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Thursday, October 19, 2023

Zach Bates on 'First Class Fatherhood'

With Bringing Up Bates off the air, fans don't get the chance to watch interviews of the Bates as often as they used to. For that reason, we have a feeling you will enjoy this interview featuring Zach Bates. He sits down with Alec Lace from First Class Fatherhood to discuss being a dad. He talks about his career transition from being in law enforcement to running the Bates Sisters Boutique, his kids' involvement in sports, and a number of other topics.

The interview is available on YouTube, as well as on the First Class Fatherhood website.

87 comments:

  1. Why did he quit being a cop? Couldn't cut it?

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    1. I guess taking over his wife's shop was easier.

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    2. Has he totally taken it over, as in she has to answer to him now, instead of running her own shop? Or does he - their heaven forbid! - work for a woman?

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    3. Some of these comments. Why live your life sitting behind a keyboard making nasty comments. When did humans forget how to behave like living human beings. If he has the opportunity to make money from working in his family buisness then good for him what a blessing. I'm just sorry so many people live their life to tear others down

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  2. I listened to this YouTube. So, Zach is saying that fathers who work outside the home in a real job are not doing well for their children? Is he a better father then they are by working for his wife's dress shop? I hope he left his retirement funds in the sheriffs' office 401K account as I don't quite believe that he can make more money from this dress shop than with the sheriffs' department. I believe when the controversy started a few years ago about law enforcement, he bailed out. I also am sure his parents and wife gave him grief for having a real job. I like Zach but I don't like how he dances around facts.

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    1. Interesting take 8:46. I wondered how a man who grew up in a house that had Southern Confederacy decor would have been able to be a fair and impartial cop. Also, what's going to be around in 30 years when it's time for retirement...a dress shop, or a sheriff's department? If he's banking on the dress shop going the distance for them financially, he needs to have Plan B ready.

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    2. I always thought Whitney owned and ran the shop. I don't see how they can support their large family with only the income from the shop. Very strange attitude about fathers who work at jobs outside the home. If a man doesn't work somewhere, how does he support his family?

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    3. I heard him to say that his law enforcement job required him to work very long hours. Lots of parents are in the same boat and are torn between providing for the family and spending time with them. If a parent can find a way to earn a good living and not be away from home so much, that's not a bad thing.

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    4. How do you know those are the facts🤷‍♀️. Those are just your opinions.

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    5. Oh nooo he had to work long hours, waaahhh! Tell that to the deployed military fathers who have no choice and are gone for months, the fathers who have to work 12 hour shifts or overnight shifts to earn enough money, the fathers who work to keep the lights on and the water flowing to your house 24/7, and the fathers who are working in the hospital ER right now in case Zach or his family needs help. If all those men (and women) decided to walk away from their jobs because the long hours meant they couldn't be "first class" dads, we'd all be in a heap of trouble.

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    6. Let's remember that Whitney co-owns this dress shop with Carlin...so any profits are split between the two ladies. That means less income for each family. It still doesn't add up that Zach left the sheriffs' department and it's salary, benefits and is doing as well financially.

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    7. 8:18- People make choices in life. Whatever job you choose that takes you away from your family for long hours, it stands to reason you knew that from the get-go. You also have a choice to find another job if it's not fitting the needs of your family. You don't owe it to the general public to stick with any job and you shouldn't begrudge someone else for making a career change. I'm not sure why anyone cares what Zach does for a living.

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    8. Such armchair quarterbacking! How about we let people make their own choices about careers?

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    9. Choices? Where would this country be if everybody decided to walk away from a job that required long hours? In a mess, that's where. Maybe it's good that most fathers don't feel the need to classify themselves as first-second-whatever class and just do their jobs.

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    10. I don't think the Bates boys or the Duggar boys know what hard work really is. They seem to end up working for Daddy, who's never going to fire them or hold them accountable for their quality of work. It's like they're afraid to work outside their little circle of family and friends...yet they rely on others who do that and provide all the services the Bates and Duggars use. "OK for thee but not for me."

