinion on the little person, just hold his hand.”

Instead of the future, poor people plan for today

There are several secrets in the material world, but for the poor they are not of primary importance. For example, we know that it is much more efficient to spend money on high-quality products than on cheaper alternatives. Economists say that it is better to save money for future use than to pay interest on a loan. But the poor man does not use all these financial wisdom. He is only concerned about today. It's at the very bottom of the list called well-being. Every day begins with calculations of current opportunities and ends with the same.

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This person is captive of his limitations. He never buys goods in bulk at a discounted price and always makes the minimum payments on his credit card. He cannot afford an expensive thing, because he will have to save more than one month for it. However, cheap things wear out too quickly, which means that the poor person is forced to spend a certain amount every month on new purchases. It appears that representatives of low-income segments of the population are losing out to their more fortunate counterparts in the long term. Wealthier people don't count every penny, so they can afford to buy something that will last longer and not cost less over time.

Website of Mikhail Kozhaev

"An artist must be hungry." This maxim is known to us from school. Perhaps it is not at all by chance that we hear this expression precisely at school, because who, if not teachers, are the most worthy people among the people, who for pennies continue to sow light, pure, kindness in young souls... Meanwhile, care comes first about the spiritual component, often to the detriment of the material, is characteristic not only of those who talk about artists, but also of themselves - in the broad sense of the word: artists, musicians, writers and others. And it seems that everyone understands that a favorite craft should ideally provide for a family, so as not to be distracted by earning money on the side or even looking for funds for basic food. But the question is: did Russian writers, say, live poorly or richly?

How is it in the West?

However, why are we talking only about Russian writers? It must be because we ourselves live in Russia and domestic realities are closer to us. For example, the majestic “Aquarium” of the “patriarch of Russian rock” - and in September 2020 he announced a public gathering to record a new album. The required million, however, was collected in a matter of days, but we are not talking about anyone, but about “Aquarium”! But what should musicians do, whose professional experience is ten to twenty times less?

We started talking about musicians, but let's return to our poor writers. And let us ask ourselves: what is the situation like in the decaying bourgeois West? It is clear that in any country a writer lives on a percentage of the sold circulation of his books. And in Russia, writers can earn a lot. But how much is “a lot”? And how much exactly, in the same west?

At the end of 2014, American Forbes compiled a list of the highest paid writers. Let me emphasize that the following amounts were earned in one year. So, the leader of the rating, author of detective novels James Patterson, earned $90 million (and over the last ten years - 700 million). Dan Brown - 28 million, Nora Roberts - 23 million and so on. The cult Stephen King is at the end of this list with a modest 17 million dollars, and JK Rowling earned even less - 15.

What about us today?

How are things going with us at the moment? I won’t reveal a secret if I say that the highest paid (and surprisingly prolific) writer is Daria Dontsova. According to Komsomolskaya Pravda estimates, her monthly income is 130 thousand dollars, that is, a little more than one and a half million a year. Of course, compared to the West, it loses in all respects in terms of earnings. But against this background, the total fees of Akunin, Pelevin and Ulitskaya will be completely insignificant!

Therefore, it will not be an exaggeration to say that only a few people in Russia can make really good money from fine literature. Zakhar Prilepin at one time expressed this message with the following aphorism: “The head of any district traffic police is three times richer than the most famous writer.” True, this coefficient still seems somewhat underestimated...

At the same time, it’s one thing how many thousands of dollars this or that writer received, and quite another thing: did our classics of the past have enough to live on? Who today are indisputable authorities, and to us, due to the strange structure of our thinking, it seems that they earned so much that they lived carefree and happily ever after. But what was it really like?

Oh, Alexander Sergeevich, dear...

There is a well-known rule of the club “What? Where? When?”: if you don’t know what to answer, answer “Pushkin.” We will start with the classic of Russian literature. Moreover, this is a very striking example, since at the mental level Pushkin is perceived as a successful dandy, who always had success with women, and, probably, was immensely rich... The author of “Eugene Onegin” cannot be poor, after all. ! Or maybe?

Pushkin’s contemporaries recalled that in the poet’s house “the table was very bad - even the butter was sometimes served rancid.” So we are not talking about the level of wealth, but about poverty, reaching almost to wretchedness. Despite the villages and serfs of Sergei Lvovich, the “sun of Russian poetry” was by no means rich. Even for the fatal duel, Alexander Sergeevich was forced to pawn the family silverware.

