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Thinking Bat's avatar

This is such great article. Absolutely love it. I've always thought about the elites along the same lines, but I cannot imagine myself being so articulate about it.

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JustPlainBill's avatar

You say: “This is where the hypocrisy comes in: affluent people often broadcast how they owe their success to luck. But then they tell their own children about the importance of hard work and individual effort.”

I am now retired. During my working years, I put a lot of effort into my work to achieve a reasonable amount of success and to build a secure retirement. When I was younger, I used to credit my success largely to my hard work and effort. But in my self-examination following that retirement, only now have I come to realize how so many times in my life there were things that only pure luck kept from going sideways, how many things that were poorly planned came out all right after all, etc. These reflections have forced me to acknowledge how greatly the element of luck has contributed to a positive outcome that may not be totally deserved.

That all being said, I do not agree that the belief you stated above is necessarily hypocritical. That is because I see life as a probabilistic process. You improve the odds where you can, and accept the vicissitudes of chance where you cannot, but you must acknowledge the importance of both.

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