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    11. Do any of you consider the salary of a Deputy Sheriff? Their estimated net worth is five million dollars. These people much like myself place value on time with their family. I am a registered nurse and if I was willing to have less time with my family and drive an hour to work I could make double what I do now. Your children are only little once and you have the rest of their life to make money. Money isn’t everything.

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  3. How do they support their large family wiht only the income from one small dress shop and having to pay for their own health insurance instead of getting health benefits from the job at the sheriff's office?

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    1. That dress shop is very profitable.

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  4. Frankly, I'm not very impressed by Zach's efforts to justify leaving a job with excellent benefits and a future pension to take over his wife's dress shop. I can't see why that would make him a "better father". Besides that how on Earth will this small business support this large family and provide the same level of health coverage they had when Zach worked for the Sheriff's office?

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    1. Factor in that 65% of small businesses fail within 10 years. Remember Cousin Amy's attempt at selling clothes? Jinger's attempt online? Woosh. Gone.

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    2. 4:15 Maybe the fact that law enforcement is a very dangerous profession may have had something to do with it. I don't blame him. Zach has a big family to think about and stay around for.

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    3. I agree with you @10:47. I just read a book written by a former cop who talked about police officers leaving the force because no one wants to be a cop anymore due to the media portraying cops, especially white cops as racist.

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    4. I'll bet they're way happier with their decision than you are.

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    5. I don't think he cares whether any of us are impressed. Good for him for making the decision based on his family's needs and not on what anonymous internet strangers think he should do.

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    6. @Regina The media portraying cops as racist? I think the cops have been doing a good job of portraying that themselves, long before the media ever got involved. Ever watch a New York City cop in action? Power has always brought corruption with it.

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  5. Anon 10/19 @ 6:53PM...Zach's public reason for leaving the sheriffs' department originally was the he said he had an inner struggle in not being there for his children due to his shifts, blah, blah, blah. I don't believe this really, due to the fact that he has 10 years in. He states that he really loved it and misses it; this is why I also believe that his parents did not truly approve of him working outside of their "group" in a real job and his wife wanted her hubby at home with her as more and more children were being born making it harder for her to cut it on her own.

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  6. No thanks, I don't have any desire to listen to a man that licks his plate clean talk about anything. 😂

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  7. I find this family so interesting. Nearly all the men are wealthy because of their wives careers as social media celebrities. Zach isn’t a “first class father” because he quit being a police officer. Zach was afforded the opportunity to quit because of his wife’s and sister’s successful careers. Yet they still pretend to believe in traditional “man works..women stays in the kitchen” mentality. Just very interesting from a cultural sociology view point.

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  8. It's a good thing the long hours and odd hours of law enforcement actually do work out for some parents, or else we'd only have protection 9-5. I think his excuse for quitting is a cop out, pun intended.

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    1. Well, there's a shortage in the law enforcement profession. You should sign up if you think it's a great job.

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    2. I'd do it. I'd make a super detective. Don't think they'd take anyone my age tho.

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    3. I know I'd love to do it if I had the physical ability.

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  9. Obviously this interview with Zach was intended to portray Zach as “first class father” because he quit his job to work in his wife’s dress shop. Unfortunately I think it fell flat. As a military family my husband is gone…a lot…many months and year long deployments are regular part of life. It’s hard. It’s very much a sacrificial life to have a husband and father gone in very dangerous situations for such long periods of time. But I will say my husband is still a “first class father” and husband just as father who chooses to remain a police officer, or whatever job they are doing to put food on the table and a roof over their children’s head is a “first class father”.

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    1. Military family to military family here - I hear ya! Long shifts as a policeman seem like nothing by comparison. Have the Bates wives ever wanted to call their husbands only to realize the guys were in another country, or in the middle of nowhere (with land mines), or up in a plane, or out at sea somewhere, or even under the sea, and wouldn't be home in the foreseeable future? The Bates kids have no idea what being "first class" is all about!

