How do we change the culture of bad decision-making?

Well actually teaching basic financial competence in middle school/early high school would help.

Also structuring the welfare that we currently have to provide (I don't agree with it, but it also isn't changing) in a way that rewards response decisions would help.

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the question is how do we go about addressing these issues of education and culture?

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My gut tells me to start with school curriculum. I feel like I didn't learn shiite in grade school when it came to surviving in the real world.

But then again, these are probably demographics that don't really take school seriously anyways

Before we can even have that discussion, many on the left need to accept that bad decision-making is the primary reason why most poor people are poor. Or at the least, just entertain the idea before acting appalled and throwing out the usual "you heartless racist" responses.

Did you see the Shapiro speech to the HS where he told the students that if your parents are poor their entire lives its probably because they're bad with money?

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But then again, these are probably demographics that don't really take school seriously anyways

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yes

schools aren't an option because the lack of valuing of education is a big reason why the poverty keeps perpetuating

and the powers that be will never let you run a lower SES school in a way that allows force social stratification of the students for the same reasons of the "a-hole" logic. there is this emotional reaction to being negative towards a lower SES person. creating a school structure that will magnify this person just isn't in the cards for emotional-led thinkers.

How are people successful?
-Good Decision Making

How do people learn to make good decisions?
-Experience

How do people gain experience?
-Bad Decision Making

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Before we can even have that discussion, many on the left need to accept that bad decision-making is the primary reason why most poor people are poor. Or at the least, just entertain the idea before acting appalled and throwing out the usual "you heartless racist" responses.

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it doesn't have to involve racism. you get those same emotional responses when dealing with the same issues in poor whites

but i agree this has to be the first step before we can have a discussion about poverty.

There is an easy way that typically always works: let it hurt.

Why do big banks and investors make risky decisions that ultimately resort in the collapse of the economy? Because they know they are too big to fail. They know the government will bail them out. If they knew that no one would catch them if they failed, they would be much more cautious.

Why do developers keep throwing up apartment complexes everywhere when there is already a massive glut of empty housing? They know the government will bail them out with section 8. Section 8 acts as an artificial price floor and a lifeboat for residential developers. If they cannot get enough tenets at the market rate, they can turn to section 8 for a garanteed check to fill their vacancies.

Why do irresponsible people have so many kids while responsible people do not? They're not paying the same price per kid. Having children, feeding them, schooling them, and paying for their healthcare can be very very expensive, unless you're poor and dependant, then it's free.
We pay these mothers more per kid, creating an incentive to have ever more kids!

We not only pull benefits from people who work too many hours or save too much money, but we then confiscate what they saved and make them pay it back to the government.

WE ARE PAYING PEOPLE TO MAKE BAD CHOICES BY INSULATING THEM FROM NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES!

There are some children who are born without the ability to feel pain. This is terrifying to parents because they can injure themselves, but the lack of a pain response means they are unlikely to react to their injury in a way that limits it. For example, if you touch a hot stove, it burns you, so you pull your hand away before it gets injured particularly badly. A child who cannot feel pain touches the hot stove and leaves it there. He cannot feel that he is being damaged, so he does not stop the damage. His hand burns until it is injured potentially beyond repair because there is no pain to motivate him to change his dangerous behavior.

Until people feel the pain of their poor decisions, they will continue to make them.

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If they are happy and not hurting anyone, so what?

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i don't care what people choose to do with their life as long as it doesn't affect others

but we have a robust welfare system that these people take advantage of. it hurts you and me every day via unnecessary taxation

Incentivize good decision-making, rather than the other way around.

It's been shown time and time again, that the most effective way to diminish poor behaviors is to reinforce the alternative, positive behaviors.