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I'm having trouble following the point of your anecdote, but it sounds like you're saying not all privileged people go on to become successful, therefore people who go on to become successful must not be privileged.
Or they don't benefit from their privilege.
Or something.
I guess.
Why would you assume they're all from a privileged womb? I'm talking about kids from poor, uneducated parents, where one kid becomes a well-educated professional and the other is earning modest wages as a HS grad. Happens all the time. It usually can be attributed to the more successful kid being either smarter or more motivated, or both.
The "Democratic Socialists" among us, of perhaps whom I am one, do not expect that there would ever not be a vast difference among people in wealth.
What worries us are facts showing that when the gap becomes too large, the societies become sick in many ways.
The problem is not that poor people will always exist. The problem is that about 50% of the richest country on earth (in all of history) can be declared to be financially stressed.
That does not make for our purpose - Happiness of the People, Prosperity and General Welfare.
If "this land was made for you and me" is changed to "this land is made for only people who accumulate a lot of wealth", well...I doubt many would sing the song.
Well, they are a lot less stressed now that they have jobs compared to the previous administration.
Does it Matter To You If This Is True The richest 10% of households now represent 70% of all U.S. wealth
The trend is worsening. If anyone wonders why we are experiencing social problems we need look no further than the wealth gap.
The situation is ripe for correction, and if we do not do this intelligently and in a measured careful manner it will be done for us in violence and bloodshed. World history is driven by these types of disparities.
We have already been in the unfortunate situation where young working class and poor Americans are sent off to die for the property rights of major corporations, while the privileged 10% who benefit from the wealth of these corporations can get away with claiming bone spurs. This situation can not continue, it's not a healthy position to be in.
Are you willing to kill them if they refuse to give up theirs own money?
It must be a miserable existence to believe that you have no control over your destiny.
My parents did many, many things wrong.... but they always insisted that I would be successful if I worked hard. They were right.
It sounds like some of you people were raised to believe in the legitimacy of making excuses and settling for less than your best.
Sad.
Right - because YOU or ME......are the only statistics that matter!
I won't call such a outlook sad, but I will say that that would disqualify you for any debate or discussion on the matter.
"I didn't get polio"
(Therefore, polio doesn't exist...or, I prayed away the Polio, or I didn't get Polio because I worked hard and avoided fatty foods...or whatever)......
Heck, consider that 99.9% of Russians were convinced that they had little or no choice in their system. 150 Million people...and hardly a one that became successful due to their parents telling them they could or by working hard.
But many became successful because they became crooks or government officials.
"Your best" - to agree with all the theories about stratification of society, we have to know that "the best" for many is not anywhere near "the best" for those born with better genes, a higher IQ, breathing cleaner air, eating healthier foods, or getting "the best" educations.
So I guess we just have to accept that 50% of Americans are generally incapable, another 30% just average, 10% a little better than the rest, 9% much better than more and 1% VASTLY BETTER than all.
Within any given system there will be such differences, but we decide the rules to the game. If we have a 1km race and decide that only the first 3 get a cash award and the other 997 get zero...those are different rules than having a $1000 prize to the first 997 and $10 to all finishers.
The rules are based on what "we" want. Currently "We" are the billionaires lobbying Congress....not "we the people". That's why inequality is growing...it's a feature, not a bug.
It must be a miserable existence to believe that you have no control over your destiny.
My parents did many, many things wrong.... but they always insisted that I would be successful if I worked hard. They were right.
It sounds like some of you people were raised to believe in the legitimacy of making excuses and settling for less than your best.
Sad.
What's truly sad is the belief that the issue is binary, i.e., if you don't believe wealth is primarily a function of hard work, then you're endorsing excuse-making and laziness.
I'm upper-middle-class based on income and earn more than my parents ever did. I was in a poorly-rated public school system, graduated near the top, and put myself through seven years of college. Unfortunately, most of my disposable income for the first 10 years of post-graduate employment went to student loans and rent.
Let's do a thought exercise: Take that version of me, but instead of roughly $1200/month in student loans, I get to put it in a relatively conservative investment vehicle that bears 5% interest. After 10 years, that version of me would have more than $180K in savings, and that would only continue to grow with compounding interest.
Did that version of me work any harder or make more responsible choices? I suppose you could say it was irresponsible for the real me to take on student loan debt for college, but that argument would send us down a rabbit hole, because I wouldn't be making anywhere near what I make now without an advanced degree.
The bottom line is that we should encourage people to do as much as possible to improve their individual circumstances. But that doesn't mean we have to pretend that there aren't advantages to being born at the top of the food chain.
So, I get the feeling that most of you thing it is morally wrong to help our own child/children get ahead in life, because other children, with parents that can't or won't help their children, are thereby at a disadvantage. Where does that get us?
So, I get the feeling that most of you thing it is morally wrong to help our own child/children get ahead in life, because other children, with parents that can't or won't help their children, are thereby at a disadvantage. Where does that get us?
Did you help your children get ahead?
The line of discussion isn't about whether it's morally wrong to help children get ahead, but whether those children deserve a pat on the back for not being total screw-ups.
So I guess we just have to accept that 50% of Americans are generally incapable, another 30% just average, 10% a little better than the rest, 9% much better than more and 1% VASTLY BETTER than all.
Within any given system there will be such differences, but we decide the rules to the game. If we have a
Pretty much true. Many 50%ers here.
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