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  10. Well said @2:47. The Bates Sister Boutique is the WHY Zach was able to quit his job. His sisters and wife made a successful business and Zach jumped on board. But as you’ve rightfully pointed out Zach is given title and credit for “running” the boutique. Nope. He went to work for a successful company that is women run and women owned by wife and sisters.

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  11. Awe!! How sweet! Zach quit being a police officer to work in ladies fashion so he could become a “first class father”.

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    1. LOL!! I think what Zach has done is the pinnacle example of hiding behind a woman’s skirt!

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  12. How thoughtful of Zach to choose not look down his nose at parents who put their children in Christian or public school. What an upstanding guy.

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  13. This interview unfortunately just drips with out of touch reality. . Not sure how many times Zach used the word “sacrifice” because he had to work and pick up extra shifts while Whitney “sacrificed” at home with the kids alone. Most of us call that life. Some of us military wives are alone raising our children in new states/countries without family support with our husbands literally gone for months or more at a time. Not a 2 week stretch where Dad still comes home to eat and sleep.

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    1. I thought Zach was pretty insulting to men who work hard to support their families. If he's too lazy to work at the sheriff's office, so be it but he doesn't have to run other men down who work long hours to provide for their families.

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  14. I sure lost a lot of respect for Zach. He had a job that gave something back to his community and now is belittling men who "work outside the home". Does he "run" the dress shop from his living room or something?

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    1. I think they have a huge warehouse with offices. But, of course Zach is “running” the whole business AFTER Whitney and his sisters made it a success.

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  15. Agree, some of Zach’s comments were condescending to those Dad’s whose careers require them to work long or non-traditional hours. Having another option for these Dads may not be available or even wanted!

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  16. So let me get this straight. Whitney and his sisters built a successful online boutique. Zach didn’t like working long hours so chose to quit and give himself the title of now “running” the business. All so he could be labeled a “first class father”. Wow. Way to play the word salad game.

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    1. Yeah. Zach doesn't seem to be appreciated here. lol

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  17. Oh my goodness!! The sacrifices Zach and Whitney endured to get to where there are now at 34 and 30 years of age!! I mean poor Zach had to work over time sometimes for 2 whole weeks while Whitney was at home with their children. I would say we should break out our violins for these parental warriors!

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    1. Yep. I'm sending them a box of tissues to dry their tears with. lol

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  18. How does quitting his job and running his wife's business make him a better father than men who work at a job outside the home?

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  19. Zach can call himself a "first class father" if he wants to, but I call him a 2nd class husband for taking over and running a business started and owned by his wife and sister

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  20. Poor Zach had to work long hours to support his family, then his wife started a business and now he gets to stay home and be a first class Dad. Wow!!

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  21. As someone already said I think Zach’s intentions were meant for good. However, when he uses phrases such as “I don’t look my nose down upon” or complains about how much “sacrificing” he and Whitney have done because he had to work 3 ( his words) extra shifts while Whitney ( whom is surrounded by familial help) was home with the children they chose to produce for 2 weeks. It comes across as very weak and entitled. Everyone has the right to re-evaluate their life choices. Zach surely was not obligated to stay a police officer his whole life. It’s wonderful his wife had a successful online clothing business with his sisters that Zach was able to join and subsequently have a better work-life balance. None of that, however, makes him a “first class father” because of it.

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  22. To be honest Zach's attitude of smug superiority didn't play well with me. He took over and started running his wife's successful business and that doesn't make him better than men who work at regular job. IMO he needs an attitude adjustment.

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  23. Nothing says woke-millennial like whining about having to work hard with steady job to provide for your family.

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  24. Has he or Evan ever described what their "duties" are in their wives' dress business? I wonder what it is that they do that is so vital. I think these boutique is not life-long employment for any of them and he was not wise to give up a real job with benefits, a steady paycheck and retirement. He said it enjoyed it very much and still misses it. This makes me think that he was coerced into leaving due to the law enforcement climate and their beliefs of not having a real job working outside of their belief system. He was henpecked.