Pushkin was a very prolific author, but largely due to the fact that he was forced to write like a damned man. But even in this case, he was constantly in debt, including gambling debts. "Damn it! Instead of writing the next chapter of Onegin, I’m sitting here and playing the previous one!”

In addition, all his life Pushkin wandered, as we would say now, in rented apartments. In the 19th century, these were “apartment buildings” in which many residents of St. Petersburg rented apartments. Pushkin changed a dozen of these houses, and also stayed at the Demuth Hotel on the Moika River embankment, 40, when he had no place to live at all. In 1827 he lived here for more than a month. There, on the Moika embankment, but in house 12, Pushkin lived in his last earthly home. Today the All-Russian Museum of the Poet is located here. And this is only in St. Petersburg. In Moscow, Alexander Sergeevich stopped and lived in a dozen more houses, and there were also Chisinau, Odessa, Crimea, Nizhny Novgorod and the Pskov province, where the poet’s grave is located.

After the death of the poet, Emperor Nicholas I ordered the payment of Pushkin’s debts and assigned his children a “pension” (for his daughters upon marriage). In addition, he decided to publish the poet’s collected works “at public expense for the benefit of the widow and children” and took care of the orphaned family (he paid 10 thousand rubles at a time). So the Pushkin family was able to make ends meet only after the death of Alexander Sergeevich. What can I add here: poverty is not a vice!

Verdict: poor.

F.M.

“Poverty is not a vice, poverty is a vice.” This aphorism by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky is known for its revealing truthfulness. Dostoevsky, like Pushkin, came from a noble family, but was by no means rich. During his lifetime, Fyodor Mikhailovich became a famous and sought-after writer, but this did not bring him wealth or any kind of fortune. In many ways, need forced Dostoevsky to work hard. A widely known episode is when the enslaving conditions of the publisher Stellovsky forced the writer to create the novel “The Player” in just 26 days.

Having personally experienced need, Dostoevsky depicted numerous psychological portraits of “poor people” in his works. At the same time, Fyodor Mikhailovich is extremely specific in describing the need. He always indicates exactly how much the heroes borrow and spend on food and clothing. And he also describes luxury in detail - how much Arkady Dolgoruky’s coat or trotter costs in “The Teenager,” how much Rogozhin brings to Nastasya Filippovna, and she throws it into the fireplace in “The Idiot.”

Fyodor Mikhailovich made his living exclusively as a writer and knew the value of money. Until the end of his days he was in need, which greatly affected his character and even, possibly, his health. It is no coincidence that the “Rothschildian idea” that wandered from novel to novel forced Dostoevsky himself to play and admire the paradoxical feature of roulette to land on zero twice. True, the gambling vice did not help the writer himself.

Verdict: poor.

Poor writers

I think you managed to understand the general message: many Russian writers were not only not rich, but often experienced hardship, deprivation and need throughout their lives. Moreover, they did not always belong to noble families and often made their way to success from the very bottom. What a long way to go - Ivan Krylov rose to the rank of officer from among the soldiers, while the fabulist himself began as a sub-office clerk and a minor official in the treasury chamber. Anton Chekhov's was a serf who bought himself and his family free, and his father owned a small grocery store, but subsequently went bankrupt. Ivan Bunin came from an impoverished noble family, which did not even have anything to pay for the future writer’s education at the gymnasium in Yelets. However, of course, not all of our wordsmiths lived by bread and water.

Rich Writers

Ivan Goncharov was born into a wealthy merchant family, and his father repeatedly served as the mayor of Simbirsk and was involved in the grain trade. Gogol family owned a thousand acres of land and 400 serfs, but the writer's family was considered to be of average income. A much larger number of serfs were owned by Varvara Petrovna Lutovinova, mother of Ivan Turgenev , whose father, as a result of an arranged marriage, received a family estate and 5 thousand souls as a dowry.

But the most famous and richest Russian writer was, of course, Leo Tolstoy . The writer's family descended from Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy, an associate of Peter I. Lev Nikolaevich, even being the fourth child in the family, not only never knew the need, but also managed his capital very freely and widely. Even before the abolition of serfdom, he was involved in setting up schools in Yasnaya Polyana, participated in the activities of the courts, in military campaigns and much more. The writer motivated his participation in the Moscow census of 1882 by “finding out poverty in Moscow and helping it with deeds and money, and making sure that there are no poor people in Moscow.” In a word, Tolstoy could afford to do whatever he wanted, and this largely explains why he was so often tossed from side to side: from plowing in rags with the peasants to translating the New Testament.

