Why don't people want to improve their lives and their children's?
I knew someone like that. His worldview was that if you work for others, you're their slave. Demeaning, you know. Beneath him. And also, he couldn't work for himself since the system was rigged against people like him (not JUST him, of course). So in his mind, the way to "win" was to bounce around among menial jobs, doing as little as possible (see, that's how you stick it to the man) until getting canned (which was always "getting screwed").
Fired for being lazy? "I wasn't going to bust my ass for that jerk for what I was getting paid."
Fired for missing too much work? "Bullshit excuse for getting rid of me. He didn't like that I didn't kiss his ass. Other people missed more work than I did."
Fired for stealing? "That stuff was going to be thrown out anyway, it was bullshit."
Fired for poor performance? "Sure, they trained that <person of different race> and ignored his screwups, but since I was <race> I was expendable."
Fired for insubordination? "Who thinks they can talk to me that way and I'm supposed to just take it? I don't have to put up with that shit. I'm not a slave."
In between the firings, we'd occasionally hear anecdotes of his "wins" at the job, consisting of how he got away with stuff.
Dude, so check this out - last week the boss was gone and some idiot returned five 2x4s he bought last week. Stupid ass couldn't even figure out how many he needed. After I refunded him I cut off 4 inches of each one from the end with the stock tag and said that's all he returned and since we're supposed to keep the customers happy I refunded him in full. Meanwhile, five free 2x4s that are a little short jumped in my truck. Sweeeet win.
Point being, some people can rationalize anything to avoid blame or responsibility, and at the same time present themselves as rugged take-no-prisoners types worthy of admiration.