Of course good choices are better all else being equal. The point isn't to absolve personal responsibility from the equation entirely. You guys are trying to s

Of course good choices are better all else being equal. The point isn't to absolve personal responsibility from the equation entirely. You guys are trying to separate out these decisions you make from your upbringing, which is impossible. The decisions you have made, good and bad, were in some way influenced by your upbringing. Maybe you had a poorer education because your parents couldn't cherry pick a neighborhood with great schools. Maybe you had bad influences in the poor neighborhood because of the higher crime. These decisions aren't made in a vacuum, and pretending that your upbringing has no influence over your choices is just wrong.