We often hear about some kind of confrontation between Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. That Fyodor Mikhailovich died in the 19th century, but the world truly discovered him in the 20th. And Lev Nikolaevich, on the contrary, lived until 1910, but crowned the literature of the bygone nineteenth century. That Dostoevsky dreamed all his life of being rich, but only grew poorer, while Tolstoy was rich and, without caring about it, steadily grew richer. I would like to look at the problem of correspondence opposition of writers from a slightly different angle.

In the complete works of Tolstoy there are 90 volumes, Dostoevsky - 30, three times less. But how many of the Count's novels do we know? There are only three: “War and Peace”, “Anna Karenina” and “Resurrection”. How many novels does Fyodor Mikhailovich have? Eight! And nine more stories. That's what they call - need has stuck. When you have everything, you can spend ten years thinking about your future work (book, film, music album), while simultaneously mastering the restaurant business, opening online stores, taking business training and doing mehendi painting in your spare time. Or you can devote yourself entirely to art, despite the lack of money for food, utility bills and shoe repairs. Maybe I'm too categorical. But obviously, having to feed your wife and children is a great motivation to sit down and write a novel that will be considered a classic for centuries. And perhaps forever...

To be lucky!

The article began with a mention of the fact that the Aquarium group (as well as many others) announced that they were raising funds to record a new album. In this regard, I remember two stories by Grebenshchikov from Aerostat. In the first, he mentioned the constant need of Mike Naumenko and his song “Poverty”, performed to the tune of Rolling’s “Luxury” - “luxury”.

And another time, Boris Borisovich shared a truly sad story about the vocalist of the Scottish band “Silly Wizard” Andy Stewart, who died on December 27, 2020. The musician fell ill, had an unsuccessful operation, and needed a new one. But while the whole world was raising funds, complications took their toll, and Stuart died.

“It often happens,” concluded that “Aerostat” Grebenshchikov, “that we are somehow, by definition, sure that everything is fine with a person. I know, because I tried for a long time to find out what was going on with Andy Stewart, why he was silent for so long, and none of our mutual acquaintances could really answer me. And then it was too late... I’m talking about this to warn us all from inattention to those we love”...

So it turns out that even a thrice-talented person, if he does not bring big money to the big guys, is of no use to anyone. No matter how sad it may sound. And he is forced to work at a regular job to support his family or do what he loves without getting anything for it. Indeed, the result is sad. But perhaps such pessimism, on the contrary, weeds out those who seek only money through creativity? Well, at least it’s more fun to be an optimist!

I wish everyone a job that has turned from a hobby into a profitable business! To be lucky!

And see you again in “Autoresponder”

The meaning of the song BG Stella Maris

Stars in "Friends"

There are no such words in Russian

They count every coin

For people living in poverty, the value of every coin is not just a saying, it is a way of life. Many of the habits they develop stem from their own financial worries. These people are willing to reuse anything that can still be used. They set a budget and strictly adhere to it. Poor people go to different stores and constantly compare prices. They anticipate every tiny purchase. They keep constant calculations in their minds. They not only need to know the price of the item, but also instantly determine the amount that will remain in their pocket after the purchase.

An experienced housewife revealed an algorithm for quick and effective cleaning in 45 minutes

They will be raised to be unhappy people: why is parental control so harmful?

I made very beautiful earrings with my own hands from a thin chain and pink pearls

Poor people fear unexpected expenses

For any low-income person, unexpected expenses are something akin to a tsunami. He is constantly afraid that at the most inopportune moment the iron or washing machine will break down. Living under constant stress significantly activates his thought processes. He may refuse to rest, because anything can happen to an old car on the road. A poor person views healthcare costs differently. He may put off dental prosthetics until the last moment and does not consider it necessary to spend money on preventive care. However, emergency care can be much more expensive. Poor people are too cautious when it comes to financial risks. This is why they are afraid to open small businesses, thereby unintentionally depriving themselves of prospects.

“I want to spoil you”: Nonna Grishaeva warmly congratulated her daughter on her birthday

Risk of contracting Covid from frozen food is very low, experts say

Kobzon's 16-year-old granddaughter grew up to be a beauty. She talked about the ideal man

Michael Rubin: from selling seeds to a large international enterprise

Michael Rubin

State: $3 000 000 000

Business: Ryka, Global Sports, GSI Commerce, Kynetic

The life of a businessman is an assertive upward movement, in small steps, with enviable consistency. Michael's peculiarity is that he did not produce anything, did not manage major projects, and did not invent new technologies. The story begins with sales and skillful leadership. Already at the age of 10, he was able to organize a group of teenagers: they earned money and brought a couple of dollars per person into a friend’s piggy bank.

