This might be true of someone who has fallen from high places and then experienced hardship, but it's not true for people in poverty. The power of poverty to keep someone in that situation is great. In most cases, more powerful than the ability for someone to rise above it. Depending on how bad your situation is, there's just so many ways that poverty affects you and also the logistical challenges of doing anything but barely surviving are great.

Don't dismiss the power of a generally constructive, optimistic culture.