I'm tired of this shelf stocker narrative (or more general, the "some people simply have no chance whatsoever"). I think most people don't remain shelf stockers

I'm tired of this shelf stocker narrative (or more general, the "some people simply have no chance whatsoever"). I think most people don't remain shelf stockers forever. In my country, it is often pupils who do it, or retired people who make some extra bucks. I don't think anybody expects shelf stocking to be their life long career. And even if you were to do shelf stocking all your life, I don't think it means you can't do anything about your financial situation. Same goes for most other low wage jobs. All the "income equality" charts tend to omit the age distribution, a lot of it may simply be older people earning more because they had more time to acquire skills and progress in their careers. I can perhaps agree that there is no single rule that everybody in the world could follow to become financially independent, like your "rent housing out to other people" example. Nevertheless, in most environments, there is something people can do. If you just have a house you yourself can live in, it also saves you a lot of money. At the very least, most people have to retire eventually. And many manage to do so, too. As a last resort, perhaps try to have children who can take care of you.