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    1. That may be true. He was the only one in the family that seemed to have a regular job so he was rather the "odd man out".

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  25. What does Zach know about "first class" fatherhood? His example growing up was someone on the board of IBLP. Zach's definition of "first class" probably differs from everyone else's.

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    1. True. He comes across as very entitled as he complained about having to work "long hours" to support his family.

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  26. I don't care what path Zach takes with his life, but I'm not on board with him taking these sorts of cheap shots at other men who have made different choices in life than he did.

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  27. ZACH!!!!!! I HAVE LOVED U SINCE '17 KIDS'!!!!!!!! U KEEP ON SHOWING US, WHAT AN AMAZING FATHER, BROTHER , SON, U ARE!!!!!! THIS IS THE RUN DOWN!!!! 1 KELLY 2 U, 3 ERIN 4 CARLIN 5 KATE 6 ALLISA !!!!! YOUR MOTHER IS AMAZINGLY KIND!!!!!

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    1. You rank people?

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    2. Exactly how is Zach amazing? Im sure he’s a good dad, husband, brother, etc.; but “amazing”? That’s a tall order!

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    3. U MUST NOT KNOW ZACH, VERY WELL, THROUGH OUT THE WHOLE TIME I HAVE BEEN WATCHING ZACH, HAS PROVEN HIMSELF TO ME,!!!! HE ALWAYS THERE, AND SUPPORT EVERYONE!!!! HE IS A VERY KIND MAN!!!!!

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    4. Do you Justine know Zach? If not how do you come up with these comments? Amazing not sure about that as other commenters have said.

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  28. I think this interview Zach provided is a cautionary tale. Don’t go on social media to tell the world how great you are and you’re a first class father because of how much you “sacrificed” just by working. Don’t be proud. Be humble. Live by the Scripture : Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life; you should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. 1 Thessalonians 4.

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    1. You truly shared just how we all should live our lives.

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  29. I watched the video and loved it! Thank God that Zach had found a way to provide an income and still spend more time with his family! I appreciated the honor that he showed to his wife in the video also.

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    1. I have no doubt Zach loves his family, but I am very put off by his unmistakable insinuations that working from home somehow makes him a better parent than men who have jobs outside the home.

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    2. You might provide income, but where are your health insurance benefits? Where are your retirement benefits? Nowhere, that's where. He tossed those aside to be "first class." Old age can be brutal financially so I hope he has a plan for it with this boutique.

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    3. 3:38 There's a lot we can't know about their finances. Maybe the kids all had trust funds set up for them with the money from their shows. Maybe they're very skilled with investing. There are Christian health insurance group plans they may have to help cover medical expenses. Who knows? There are a lot of self-employed people running successful businesses, like my daughter, who are making it all work. She makes enough to pay for her own health insurance, live well, invest for retirement, and buy a lovely home. She's doing far better than I ever did at the age of just 26.

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    4. Anon 3:38. You nailed it. I worked for many years at a job that didn't pay as much as I could have earned elsewhere because it had excellent benefits and a good retirement plan. Now that I am older and retired I'm reaping the rewards of doing that. I have a good pension and health benefits to supplement my Social Security and live in comfort and security. Many other people my age are struggling because they made no provision for their old age. Zach appears to be one who lives for today and doesn't look to a future when he'll no longer be able to work.

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  30. I think Zach should come to this site and read the comments about him. Then he could see himself as others see him.

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  31. Most of us don't see working long hours including overtime to provide for our families as some sort of "scrifice". I can't imagine why Whitney even wants this cry-baby hanging around the house 24/7.

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  32. There are pros and cons to most things but being able to be home more often then not isn't a con. I do think its weird to leave law enforcement and run a boutique, but hey everyone's story and needs are different. I think "first class fatherhood" is kinda offensive though. I mean you can be first class in any circumstance if you work hard, love your family and teach them about Jesus. God told fathers to love their kids and wives, honor their wives, take care of their family, teach their kids the nurture and admonition of the Lord and not to provoke them to anger. There's your recipe for "first-class fatherhood" and any dad can do that if he chooses. Its gonna just look a little different for every man depending on his circumstances.