At first, as a schoolboy, Rubin sold seeds for planting in plots near his house - tomatoes, cucumbers, flowers - with equal success, the aspiring businessman spread the business to neighboring streets. Every day, with amazing assertiveness, he walked around the nearest houses in the block and offered goods.

At the age of 10, he had already created a “network” - the neighborhood boys began working for Michael. They removed snow from local areas, and the enterprising Michael himself found clients, and subsequently he received a small percentage.

Two years later, the teenager took over his father’s garage and opened a ski equipment tuning shop there. As an advertisement, I printed brochures and distributed them in many sports stores, including a specialized one that sold skis. The owner of the company turned to the boy's father, saying that he was daring his clients and luring him to him. Dad did not hide this fact or was in no hurry to punish the young entrepreneur, but only asked the store owner whether a twelve-year-old teenager could compete with an established business?

An underground ski repair and tuning shop has grown into a significant, official store. The retail outlet was located in a shopping center and occupied a small area. The sign bore the teenager's name, which brought him his first local fame: "Michael's Ski Shop." The business belonged half to my father, because... a fourteen-year-old boy had no legal right to act on his own. The first investments are money accumulated over previous years of work, as well as two and a half thousand dollars donated by relatives.

This approach extends to Rubin’s entire life: he played with capital, did what he liked. Soon he will give advice to all future entrepreneurs: work should grow out of a hobby.

After a while, the student opens a second outlet. The store has a large turnover of goods. His parents did not expect it - by the age of sixteen he was able to buy an expensive Porsche car. He earned the money on his own. When he drove up to the house in a new car, my mother did not want to believe his success and did not perceive the situation positively.

The first crisis for his business was a warm winter. Nature played such a climate joke on all ski shop owners. Michael had to borrow money from his father and neighbor. The first set a condition - mandatory enrollment in college, and the second offered a large percentage - up to a thousand dollars a month in overpayment. Rubin chose the second option because he was confident of success. He bought the equipment at a sale and then began to implement the idea. The resulting benefit covered his “loan” and then pulled him out of debt due to bad weather. Michael was again in the black.

Important! He never finished college, and only completed one semester, after which he decided that this would prevent him from earning money.

After a successful adventure, surplus sports equipment began to be sent from all over the country at an affordable price, due to which he was able to open his third store.

Platforms for sharing experiences are a luxury

When friends or colleagues want to raise money for a gift or event, they often put the poor in an awkward position. It's easy to assume that people around us live with the same amount of resources, but this is not true. Any event, whether attending a concert, going to a restaurant, or ordering pizza in the middle of the night, will become a serious matter of thought for a low-income person. Ultimately, many poor people have to give up small pleasures simply because the costs are not a priority.

Employment is a key factor in their lives

For many poor people, employment is key. They want to get out of the hole and therefore throw themselves into work. When the work week of an ordinary supermarket cashier comes to an end, he looks for a new activity for the weekend. The poor man is sure that he has no time to rest. What to do when he doesn’t have a car, and his work is located ten kilometers from the nearest bus stop? What goes on in the head of a single mother who cannot afford to work a full week, because she will still have to wait for a place in kindergarten for some time? And how to dress for an interview when the only suit hanging in your closet is long out of fashion?

For poor people, thoughts about work expenses are a priority. They have to somehow get there and have something to eat for lunch. This means that tonight we will have to balance the debit with the credit again. There are too many jobs everywhere where daily wages do not cover daily expenses. Unfortunately, this is a general trend.

Resentment inside out

Illustration: Rita Morozova The woman is neatly, without pretentiousness, dressed, she has clearly articulated speech - similar to television announcers of Soviet times, and very stingy gestures.

“I came to you without a child, but I ask for your consent to talk with me about him.”

- Yes, of course, this is completely normal, parents without children often come to me. What is your child's name?

- I don’t have a child. That is, I have a daughter, but she is already an adult and lives in Moscow, separately from us.

— Does your grandson have a problem?

— No, I don’t have grandchildren yet.

I was discouraged. Nephews? Husband's children from previous marriages?

“Explain what kind of child you are talking about,” I asked.

— I am a teacher at the gymnasium. I teach Russian and literature. We will talk about one of the students in the class in which I am the class teacher.

