If you think there is something noble about poverty and being poor, good for you. I certainly don't have a poverty fetish.

I notice this is a popular internet comeback. The 'fetish' exaggeration. You take whatever you dislike and add 'fetish' so now its irrational and even a mental problem sorta of thing.

No, nobody described a poverty fetish. What I described was someone who valued a rich life experience, knowledge of the world, social skills and something called 'Wisdom' and maybe even an enriched 'spiritual' bank account. Things that most of our greatest people describe as 'Superior' or 'higher' values.

And they may well be financial wins. our young friend returned to his regular life with such a dramatically improved and broadened 'bigger picture' of life. Whereas before he was like too many young white suburban college kids involved in petty thinking, childish things like refusing to join his dad's company in some rebellion. Wasted a lot of money on smoking weed. That ended. It actually ended because he thought ABOVE things like being in a band was way more social status than running a painting company with his dad (small-minded thinking of what a loser does etc).

He's part of the reason I jumped into China. He used to talk about how his mind, soul, outlook had changed so much that he actually found it impossible to hang out with the old friends who were still involved in 'what level of 'Battlefield' they were champs or what he now saw as the most immature of girlfriend problems.

He did partner with his Dad and last thing I ever heard was they'd scored some pretty big contract downtown. tough work. literally hung off buildings side-by-side with his dad.

Couldn't he have done that by just staying at home? No. because the world isn't made of mathematical increments, paper levels, talking about things like 'Data' from Star Trek on the internet "obviously thats illogical cap'n" and success (yes financial success) often requires character, life experience, soul-searching and 'world views'. You can't get those from anywhere else but living.

It seems many people on ESL sites like
this don't think about that. I can tell you, I know for a fact that many ESL teachers in
China don't even have 2000 or 3000 dollars in the bank, even some men and women in their
late fifties.

I agree though I think on ESL sites like this its almost exclusively full of people like us who don't believe it but go even further to constantly point at this problem or even (sickly) enjoy and heckle at the fate coming to many rival expats but heres what nobody talks about....

... by far most people in Western countries and in the UK have less than 3000 (pounds or dollars) in their bank account. Including most people in their fifties. Further more most people do not have any significant future career advancements. Maybe especially people in their 50s in the West.

In fact, most people's previous 10 years experience working (having never left the UK) that experience won't really mean much of anything, no more or less IF they lose that job and have to find a new one. Even worse if they're in their 50s. Almost as bad if they are 28 years old.

In Canada it might even be worse than that. For the sake of argument suppose I return home today with just $3000 in the bank. I probably have $3000 more than anyone else where shockingly most people live 'paycheque to paycheque' but in fact I'm ahead of the game because most are $3000 in debt to credit cards, short-term loans, car payments.

*of course a big difference is they already have their car, home, etc. but you get the point*.

Foreign Teachers often have nothing saved after 2,5,10 years. Correct and the exact same thing is true for just as many people who've never left their jobs in the UK, USA or anywhere else. Indeed many of my friends in England with what we'd describe as respectable careers, good jobs, relatively comfortable incomes MIGHT have the equivalent of 1-months living expenses saved. If the truth was revealed - many many have 'zero days' and quite seriously are the 'two paycheques away from homelessness'. Not an exaggeration.

BTW: Brits almost more than anyone else should know about 10 or 20 year careers (dare I use that term to describe anything but a TCM salesman) but Brits should know. 1000's upon 10s of thousands and in fact millions of Brits dedicated lifetimes of work to everything from mining coal to world-famous steel production and all kinds of skilled-labour jobs and at age 30, 40, 50 almost 'overnight' in economic terms woke up to find themselves 100% unemployed in their own hometowns with absolutely no useful skills in the new paper-pushing and service-industry Britain. Hell, had they been teaching in China they'd at least have some office skills, know their way around MS Office, run powerpoint presentations and speak a little mandarin. Instead they were ..zero, zip, nada.