>> let me have a few cigarettes, some fast food and a coke so that I could forget for some moments about my condition as a poor person”.

Just to state the obvious, this is ONE way to think but it's not how people who climb their way out of poverty think.

Eg - consider dirt poor Chinese immigrants to the US. They aren't thinking about coke and junk food, they are thinking about how to improve their family's lot and their kids' future, which is why they actually manage to.

I grew up immigrant and very poor. So I "get it" but I also know first hand that when you are poor, toy can't afford to be stupid or careless to boot.