The Will Smith Story: Social Mobility

[Sundiata]

I appreciate Will Smith.

He rose from humble circumstances to become a highly successful husband, father, and entertainer. As a cultural influence, I think that his impact has generally been positive. I know that he avoided cursing in his music at a time when that was very frequent in the genre he performed in. As an actor, he was able to present a ground-breaking image of Black America in a time when much of the media surrounding this community wasn't so positive. As his career progressed, he continued to succeed in his endeavors.

Economist Thomas Pikkety posited that capital is moving in an upward direction and being concentrated at the top. But just because this trend is occurring doesn't mean that we simultaneously can't end poverty and other forms of unecessary suffering. Essentially, while there is wealth inequality it doesn't necessarily have to mean the death of social mobility.

Do you think that the future is going to see more upward success stories like Will Smith or less examples of social mobility?

[Nuroblav]

Not a big fan of his music at all (may I also add that I don't see cursing in music as a bad thing as such, but that's for another time) but otherwise a decent guy in my opinion.

I don't think they'll be a decrease in social mobility, considering how connectivity is becoming more prominent. Then again it's hard to tell - as you say capital is more focused at the top now, particularly in media. Those are my thoughts.

[Rojava Free State]

Considering that the gap between the rich and poor back in the 1970s and 80s wasn't as wide as it is now, I expect there to be less upward mobility. That along with automation and outsourcing makes upward mobility more difficult.

[Bear Stearns]

I also saw the Pursuit of Happyness.

[Rojava Free State]

Not a big fan of his music at all (may I also add that I don't see cursing in music as a bad thing as such, but that's for another time) but otherwise a decent guy in my opinion.

I don't think they'll be a decrease in social mobility, considering how connectivity is becoming more prominent. Then again it's hard to tell - as you say capital is more focused at the top now, particularly in media. Those are my thoughts.

His rhymes are basic as fuck.

[Sundiata]

Not a big fan of his music at all (may I also add that I don't see cursing in music as a bad thing as such, but that's for another time) but otherwise a decent guy in my opinion.

I don't think they'll be a decrease in social mobility, considering how connectivity is becoming more prominent. Then again it's hard to tell - as you say capital is more focused at the top now, particularly in media. Those are my thoughts.

His rhymes are basic as fuck.

I think he demonstrated, and still demonstrates extremely well that you can express yourself masterfully without using curse words.

[Rojava Free State]

His rhymes are basic as fuck.

I think he demonstrated, and still demonstrates extremely well that you can express yourself masterfully without using curse words.

Now I've got a story that I'd like to tell. It's bout this guy named Fred he had me scared so well. He's not home when I'm awake but he shows up when I sleep. I didn't know there'd be a nightmare on my street.

Contrast that with Immortal Technique who goes:

This is the point of no return, nigga you better believe this. Mary Magdalene giving birth to the children of Jesus. The evolution of the world, bloody and dramatic. Human beings killed monkeys to conquer the planet. The kingdoms of Africa and Mesopotamia. Machine gunning your body with depleted uranium. This is the age of microchips and titanium. The dark side of the moon, and contact with aliens. I started out like Australians, criminal minded. Broke into hell, tore it down and built a city behind it. Southpaw, murderous. Methodology nigga. Remember that I'm just a man, don't follow me nigga. Cause once you've passed the point you can never go home, you gotta face the possibility of dying alone, so tell me motherfucker. How could you die for the throne, when you don't even got the fucking heart to die for your own?

Now, to be fair to Will Smith, most rap back in the early 1980s was pretty basic. It really wasn't till the late 80s during the golden age of hip hop that rap became much more complexed like it is today...I'm sorry I mean like it was in the 2000s because today most mainstream rap is actual shit. The stuff from the early 80s was basic but good music nonetheless, whereas alot of the stuff today like Icy Narco or Lil Pump is downright garbage. So in conclusion, Will Smith would be a basic rapper even if he said fuck and shit after every word.

[Farnhamia]

I appreciate Will Smith.

He rose from poverty to become a highly successful husband, father, and entertainer. As a cultural influence, I think that his impact has generally been positive. I know that he avoided cursing in his music at a time when that was very frequent in the genre he performed in. As an actor, he was able to present a ground-breaking image of Black America in a time when much of the media surrounding this community wasn't so positive. As his career progressed, he continued to succeed in his endeavors.