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  33. Look at the awful example Zach had in Gil...this man left a good position with Nabisco to what?....start his own tree trimming business with no steady salary, no benefits and plunged his ever-growing family into poverty. Yes, they were in poverty before gool ole wheeler-dealer, Jim Bob Duggar got his friend their own TV show. How is this a good role model for Zach? It certainly isn't in my opinion. Most likely this boutique's income will dwindle as interest in the ladies will dwindle also and he may just have to go back to law enforcement.

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    1. I agree. While owning your own business isn't a bad thing, a tree trimming business operated by one man wasn't going to support a huge family. They hit the TV jackpot but since the TV show is history they no longer have the money to support all the members of the family in any sort of comfort. It'll be back to poverty in the next generation.

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    2. So true. Owning your own business is not a bad thing but a small business won't support a mega sized family. Gil and Kelly made a fortune by putting their family on TV, but that goose has stopping laying golden eggs and they're rapidly spending the fortune. Their children are helping with that activity and there'll be nothing left by the time the grandkids are grown.

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    3. The Bates family was crammed into an inadequate little house before Jim Bob wheeled and dealed and got them a house addition too. That's where this all began. Bring the Bates on the Duggars' TV show and make it look like the Duggars were helping them when in reality it was someone else helping to foot the bill once again.

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    4. I don't consider Gil or Jim Bob as good role models for their children. Both came from middle class backgrounds and had middle class jobs until they drove themselves and their families into poverty by having more children than they could support on a middle class income. They rescued their families from a life of grinding poverty by getting on TV shows. Unfortunately their children are following their example by having huge families. It's highly unlikely another TV show will come to their rescue again.

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    5. All reality TV ever does to families is destroy them, at the price of fame. Parents lead their families into this trap for their own greedy needs and laziness. They are bad role models. They don't teach their children that it takes your own hard work, not your fame and a TV camera, to make your fortune.

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    6. What do these two fathers say to those mega families who followed their TV show when they don't get a show of their own to support their families? These two just lucked out with TLC and UP.

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    7. Yo folks, I hardly think either family was in "grinding poverty". What are only rich people allowed to have more then 2 kids? Gimme a break. My friend is pregnant with her 7th and her sister just had her 7th. One husband is self-employed. Neither family is "suffering" in "grinding poverty". They can pay the bills, clothe themselves, afford decent cars and homes and have full bellies when they go to bed. Children are NOT financial nightmares for middle class families. It's all perspective/mindset folks.

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    8. @7:37-exactly right! Imagine how these two families encouraged others to have large families they could not afford or provide the basics! Such a disservice to people, maybe in a tough “season”, to be influenced by Gil & JB.

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  34. So Zach thinks that in order to be a "first class" parent everyone has to run a small business from their home. I wonder if he understands where stuff he uses every day (like electricity, running water, internet, cars, roads, etc.) come from. Not from small home based businesses that's for sure.

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  35. Poor Zach, he's now working a job where the customer is always right. The job he left, the customer was always wrong.

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  36. Yes, these two families were in griding poverty...Gil did not have any money, anywhere, to buy groceries for that week....he had to "borrow" it from either Zack or Lawson. I call that being in dire poverty. There house was a shack falling down around them; their boys, straight from Kelly's mouth, slept in the attic which was not equipped for life...no insulation, no heat or air conditioning. If the authorities found out that their children were sleepiing there, they would have been sited with a violation. They ate sub standard food; cheap food, filled with salt and preservatives, etc. The Duggar children did not sleep in the attic, ,but had to do with $.50cent bean burritos, etc. Things were NOT good for them. I would say they were in poverty. Gil also bilked the local emergency room as their primary care doctor's office, skipped out on the bill resulting in higher premiums and charges for us, who had insurance. Their decisions DID affect the rest of us. I have no animosity with these people, but the truth is the truth. If TV hadn't come along for these two families, they would still be in serious shape today.

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