It can be true that hard work is the optimal strategy for an individual to improve (or maintain) their living situation, while also being true that hard work is

It can be true that hard work is the optimal strategy for an individual to improve (or maintain) their living situation, while also being true that hard work is rewarded inconsistently and unevenly and many very successful people worked a lot less hard than many very unsuccessful people. So of course we're going to tell our kids to work hard. It's the best chance they've got. Many things in life cannot be controlled, but all you can do as an individual is do your best with the limited inputs you can control. At risk of getting all motivational-speaker-y[0], it's like if you fell in a crevasse. Nobody knows you are down there and nobody is coming to get you. What can you do other than try to climb out? You may find that you are unable to climb out, but the alternative to trying is to simply wait to die. Of course, it's still perfectly reasonable to point out how unfair it is that many people start out down in the crevasse through no fault of their own, while others live their whole lives safe and cozy at base camp and don't see what the big deal is about climbing being hard. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Simpson_(mountaineer) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Simpson_(mountaineer)