Economist Thomas Pikkety posited that capital is moving in an upward direction and being concentrated at the top. But just because this trend is occurring doesn't mean that we simultaneously can't end poverty and other forms of unecessary suffering. Essentially, while there is wealth inequality it doesn't necessarily have to mean the death of social mobility.

Do you think that the future is going to see more upward success stories like Will Smith or less examples of social mobility?

Poverty? Wha ...?

Smith was born on September 25, 1968 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Caroline (née Bright), a Philadelphia school board administrator, and Willard Carroll Smith Sr.,[11][12] a U.S. Air Force veteran[13] and refrigeration engineer. He grew up in West Philadelphia's Wynnefield neighborhood,[14] and was raised Baptist.[15] He has an elder sister named Pamela and two younger siblings, twins Harry and Ellen.[14] Smith attended Our Lady of Lourdes, a private Catholic elementary school in Philadelphia.[16] His parents separated when he was 13,[17] but did not actually divorce until around 2000.[18]

Smith attended Overbrook High School.[16] While it has been widely reported that Smith turned down a scholarship to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he never applied to college because he "wanted to rap."[19] Smith says he was admitted to a "pre-engineering [summer] program" at MIT for high school students, but he did not attend.[18][20][21] According to Smith, "My mother, who worked for the School Board of Philadelphia, had a friend who was the admissions officer at MIT. I had pretty high SAT scores and they needed black kids, so I probably could have gotten in. But I had no intention of going to college."[22]

Solidly middle class, baby. If you're looking for someone to exemplify bootstraps and "up from poverty," do the basic research.

[Galloism]

I appreciate Will Smith.

He rose from poverty to become a highly successful husband, father, and entertainer. As a cultural influence, I think that his impact has generally been positive. I know that he avoided cursing in his music at a time when that was very frequent in the genre he performed in. As an actor, he was able to present a ground-breaking image of Black America in a time when much of the media surrounding this community wasn't so positive. As his career progressed, he continued to succeed in his endeavors.

Economist Thomas Pikkety posited that capital is moving in an upward direction and being concentrated at the top. But just because this trend is occurring doesn't mean that we simultaneously can't end poverty and other forms of unecessary suffering. Essentially, while there is wealth inequality it doesn't necessarily have to mean the death of social mobility.

Do you think that the future is going to see more upward success stories like Will Smith or less examples of social mobility?

Poverty? Wha ...?

Smith was born on September 25, 1968 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Caroline (née Bright), a Philadelphia school board administrator, and Willard Carroll Smith Sr.,[11][12] a U.S. Air Force veteran[13] and refrigeration engineer. He grew up in West Philadelphia's Wynnefield neighborhood,[14] and was raised Baptist.[15] He has an elder sister named Pamela and two younger siblings, twins Harry and Ellen.[14] Smith attended Our Lady of Lourdes, a private Catholic elementary school in Philadelphia.[16] His parents separated when he was 13,[17] but did not actually divorce until around 2000.[18]

Smith attended Overbrook High School.[16] While it has been widely reported that Smith turned down a scholarship to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he never applied to college because he "wanted to rap."[19] Smith says he was admitted to a "pre-engineering [summer] program" at MIT for high school students, but he did not attend.[18][20][21] According to Smith, "My mother, who worked for the School Board of Philadelphia, had a friend who was the admissions officer at MIT. I had pretty high SAT scores and they needed black kids, so I probably could have gotten in. But I had no intention of going to college."[22]

Solidly middle class, baby. If you're looking for someone to exemplify bootstraps and "up from poverty," do the basic research.

So wait, you're saying he was in West Philadelphia born and raised, on the playground is where he spent most of his days chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool and all shooting some b-ball outside of the school?

[Farnhamia]

Poverty? Wha ...?



Solidly middle class, baby. If you're looking for someone to exemplify bootstraps and "up from poverty," do the basic research.

So wait, you're saying he was in West Philadelphia born and raised, on the playground is where he spent most of his days chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool and all shooting some b-ball outside of the school?

Something like that, yeah.

I remember that in his interview on Inside The Actor's Studio, James Lipton asked Smith, "How old were you when your parents divorced?" The answer was, "32."

