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To add to what the sibling comment already said: - If you don't have to work two jobs to survive, you have the time to pursue other things, and you're more "lu

To add to what the sibling comment already said: - If you don't have to work two jobs to survive, you have the time to pursue other things, and you're more "lucky". - If you have the ability to not work and can spend a year/two/five working out of a "garage", you're more "lucky" than those who can't. - If you have the ability to send your kids to an expensive college without you or them going into life-long debt, then those kids can create lasting connections (a.k.a. networking) and be significantly more "lucky" than those who can't. - If you have the money for good food, leisure, home, travel, medicine, etc., you're significantly more "lucky" than those who have to balance those things, and may not even have access to those things with all the consequences: chronic illnesses, stress etc.

inglor_cz 6y ago
This is quite a huge spectrum of "rich" and "lucky". From absolutely basic things to expensive college. I cannot afford a vacation in Macchu Picchu, but it does not detract from my feeling of being lucky/unlucky. Local vacations in Europe or even in my own country are fine. If anything, Covid era was a good teacher in what really matters. And the college and networking is begging the question (IDK if I use the expression correctly). I do not doubt that Harvard graduates have it easier in general, but they are probably less prepared for a possible black swan event after which their degree won't have the weight it currently has. Shelling out enormous money for getting connections is a conformist (expensive and lazy) way of building career. I do not find much luck in that.
- dmitriid 6y ago
  > does not detract from my feeling of being lucky/unlucky The question isn't about feeling lucky/unlucky. It doesn't matter if you can't take a vacation in Macchu Picchu. - Can you take a vacation any time you want? - Can you take a vacation for as long as you can? - Can you afford to take a full year (or more) to work on a passion project? Or on any project? On a startup idea? See, the more money you have, the more readily your answer will be yes to all the questions above. > Shelling out enormous money for getting connections is a conformist (expensive and lazy) way of building career. I do not find much luck in that. You can spend enormous money and have all the connections you need in four years. Or you can work your entire life and still never get those connections. > but they are probably less prepared for a possible black swan event Something tells me that Harvard graduates "survive" any and all black swan events significantly better than many others.
  - inglor_cz 6y ago
    Luck is, IMHO, a subjective feeling per se. Alice and Bob may feel very lucky meeting each other while Carol is pissed off at meeting both of them. Out of your questions: "Can you take a vacation any time you want?" is an interesting case. This depends on your career a lot, not just on net income. Some well-paid careers are notorious for being time-intensive and competitive to the threshold of burning out. You can take a long vacation, but your job might not be there when you return. I opted out of this rat race a long time ago. "Something tells me that Harvard graduates "survive" any and all black swan events significantly better than many others." Where I live, the Holocaust and the Communist coup were two notable exceptions. People who had a lot of property to lose often hesitated too long before GTFOut and found the way shut after rationalizing the first warning signs away. It is possible that the USA is protected enough that something like this will never happen there.
    - dmitriid 6y ago
      > Luck is, IMHO, a subjective feeling per se. It is. But in the context of the discussion, the question is mostly around access to opportunities. And this access increases with the money you have. > This depends on your career a lot, not just on net income. Some well-paid careers are notorious for being time-intensive and competitive to the threshold of burning out. Once again, it means that you may not have enough money to afford having a vacation at any time. > Where I live, the Holocaust and the Communist coup were two notable exceptions. Ah, yes. Because these events are so common that Harvard graduates are uniquely unprepared for them. Unlike, you know, common folk. If my memory serves me right, most rich folks successfully escaped both the Holocaust and the Communist coup. Unlike those who couldn't afford it.
    - inglor_cz 6y ago
      "If my memory serves me right, most rich folks successfully escaped both the Holocaust and the Communist coup." Black swans are by definition uncommon. Being a Loyalist in America of the 1770s was a huge black swan, for example. While their counterparts a little bit to the north in Canada did just fine. Prague is full of big villas and other real property whose original owners perished with their entire family. There was literally no one left to claim them after the war. Same in Poland or Germany. People back then did not want to believe that something as barbaric will be done to them, until it was. I do not think that exact stats exist how many rich and poor survived the Holocaust, but considering the vast amount of abandoned valuable property after the war, including the infamous sleeping accounts of Switzerland, I do not believe that most rich folks escaped successfully. Surely they had better chances to act in time, yes. If they had the foresight to do so. One of my points is that once you are a part of the conventional elite, you are motivated to try to weather the problems in place, because uprooting yourself and your family is a huge loss.

