
Jack Ma Says: If You’re Poor at 35, You Deserve It - sayemm
http://www.cambridgeentrepreneuracademy.com/chinese-billionaire-says-if-youre-poor-at-35-you-deserve-it/
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themoonbus
I don't know what it is that often makes successful people seem to lack basic
empathy. I assume once you've succeeded following a certain path, you think
the options that were available to you are available to anyone – if only they
were good / smart / strong enough to make the most of them.

Such smart people seem to lack a basic understanding that the world is a
complex place, and social, cultural, and economic forces can have as much a
role in shaping life trajectories as one's abilities and ambition.

Or perhaps to put it another way, not all hardships are created equal.

~~~
MCRed
That's true, but at least in the USA-- where I've worked with two people who
were in poverty when we met-- you can turn your life around. In my experience,
with hard work on their part and a little bit of guidance it took them about
2-3 years to get into well paying (e.g.: well above minimum wage) jobs.

The biggest thing inhibiting them before we worked together was growing up in
a situation that seemed hopeless to the point where they couldn't see the path
or the opportunity that was there for them.

~~~
Retric
I suspect that both of them where working age, sane, healthy, without major
addictions, reasonably intelligent, and had an acceptably clean background.
Remove some or all of the above and even low levels of success become far less
likely.

That said, a friend of mine got a middle class job despite health issues,
addiction, and with a somewhat shady past it's just much harder. However, he
also had a fairly strong network to fall back on when things where tough which
helps.

~~~
MCRed
One person lacked two of those factors, the other lacked one.

In both cases they perceived those, and other factors as making the
possibility of success unlikely.

I managed to convince them otherwise, because in part, I have a similar
background, and because they saw results.

~~~
Retric
Congratulations. That's a tough place to be. There is a huge gap between being
broke and being poor. And working yourself out of poverty takes a little luck
and a lot of effort.

------
nisa
The Guardian says the piece is not from Jack Ma:
[http://www.theguardian.com/money/us-money-
blog/2014/sep/26/r...](http://www.theguardian.com/money/us-money-
blog/2014/sep/26/rich-work-harder-ceos-jack-ma)

~~~
msie
It's too bad that I had to read most of the comments to get to this bit of
information. Do comments rise to the top due to votes? Not obvious anymore
without the point totals being displayed.

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Patrick_Devine
Am I missing something? In the article it said "If you're poor at 35, no one
will pity you.", not that you "deserve it". The headline seems like click-
bait.

At any rate, even the statement he did say is demonstrably not true as there
are certainly some people who will have pity. But so what? Someone feeling
sorry for you I suppose is nice, but being broke sucks.

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gexla
Odd title. I don't see anywhere in this article where Jack Ma is actually
quoted as saying this. The closest I found was towards the bottom of the
article. And since this article covers two different people, it's not clear
who this statement should be attributed to. Or maybe the statements are from
the author of the article.

"When you have not accomplished anything by the time you are 35, no one will
pity you."

This quote could have a much different meaning than the title.

This seems to be a fluffy article stuffed with motivational statements from
the author with some short biographies thrown in. It was originally written in
Chinese and translated into English. Maybe it didn't carry the message as well
in English.

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brudgers
Had Jack Ma been born a generation earlier, he might well been swept up in the
Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and sent "Down to the Countryside".

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sent-
down_youth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sent-down_youth)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_to_the_Countryside_Movemen...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_to_the_Countryside_Movement)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution)

~~~
hackerboos
If it wasn't for Deng Xiaoping's reforms then China would not be the economic
powerhouse it is today.

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7Figures2Commas
If you're poor at 35, it's because you haven't curried enough favor with the
government.

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msie
Please read ALL of the comments here before you form a knee-jerk opinion about
Jack Ma.

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neilni
It seems like a lot of people are confused about the wording 'deserve' in the
title. The word is not mentioned in the post, but is a direct translation from
the original post. (Yes, I speak Chinese.)

Just to add, the original post has been around for months, and I have not yet
seen the actual reference to the speech that he was giving in either video or
audio, so it seems like a fake post to me. And the wordings are made to be
really strong to catch attentions.

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bakareika
It's not "you deserve it" (which has a bad connotation, as if not being rich
is derogatory). More like, if you seem to be unable to amass cash, then you
are probably unable; do something else instead.

Being rich or poor is overrated, this is just another condition like being
healthy, or able to read Chinese. Everything can be fixed to an extent, and
depends on whichever characteristic is perceived as more valuable to have.

------
MCRed
I think this depends a lot on the country and how much economic opportunity
there is. In some countries- like china in the past, for instance- you
couldn't start a business without favor from political elites.

If you live in the USA, made $10 an hour (just a proxy for "minimum wage"),
you net about $18,000 after taxes, or $1473 a month. IF you can find a room to
rent for $400 a month and spend $300 a month on food etc, that leaves you
about $750 a month to save. That's $9,000 a year or $153,000 over 17 years
(the time it takes to go from 18 years old to 35 years old.)

That's assuming no growth in your income or returns on your savings over that
period.

What's worked well for me personally is, whatever my income, I've tried to
live like I had half of that income.

This is easy in some places, harder in others. Impossible in New York City (I
think.)

This is also why I think that Remote work is a huge opportunity-- people could
live in cheap places while earning an income from companies in expensive
places with high value businesses.

EG: Programmers moving to Butte Montana and working for Bay Area Startups.

~~~
epicureanideal
Assuming you don't need a car (payment, insurance, gas), don't need to take a
bus (costs money each time you take it or monthly). Assuming you don't have
any medical problems. Assuming you don't have a cell phone (becoming a
necessity) or an internet connection at home. No laptop (becoming a
necessity).

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_greim_
The successful gravitate toward the view that each individual emerges from
previous circumstance onto a basically level playing field and that the best
ones win.

The unsuccessful similarly gravitate toward the view that each person is a
product of factors utterly beyond their control and that success is basically
down to which vagina you came out of.

I think that Jack Ma is erring to the former extreme here.

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joelthelion
Making money is not the only worthwhile goal in life. Some people have
different objectives.

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ThePhysicist
That's an odd quote because apparently Ma himself was already over 35 when he
started Alibaba:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ma](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ma)

~~~
n09n
It's not a quote.

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mud_dauber
Fuck Jack Ma.

There. I said it.

~~~
davesque
Hold your horses. The Guardian claims that Alibaba says this is a hoax. If so,
then don't fuck Jack Ma :).

~~~
Sanddancer
Even if it is true, I wouldn't fuck Jack Ma. I'd probably end up getting
affluenza or some other social disease rendering me incapable of basic empathy
and understanding of situations beyond the most simplistic ones.

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Ceneka
Looks like someone skipped out on the works of Flannery O'Connor and
Shakespeare while at University.

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bayesianhorse
Wealth often causes a certain entitlement effect...