She named a private gymnasium that I knew by chance, had existed for a relatively long time and was very expensive, where children of wealthy parents study who for some reason could not study in prestigious public schools (after all, this is where we in St. Petersburg still try to send children “from good families"). These children are brought and taken away in cars with drivers, constantly entertained, all their material needs are more than abundantly satisfied. It is clear that a lot of problems arise from all this, personal and social, but what can a teacher of Russian and literature do about them?

- This child has no problems.

- Sorry, I don’t understand anything.

- I’m even embarrassed to say...

Then I had a completely wild assumption that this middle-aged woman had fallen in love with one of her students, and I firmly decided to stop guessing:

“But you’ll have to say it, because otherwise you and I won’t get anywhere.”

- Yes, sure. The baby is fine. Problems, if you can call them that, are arising among our teaching staff, and so I came to consult with you. To be completely honest, we want to get rid of the child, but under the current circumstances this seems to be impossible.

— Is rich dad the main sponsor of the school? — I asked, not without causticism, forgetting about my own decision made two minutes ago.

- It's the other way around! - said my visitor and with a teacher’s pedantry she clarified: “That’s exactly one hundred and eighty degrees the other way around.”

The story she told next seemed quite funny to me.

Several years ago, the staff of the gymnasium and its trustees, as it were, made a strong-willed humanitarian decision: let’s take a talented child from a poor family and teach him in our beautiful, expensive gymnasium for free. It will be very beautiful, it will improve our indicators on all possible social points, and at the same time we will help the child and his family. Moreover, this is traditional (they consider their gymnasium to be humanitarian, a little Orthodox and even a little monarchical): in the Russian Empire, in almost all gymnasiums there were free, capable students “from the bottom.”

The noble decision was approved almost unanimously. At the same time, everyone understood: everything is good in moderation - they were not going to take a child from an orphanage to the gymnasium. They searched and found a very suitable option: a fourth-grader boy took second place at the city Olympiad in the Russian language and in the same year received a diploma at the Olympiad on the surrounding world. The family lives relatively close, there are only three bus stops from the gymnasium. Hereditary Leningraders. Mother is a librarian, father was a military engineer, died of a heart attack four years ago. They live very poorly. We spoke privately with the boy’s teacher, who has known him for four years. When she realized what it was about, she even burst into tears: “Lord, thank you, I’m so happy for him! He is a very, very bright and good boy, and the family is good. Thank you so much, this really makes you start to believe in people again!”

Almost the perfect candidate. Shall we take it? Well, of course we'll take it.

The only concerned person is the school psychologist: colleagues, but we have very, very rich kids studying here. They are expensively dressed, they have all sorts of gadgets. Or, let’s say, one of them invites him to visit? In a three-story mansion with a swimming pool and billiards in the basement. Will the poor child be psychologically traumatized by all this?

But everyone was already inspired and brushed off the psychologist: our students almost never invite each other to visit, they have no time and no need. As for clothes and things - well, firstly, we have a high school uniform, and secondly, everything is clear from the very beginning, and the boy is definitely not a fool, and he probably watches TV, which means he knows that people live differently.

- Well, the psychologist turned out to be right in the end? The guy got a complex and went wild?

- Nothing even close to that.

In fifth grade, Yasha went to a new school. I adapted quickly. His knowledge is excellent, he picks it up on the fly. There are 12 people in the class (in the past there were 34) - consider it an individual approach. The psychologist, of course, looked after Yasha. At the end of the first trimester I asked: how do you like studying here?

- Just freaking interesting! - Yasha answered joyfully. – So many new and funny things.

Yasha's classmates also received him well. They were all slightly sleepy and childish, but generally friendly, since the world never really demanded anything from them and never did any nasty things to them. Yasha, spellbound, literally opening his mouth, looked at their gadgets and sneakers, listened carefully and patiently to their tongue-tied stories about trips abroad. He asked about the details of their lives. Yashin's classmates were flattered by his interest (they were used to each other and were almost not interested in each other). Several children immediately told their parents: I would like to invite Yasha to our home. Better with an overnight stay.

The most responsible mother (she herself once came from Cherepovets to a modeling competition) consulted with a psychologist: is it possible to invite her? Will it harm the child? The psychologist sighed and gave permission: call me!

Yasha admired, jumped with delight and clapped his hands:

- Is this all yours?! And you can swim there whenever you want?! What is this - such a huge TV?! And this is your dad's crocodile?! Is this his car?! Did he really let you steer? And will he give it to me? If the driver allows it? Well, let's ask him another time then. Please please!

