this post was submitted on 01 Jan 2025
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Not to forget the third category: dumb luck
It's the right half! (Dumb people getting rich without head start is incredibly rare)
Behind the Bastards covers a few of them. IIRC Dr. Oz grew up poor and went to medical school on scholarship.
He's not fuck you money rich like Bezos or Musk, both of which lucked into the birth lottery.
Though tbf, Oz got rich by scamming people out of their money with endorsing supplements that don't work.
Becoming a surgeon and serial scammer sounds like he lacked morals not intelligence.
morals are a flaw on an individual level and only remotely beneficial in the context of greater society, intelligence is something you can never have enough of.
I agree there should only be two categories, but I think "birth lottery" should be a subset of "dumb luck," not the other way around.
I cannot think of many dumb people who got rich by themselves. Unless they win the actual lottery instead of the birth lottery
"Dumb luck" doesn't imply the person is dumb, just that the quality of their decision-making had no bearing on their success. Even geniuses can have dumb luck.
Not only overwhelming most of lotteries winnings, while looking good to us bareass paupers, are pittance compared to wealth of people who are rich, but also people winning lotteries lack the foundations rich need to remains rich (second chart) and usually lose everything pretty fast.
I think sports is where it’s most common. People who weren’t born rich but had the genes, drive, and luck to get into the sport in the first place can get pretty rich when they get to the highest level of competition.
I'd say that falls under "birth lottery" as much as wealth inheritance.
That's what's the original says. It was made back in 2011
Why change it?
Probably because luck actually plays little role in being rich. Without luck those born rich will still be rich. With luck those born poor will still be poor.
You don't have to rely on luck if you can afford to buy a bunch of lawmakers and a Supreme Court or two. It's amazing how many "smart businessmen" rely on a bought and paid for justice system.