The author seems to be saying that people who say they have worked hard deserve their privileges (of wealth or influence or both). I think the author hasn't th

The author seems to be saying that people who say they have worked hard deserve their privileges (of wealth or influence or both). I think the author hasn't thought it through enough. Virtually everybody believes they deserve what they have. Usually they believe they deserve more (and often they are angry that they don't have it). It doesn't matter how much they have or what they did to get it. The rest is just justification. It's often not hard work that's the justification. Does the offspring of a rich parent "deserve" their parent's wealth? It will be a rare potential recipient that doesn't believe this. Maybe "hard work" is a common justification, but I think it's probably the justification that is common in the author's circle. Saying, "You don't work hard compared to X" is such a terrible argument because the very next thing the person will say is, "But my work is more valuable". And if you say, "But your work is not as valuable as X" it will be rebuffed with, "But my work is more rare and therefore deserving of greater recognition". Or... You can go on forever. The point is that people believe that they deserve what they have, even if they have orders of magnitude more than other people. People who are relatively well off still generally believe that they are worth more than what they receive. That's just how people are. You are not ever going to convince the average person otherwise because it is important to their self image. How many times do you hear people expressing outrage or dismay that "at the very least I should have X", when in fact it's just an arbitrary line in the sand. I even catch myself thinking that way. I'm a senior software developer with 30 years of experience. I should be able to afford a house and 2 cars and to raise a family with kids and have occasional vacations in exotic places. If I happen to go out to dinner and spend $250 on a single meal once in a while, I shouldn't have to think about whether I can afford it. I'm a senior developer with 30 years of experience for goodness sake. The world is pretty freaking broken if I can't have at least that! Right? And there hundreds (?)... thousands (?)... Well, I don't know, but probably more than I can count... people who will be looking to find some food tonight. Any food. It doesn't matter what. Probably they can't write computer programs. So I guess they don't deserve the food as much as me.... Is that what I'm saying? But I'll tell you what. That line of reasoning isn't going to fool me! I refuse to feel bad for what I have, because I worked hard for it. I deserve it. And that's the whole thing in a nutshell.