inglor_cz 6y ago

This is quite a huge spectrum of "rich" and "lucky". From absolutely basic things to expensive college. I cannot afford a vacation in Macchu Picchu, but it does not detract from my feeling of being lucky/unlucky. Local vacations in Europe or even in my own country are fine. If anything, Covid era was a good teacher in what really matters. And the college and networking is begging the question (IDK if I use the expression correctly). I do not doubt that Harvard graduates have it easier in general, but they are probably less prepared for a possible black swan event after which their degree won't have the weight it currently has. Shelling out enormous money for getting connections is a conformist (expensive and lazy) way of building career. I do not find much luck in that.

dmitriid 6y ago
> does not detract from my feeling of being lucky/unlucky The question isn't about feeling lucky/unlucky. It doesn't matter if you can't take a vacation in Macchu Picchu. - Can you take a vacation any time you want? - Can you take a vacation for as long as you can? - Can you afford to take a full year (or more) to work on a passion project? Or on any project? On a startup idea? See, the more money you have, the more readily your answer will be yes to all the questions above. > Shelling out enormous money for getting connections is a conformist (expensive and lazy) way of building career. I do not find much luck in that. You can spend enormous money and have all the connections you need in four years. Or you can work your entire life and still never get those connections. > but they are probably less prepared for a possible black swan event Something tells me that Harvard graduates "survive" any and all black swan events significantly better than many others.
- inglor_cz 6y ago
  Luck is, IMHO, a subjective feeling per se. Alice and Bob may feel very lucky meeting each other while Carol is pissed off at meeting both of them. Out of your questions: "Can you take a vacation any time you want?" is an interesting case. This depends on your career a lot, not just on net income. Some well-paid careers are notorious for being time-intensive and competitive to the threshold of burning out. You can take a long vacation, but your job might not be there when you return. I opted out of this rat race a long time ago. "Something tells me that Harvard graduates "survive" any and all black swan events significantly better than many others." Where I live, the Holocaust and the Communist coup were two notable exceptions. People who had a lot of property to lose often hesitated too long before GTFOut and found the way shut after rationalizing the first warning signs away. It is possible that the USA is protected enough that something like this will never happen there.
  - dmitriid 6y ago
    > Luck is, IMHO, a subjective feeling per se. It is. But in the context of the discussion, the question is mostly around access to opportunities. And this access increases with the money you have. > This depends on your career a lot, not just on net income. Some well-paid careers are notorious for being time-intensive and competitive to the threshold of burning out. Once again, it means that you may not have enough money to afford having a vacation at any time. > Where I live, the Holocaust and the Communist coup were two notable exceptions. Ah, yes. Because these events are so common that Harvard graduates are uniquely unprepared for them. Unlike, you know, common folk. If my memory serves me right, most rich folks successfully escaped both the Holocaust and the Communist coup. Unlike those who couldn't afford it.
  - inglor_cz 6y ago
    "If my memory serves me right, most rich folks successfully escaped both the Holocaust and the Communist coup." Black swans are by definition uncommon. Being a Loyalist in America of the 1770s was a huge black swan, for example. While their counterparts a little bit to the north in Canada did just fine. Prague is full of big villas and other real property whose original owners perished with their entire family. There was literally no one left to claim them after the war. Same in Poland or Germany. People back then did not want to believe that something as barbaric will be done to them, until it was. I do not think that exact stats exist how many rich and poor survived the Holocaust, but considering the vast amount of abandoned valuable property after the war, including the infamous sleeping accounts of Switzerland, I do not believe that most rich folks escaped successfully. Surely they had better chances to act in time, yes. If they had the foresight to do so. One of my points is that once you are a part of the conventional elite, you are motivated to try to weather the problems in place, because uprooting yourself and your family is a huge loss.