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This is nonsense. The US is full of billionaires who came from underprivileged positions. Infact, your advice is worse than wrong, it is actively harmful, bec

This is nonsense. The US is full of billionaires who came from underprivileged positions. Infact, your advice is worse than wrong, it is actively harmful, because you're discouraging people from trying by (falsely) telling them that their efforts don't matter and they were destined to fail from birth.

robocat 2y ago
And need to compare with countries outside the US. It's misleading to try and talk about differences between states.
zdragnar 2y ago
You don't even need to look for the count of billionaires. My grandparents were poor-as-dirt farmers. My dad's education stopped at high school. He even went to a one-room schoolhouse until he was 14. My brother and I are both college educated and, while not "rich", have a lifestyle and income my grandparents could have only dreamed about. It is truly painful to watch people preach learned helplessness through failure and destitution as the only possible outcome.
- Gud 2y ago
  This is common in Europe as well. I would guess more common than in the US.
  - jampekka 2y ago
    It's a lot more common for children of poor parents to stay poor in the US than in (most of) Europe. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Social_Mobility_Index https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Social_Mobility_Index
    - WgaqPdNr7PGLGVW 2y ago
      Most people in mainland Europe are poor by American middle-class standards.
      - mrguyorama 2y ago
        People living in Europe don't seem to agree, since they have the same access to credit cards and yet just choose to spend less. Why oh why do Europeans in general choose to spend less than americans?
- lazyasciiart 2y ago
  The relevant metric is not “did your grandparents farm” but “where in the socioeconomic continuum were your parents, and where are you”. In the US, these two answers are more likely to match than in other rich Western countries.
Gud 2y ago
Who are these billionaires from underprivileged backgrounds ?
- andsoitis 2y ago
  > Who are these billionaires from underprivileged backgrounds ? Larry Ellison, Oprah, François Pinault, Howard Schultz, Jan Koum, Kenneth Langone, Ralph Lauren, Sheldon Adelson, JK Rowling, George Soros, John Paul DeJoria… to name just a few.
  - mahkeiro 2y ago
    Francois Pinault is French, and inherited a family business, that’s quite an upstart.
    - chgs 2y ago
      Rowling was British and had genuine financial issues, but lucked out with her book.
  - Gud 2y ago
    I took a name randomly from your list, Sheldon Adelson: “He began his business career at the age of 12 when he borrowed $200 from his uncle (equivalent to $3,385 in 2023) and purchased a license to sell newspapers in Boston.[23] In 1948, at the age of 15, he borrowed $10,000 (equivalent to $126,814 in 2023) from his uncle to start a candy vending-machine business.[24]” I am not disputing that it’s possible to go from rags to riches. But don’t you find it ironic that a list of people who supposedly fit the description, doesn’t actually fit the description? Where’s my rich uncle? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Adelson https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Adelson
lazyasciiart 2y ago
No, this is apparently information that clashes strongly with your prior beliefs. The US is packed solid with underprivileged adults who came from underprivileged positions, and highly privileged adults who came from highly privileged positions - regardless of whether it has a dozen counterexamples. https://osf.io/preprints/osf/tb3qz_v1 https://osf.io/preprints/osf/tb3qz_v1
snakeyjake 2y ago
There are ~250 $1 million+ lottery winners in the US every year. There are ~750 billionaires in total. The average American has a better chance of becoming a billionaire through hard work and prudent investments if, at age 18, they decide to live in a cardboard box underneath a bridge and steal metals from construction sites to sell for cash to be used to purchase lottery tickets. They can then win the multi-million-dollar prize and invest that wisely to reach billionaire status. Easy! Why doesn't everyone do it?

robocat 2y ago

And need to compare with countries outside the US. It's misleading to try and talk about differences between states.

zdragnar 2y ago

You don't even need to look for the count of billionaires. My grandparents were poor-as-dirt farmers. My dad's education stopped at high school. He even went to a one-room schoolhouse until he was 14. My brother and I are both college educated and, while not "rich", have a lifestyle and income my grandparents could have only dreamed about. It is truly painful to watch people preach learned helplessness through failure and destitution as the only possible outcome.

Gud 2y ago
This is common in Europe as well. I would guess more common than in the US.
- jampekka 2y ago
  It's a lot more common for children of poor parents to stay poor in the US than in (most of) Europe. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Social_Mobility_Index https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Social_Mobility_Index
  - WgaqPdNr7PGLGVW 2y ago
    Most people in mainland Europe are poor by American middle-class standards.
    - mrguyorama 2y ago
      People living in Europe don't seem to agree, since they have the same access to credit cards and yet just choose to spend less. Why oh why do Europeans in general choose to spend less than americans?
lazyasciiart 2y ago
The relevant metric is not “did your grandparents farm” but “where in the socioeconomic continuum were your parents, and where are you”. In the US, these two answers are more likely to match than in other rich Western countries.

Gud 2y ago

Who are these billionaires from underprivileged backgrounds ?

andsoitis 2y ago
> Who are these billionaires from underprivileged backgrounds ? Larry Ellison, Oprah, François Pinault, Howard Schultz, Jan Koum, Kenneth Langone, Ralph Lauren, Sheldon Adelson, JK Rowling, George Soros, John Paul DeJoria… to name just a few.
- mahkeiro 2y ago
  Francois Pinault is French, and inherited a family business, that’s quite an upstart.
  - chgs 2y ago
    Rowling was British and had genuine financial issues, but lucked out with her book.
- Gud 2y ago
  I took a name randomly from your list, Sheldon Adelson: “He began his business career at the age of 12 when he borrowed $200 from his uncle (equivalent to $3,385 in 2023) and purchased a license to sell newspapers in Boston.[23] In 1948, at the age of 15, he borrowed $10,000 (equivalent to $126,814 in 2023) from his uncle to start a candy vending-machine business.[24]” I am not disputing that it’s possible to go from rags to riches. But don’t you find it ironic that a list of people who supposedly fit the description, doesn’t actually fit the description? Where’s my rich uncle? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Adelson https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Adelson

lazyasciiart 2y ago

No, this is apparently information that clashes strongly with your prior beliefs. The US is packed solid with underprivileged adults who came from underprivileged positions, and highly privileged adults who came from highly privileged positions - regardless of whether it has a dozen counterexamples. https://osf.io/preprints/osf/tb3qz_v1 https://osf.io/preprints/osf/tb3qz_v1

snakeyjake 2y ago

There are ~250 $1 million+ lottery winners in the US every year. There are ~750 billionaires in total. The average American has a better chance of becoming a billionaire through hard work and prudent investments if, at age 18, they decide to live in a cardboard box underneath a bridge and steal metals from construction sites to sell for cash to be used to purchase lottery tickets. They can then win the multi-million-dollar prize and invest that wisely to reach billionaire status. Easy! Why doesn't everyone do it?