[Galloism]

So wait, you're saying he was in West Philadelphia born and raised, on the playground is where he spent most of his days chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool and all shooting some b-ball outside of the school?

Something like that, yeah.

But I bet the couple of guys up to no good who started makin trouble in the neighborhood never existed.

[The Two Jerseys]

Yet he still won't admit that he and Jada have an open marriage...

[Farnhamia]

Yet he still won't admit that he and Jada have an open marriage...

Which nothing to do with anything.

[USS Monitor]

I like Will Smith, but he's just one person. Not everyone can be Will Smith. Not everyone has his charisma and work ethic. Even if people do try, not everyone will get noticed like he did. I'm glad he made it cos I like some of his movies, but expecting people to follow in his footsteps is not a viable plan to address poverty on a mass scale.

Edit: Also, apparently wasn't that poor, going by what Farn posted...

[Rojava Free State]

I appreciate Will Smith.

He rose from poverty to become a highly successful husband, father, and entertainer. As a cultural influence, I think that his impact has generally been positive. I know that he avoided cursing in his music at a time when that was very frequent in the genre he performed in. As an actor, he was able to present a ground-breaking image of Black America in a time when much of the media surrounding this community wasn't so positive. As his career progressed, he continued to succeed in his endeavors.

Economist Thomas Pikkety posited that capital is moving in an upward direction and being concentrated at the top. But just because this trend is occurring doesn't mean that we simultaneously can't end poverty and other forms of unecessary suffering. Essentially, while there is wealth inequality it doesn't necessarily have to mean the death of social mobility.

Do you think that the future is going to see more upward success stories like Will Smith or less examples of social mobility?

Poverty? Wha ...?

Smith was born on September 25, 1968 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Caroline (née Bright), a Philadelphia school board administrator, and Willard Carroll Smith Sr.,[11][12] a U.S. Air Force veteran[13] and refrigeration engineer. He grew up in West Philadelphia's Wynnefield neighborhood,[14] and was raised Baptist.[15] He has an elder sister named Pamela and two younger siblings, twins Harry and Ellen.[14] Smith attended Our Lady of Lourdes, a private Catholic elementary school in Philadelphia.[16] His parents separated when he was 13,[17] but did not actually divorce until around 2000.[18]

Smith attended Overbrook High School.[16] While it has been widely reported that Smith turned down a scholarship to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he never applied to college because he "wanted to rap."[19] Smith says he was admitted to a "pre-engineering [summer] program" at MIT for high school students, but he did not attend.[18][20][21] According to Smith, "My mother, who worked for the School Board of Philadelphia, had a friend who was the admissions officer at MIT. I had pretty high SAT scores and they needed black kids, so I probably could have gotten in. But I had no intention of going to college."[22]

Solidly middle class, baby. If you're looking for someone to exemplify bootstraps and "up from poverty," do the basic research.

*Roblox death sound*

[Rojava Free State]

Something like that, yeah.

But I bet the couple of guys up to no good who started makin trouble in the neighborhood never existed.

Trouble in that neighborhood probably consisted of a garbage can being knocked over by some racoons.

[The Two Jerseys]

But I bet the couple of guys up to no good who started makin trouble in the neighborhood never existed.

Trouble in that neighborhood probably consisted of a garbage can being knocked over by some racoons.

That and drunk St. Joe's students.

They have a below-grade 4-track railroad line as a moat to keep the real riffraff out.

[Chan Island]

Over the past couple of decades there have been fewer and fewer people like Will Smith. That's kind of one of the biggest issues that the left has been agitating about (or is supposed to) for the past couple of years.

[Nuroblav]

I think he demonstrated, and still demonstrates extremely well that you can express yourself masterfully without using curse words.

Now I've got a story that I'd like to tell. It's bout this guy named Fred he had me scared so well. He's not home when I'm awake but he shows up when I sleep. I didn't know there'd be a nightmare on my street.