By the end of fifth grade, seven out of eight class boys said: Yasha is my friend. The three girls looked at Yasha sideways, but with interest.

At the request and begging of one of the boys, his parents took Yasha to Prague for the first autumn holidays. The mother was against it, but the father insisted: with this boy, ours seems more cheerful. In Prague, Yasha took a gadget from a boy, and a car with a driver from his parents, and in three days he made a photo collection “Red Roofs”, which then took third place in some online international photo competition (Yasha and the boy together were considered the authors, because they really are we went everywhere together).

Then Yasha very quickly changed his clothes - his classmates gave him everything old, but almost unworn. I got three gadgets that are not the newest model. It turned out that Yasha knows how to take wonderful, playful psychological photographic portraits. The three girls hesitated, but in the end reluctantly admitted: this is not like photo sessions with their parents and selfies against the backdrop of landmarks - this is real. Yasha suggested making a wall newspaper about cool life - his mother taught him. Everyone was supportive. They started out together, but there was no skill - they quarreled to pieces. Yasha decided: the editorial board is three people for two months. Then we change. Let's see who has it better. Everyone agreed. The fact that Yasha stays “for the entire time” was not even discussed. One dad suggested to his daughter, when it was her turn, to hire a professional journalist to help. Yasha laughed: “Don’t you understand? Then it won’t be your newspaper, but his!”

Such newspapers appeared in another five grades of the school. Three died within two months. In one, the editorial board was headed by a teacher. From another one, a delegation of five girls came to Yasha: “Can you help us?” - "No problem! Of course, I’ll help,” Yasha answered. All three classmates were offended and did not speak to Yasha for three days.

* * *

- What grade is Yasha in now?

- At eight o'clock.

- And what happened? Why do you want to get rid of it?

The teacher lowered her head. She paused. I waited.

- Compared to ours, he is too lively. This is already noticeable to everyone. And everyone is somehow worried about it in a bad way. Almost all of his classmates have no motivation to study. None at all, you know? Their attention span is no more than 15 minutes. They don't read anything other than their friends' feed. We, teachers, of course, are trying in every possible way to interest them, but we must honestly admit that we are completely losing to almost meaningless surfing on the Internet. Why should they bother? Places in institutes are already ready for them, and their parents’ money will be enough for their entire lives. And they know it. They all want to be successful bloggers or showmen, but they have absolutely nothing to say or even show to the world, except for what was again bought with their parents’ money. They are kind, not stupid, but they are all very lethargic. You see, we have children from graduating classes who have never been on the subway... And Yasha grabs hold of any new knowledge with his teeth. During lessons, he always asks questions, brings some tasks, information, asks to explain something. He reads a lot, wins Olympics, distributes some leaflets to earn money, was a supporter of Navalny, but then became disillusioned with him, travels freely throughout the city, visits his old grandmother in the village of Sosnovo, chops her firewood, digs her garden. This year he wrote a paper for the Olympiad in history and social studies: “Social problems in the Philippines - the view of modern English-language media and Filipino housekeepers living in Russia (St. Petersburg). Comparative analysis".

I couldn’t help but giggle in delight, but the teacher just smiled sadly:

“We all read it—it’s a good basis for a master’s thesis.” One father (the Filipino nanny of his youngest daughter was one of Yasha’s main informants when writing this work) directly asked me as a class teacher: what are we all doing wrong? You are high-level specialists, we pay a lot of money for the education of our children, we create all the conditions for them - why such a strange result?

After that, we sat down in the staff room, talked and realized that we had reached a dead end. On the one hand, we need to get rid of Yasha, but on the other hand, there is not a single reason for this. He feels good and definitely comfortable with us. He never broke anything.

- Do you want to save face?

- Yes, sure.

I thought about it. One of the situations in which “no one is to blame and everyone is sorry.”

“Too lively” and initially talented Yasha, who has long been well aware that he will have to “make his way” in life on his own, makes one hundred percent use of the opportunities of the expensive gymnasium that he accidentally got. But for his classmates it’s all “of course” and “it’s always been like this and will be” - why bother? Yasha is vectorially directed towards growing up, into an independent life, where there will be no concessions or support, where he will have to think, analyze, generalize, and fight. And his classmates, in general, have nothing to strive for - they already have everything. What is their motivation for growing up? And the concern of the Filipino nanny’s employer is understandable: why didn’t my son write this work? Because he is simply not Yasha and is less talented or is there something else here? And the anxiety and confusion of teachers is understandable: we work honestly for our good salary and honestly try to interest our students...