Contrast that with Immortal Technique who goes:

This is the point of no return, nigga you better believe this. Mary Magdalene giving birth to the children of Jesus. The evolution of the world, bloody and dramatic. Human beings killed monkeys to conquer the planet. The kingdoms of Africa and Mesopotamia. Machine gunning your body with depleted uranium. This is the age of microchips and titanium. The dark side of the moon, and contact with aliens. I started out like Australians, criminal minded. Broke into hell, tore it down and built a city behind it. Southpaw, murderous. Methodology nigga. Remember that I'm just a man, don't follow me nigga. Cause once you've passed the point you can never go home, you gotta face the possibility of dying alone, so tell me motherfucker. How could you die for the throne, when you don't even got the fucking heart to die for your own?

Now, to be fair to Will Smith, most rap back in the early 1980s was pretty basic. It really wasn't till the late 80s during the golden age of hip hop that rap became much more complexed like it is today...I'm sorry I mean like it was in the 2000s because today most mainstream rap is actual shit. The stuff from the early 80s was basic but good music nonetheless, whereas alot of the stuff today like Icy Narco or Lil Pump is downright garbage. So in conclusion, Will Smith would be a basic rapper even if he said fuck and shit after every word.

And even without cursing...

I bomb atomically, Socrates' philosophies and hypotheses
Can't define how I be dropping these mockeries
Lyrically perform armed robbery
Flee with the lottery, possibly they spotted me
Battle-scarred Shogun, explosion when my pen hits tremendous
Ultraviolet shine blind forensics
I inspect you through the future see millennium
Killa Beez sold fifty gold, sixty platinum
Shackling the masses with drastic rap tactics
Graphic displays melt the steel like blacksmiths
Black Wu jackets, Queen Beez ease the guns in
Rumble with patrolmen, tear gas laced the function
Heads by the score take flight, incite a war
Chicks hit the floor, die hard fans demand more
Behold the bold soldier, control the globe slowly
Proceeds to blow, swinging swords like Shinobi
Stomp grounds and pound footprints in solid rock
Wu got it locked, performing live on your hottest block

Yeah there were certainly better still that did it without cursing. But then again curse minimalisation isn't the aim in music anyway.

[Saiwania]

What a lot of people miss about poverty is that it doesn't have any singular cause. It can be one of many things that all have to be addressed or mitigated to reduce it as much as possible, but it will probably always be with us to some extent- barring actually getting to post scarcity in terms of all manner of resources and materials. Basically, it is a situation that can be someone's fault objectively speaking, just as much as it might be the case that it isn't necessarily someone's fault that they're poor.

It is a given that not everyone is going to make good decisions- and one or a chain of bad decisions can result in someone falling into debt or poverty as one example. Poor choices lead to worse outcomes if they choose wrongly or a risk went bad. On a macro-level, where a government pursues bad policy, even more so in that the stakes are higher in terms of losses to be had. One core reason is that we're just not all equally as competent or capable.

Haiti is an example of poverty from circumstance, the soil isn't any good and its beset by natural disasters and doesn't have the best political history that enables stability and development. Chances are someone living there, is going to have a much steeper economic climb staying there, as opposed to moving where the opportunities are better. At certain points in its history, Haiti could've done well.

The harsh truth of the world is that not everyone is going to win economically nor can they. Thus, the prosperity gospel is false broadly speaking. There is nothing wrong with bettering your situation but it isn't ever going to be a given.

[Kowani]

The data would suggest that the chances of moving up is extremely low.

[Sundiata]

Fixed "poverty" to "humble circumstances."

[Farnhamia]

Fixed poverty to humble circumstances.

Dude, the circumstances were not that humble. His mom was a school administrator, his dad a refrigeration engineer, they lived in an upscale neighborhood in West Philly. He went to a private Catholic elementary school and a high school renowned for turning out scientists, entertainers, surgeons, astronauts ... I like Will Smith, don't mistake me, but you've read his life wrong.

[Greed and Death]

Not a big fan of his music at all (may I also add that I don't see cursing in music as a bad thing as such, but that's for another time) but otherwise a decent guy in my opinion.

I don't think they'll be a decrease in social mobility, considering how connectivity is becoming more prominent. Then again it's hard to tell - as you say capital is more focused at the top now, particularly in media. Those are my thoughts.

His rhymes are basic as fuck.

For early 80's rap he was damn good.
Compare him to his contemporary rivals like the fatboys I guarantee you pick will smith.

[Rojava Free State]

His rhymes are basic as fuck.

For early 80's rap he was damn good.
Compare him to his contemporary rivals like the fatboys I guarantee you pick will smith.

Yes