The contradiction is obvious, and it is about to begin to reflect on Yasha. So it's time to move on. But where?

I remembered one of my university classmates, a guy from some small town in central Russia, whom, judging by the description, Yasha was very similar to. In the eighth grade, he was the winner of the All-Union Biology Olympiad, passed the competition, entered a boarding school at Leningrad State University, lived and studied there, and from there entered the Faculty of Biology.

— Is the boarding school at Leningrad State University still alive? - I finally asked.

The woman was silent for a few seconds, thinking, then nodded slowly.

- Here is an honest way out that solves all your problems at once. You demand confidentiality and tell Yasha and then separately to his mother: you have outgrown our gymnasium. To move forward and develop, your brain needs a different kind of nutrient medium. We will prepare you and help you with all our strength, but in the ninth grade you will not go here, but to the gymnasium at St. Petersburg University. Will he be able to get in? If I remember correctly, there is a natural science cycle, and Yasha is a clear humanist.

The woman thought about it.

“I believe he may perceive this as a challenge to his capabilities and respond.” But he will still be offended?

- Don't you understand yet? Even in the fifth grade, Yasha perfectly knew how to turn his grievances inside out - it was not him who felt embarrassed at all, but the one who had extra gadgets, sneakers and crocodiles.

- Do you think he understood even then?

- A child with such intelligence? Yes, I beg you. He’s still taking full advantage of the situation, you’ll see.

- We will try. But if he refuses, we can’t kick him out, can we?

“Of course you can’t,” I said confidently (that’s all I could do for Yasha). - After all, this will be your moral and even professional collapse. Let's just say this - you call me later and tell me how he reacted, okay?

- Yes, sure.

* * *

She called only a week later (presumably, they spent the whole week gathering their courage).

“Oh, thank God, he reacted very calmly.”

- But how exactly?

“He said: well, there is no such thing as an eternal freebie.” Thank you for everything. When will I start studying additional mathematics? It's too late today?

On March 5, Katerina Murashova’s lecture “How to get a divorce” will be held in Moscow. Tickets can be purchased here.

Saving requires sacrifices

Poor people are constantly trying to figure out what sacrifices they will have to make today in order to save even a little. When money is scarce, people living in a society are more focused on capital. They cannot spend what little they have until they can increase their savings. This means only one thing: again and again the burning question is “what can I give up today so that I have more money tomorrow?” Every time a poor person spends money, he has to worry. After all, poverty is considered to be one of the biggest failures in our society.

Actors from poor families who became stars only thanks to their talent

Life hasn't always been sweet for many celebrities. Before starting their stellar career, they went through a difficult path of poverty, humiliation and difficult childhood. Let's look at which of the popular personalities grew up in a dysfunctional family as a child.

Jet Li

Born into a poor family in Beijing. He was the fifth and youngest child in the family. When Lee was two years old, his father died. Mother was a bus conductor. The family was catastrophically short of money for a satisfying life. At the age of eight, Jet, along with his entire class, took part in sports wushu classes - the Chinese version of school physical education. The impression from his acquaintance with the sport was so strong that six months later the boy left school and entered the Beijing Wushu Academy.

Demmy Moor

The actress's own father left them when Demi was still in the womb and she began drinking, even while pregnant. The stepfather was also an experienced alcoholic and therefore the parents constantly drank without paying attention to the child, getting into debt and constantly moving from place to place. The girl's life was also aggravated by congenital strabismus. In 1980, the actress's stepfather committed suicide and 16-year-old Demi was forced to leave school and earn money to cover her mother's debts.

Jim carrey

Jim's father lost his job and his family was forced to live in a van. Jim dropped out of school and began working as a janitor at the age of 15 to help support his family. Incredibly, as a child the actor did not communicate with anyone; he was a very withdrawn and unsociable child.

Leighton Meester

Leighton's mother was pregnant when she was sentenced to ten years in prison for marijuana smuggling, so the girl was born in the prison hospital. During her first years, she was raised by her grandmother, and then by her mother, who was released from prison early. Despite everything, Layton insists that she had a normal childhood.

Sarah Jessica Parker

Sarah Jessica Parker's youth had little in common with the glamorous life of her on-screen heroine Carrie Bradshaw. She was born into a large family, where besides her there were seven more brothers and sisters. The family lived on the brink of poverty, and therefore all the children worked part-time from a young age. Sarah was no exception. And although at times there was not even electricity at home, the mother managed to collect enough money to send her daughter to sing and dance. It is thanks to the efforts of her mother that today Jessica Parker is a famous actress and producer.

Gerard Depardieu

The outstanding French actor was born into a simple peasant family - his father did not even know how to read and write. The family's financial situation was not easy - in addition to Gerard, there were five more children. Due to poverty, lack of attention and communication, the boy began to have speech problems. Gerard stuttered and was unsociable, which later led to him dropping out of school and working for some time as a typesetter in a local printing house, and soon became seriously interested in boxing. As a minor, he got involved in criminal scams and was registered with the police. By chance, Depardieu took an acting course, where his talent was noticed.

Jackie Chan

He was born into a poor Chinese family. His parents were so poor that they wanted to sell their child to make ends meet for $26 to the British obstetrician who delivered the baby. When he was seven, his parents headed to Australia to find work, leaving him at boarding school in Hong Kong. Here he received a new nickname - Big Nose, after an angry school teacher broke his nose with a cane. At school he learned acrobatics, acting, and martial arts.

Keanu Reeves

Keanu Reeves' father abandoned the family when the actor was three years old. His mother often traveled and changed men; during Keanu’s childhood alone, she managed to change 4 husbands. Because of this, Reeves and his sisters were raised by their mother's parents and nannies. Over the course of five years, he changed four schools, from which he was constantly expelled; he later dropped out without receiving a high school diploma.

Leonardo DiCaprio

To feed her family living in a disadvantaged area of Los Angeles, Leonardo’s mother had to work several jobs at once. Today, Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood.

Tom Cruise

The actor grew up in a single-parent family and spent his childhood traveling because his mother did not have a permanent job. Despite the fact that sometimes my mother worked 4 shifts, the pennies she earned were not enough to support the children. The actor more than once recalls the period of poverty and hunger, thanks to which he earned his current fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Hilary Swank

Hilary was raised by one mother. At school, the girl endured insults from other children because of her poverty. When Hilary was 15 years old, her mother finally lost her job and they lived in a car and rarely visited friends. From then on, Swank began to earn extra money: for her first roles she received mere pennies, but today the actress’s fortune is estimated at tens of millions of dollars.

Adriano Celentano

He became the fifth child in a family that moved from Puglia to the north in search of work. At the time of his birth, Adriano’s mother was already forty-four years old. At the age of twelve he left school and, since his family lived poorly, began working as an apprentice in a watch workshop.

It's embarrassing to ask for help

Despite the heavy burden of poverty, many people choose to fight it alone. Asking for help is the last thing a poor person will do, because for this he has to overcome embarrassment and a feeling of deep shame. There is a heavy social stigma around poverty. Therefore, the less you talk about your problems, the better.

Homeless people prefer not to ask for help, otherwise they may be arrested. Parents prefer to remain silent about their financial problems, because otherwise representatives of social services or guardianship authorities will come to them. Perhaps more successful people deliberately label the poor so that they will sit quietly in their homes and not talk about their problems? If every poor person accepted their own inability to prosper and the impossibility of overcoming poverty as a given, together they could change the way society treats them.

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Oprah Winfrey: how a poor and unhappy girl became the richest woman in show business

Oprah Winfrey

State: $3 100 000 000

Business: Harpo Productions, host of The Oprah Winfrey Show, owner of O, The Oprah Magazine, Oprah.com and OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network

The TV presenter of a popular talk show, the owner of the film industry, went through a difficult personal journey - from a depressed teenager without even minimal pocket money to a popular TV presenter and owner of a television channel. Now her fortune is estimated at more than three billion dollars.

It's hard to have an optimistic mindset when a nine-year-old girl is sexually abused after being raised by her grandmother. Parents did not provide adequate support - they learned that a daughter would soon appear when they were not adults. The maternal grandmother actually supported her own daughter and little granddaughter alone, earning money on her own farm.

Success came at the age of 16. Oprah became the first beauty pageant winner with dark skin. To collect the prize, the girl had to visit a radio station, where they noticed her potential. Here she found a job - after school she came to read the news on the local radio channel.

After 3 years, she was offered a job as a reporter for a larger station, WVOL. Then she was noticed and offered to become the first black presenter on television, to which she agreed. It was a winning ticket, because previously there were no such talented girls with dark skin on TV.