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An alternate narrative for your story: Your hard work was not the defining characteristic of your success. But it was in fact luck. And your rant could amount

by 1stop 11y ago

An alternate narrative for your story: Your hard work was not the defining characteristic of your success. But it was in fact luck. And your rant could amount to: I won the lottery, why the hell doesn't everyone just do that! Look at my brother... he's never won the lottery, what a chump.

UVB-76 11y ago
Indeed; also note that traits like intelligence and motivation are highly heritable, so the lottery metaphor is not as outlandish as it might seem. More to the point, though, when did we all agree on a single definition of "productivity", and when did we decide to hold it up as the purpose of life? I must have missed that AGM.
madaxe_again 11y ago
If starting life £200k in the hole with two dependants and nothing to my name is luck, then I'd hate to imagine what bad luck is. My brother is no chump, he just has the (seeming) luxury of being able to take his time - something we have far less of than we think. I'm really not clear on what lottery you think I won. I won't deny that much of life is serendipity, but the difference is having to seize every opportunity you come across, no matter how slight - and we all have plenty of opportunities, but when there is no burning need to assume the risk that goes hand in hand with them, one does not. I suppose, if anything, the moral is that having both everything and nothing to lose is an almighty motivator.
- kijin 11y ago
  > If starting life £200k in the hole with two dependants and nothing to my name is luck, then I'd hate to imagine what bad luck is. Not even being able to take out a £2k loan, let alone £200k? Having three dependents, two of whom have serious disabilities that require all of your time and money to care for? Even your definition of "starting life" is ridiculous. You define it as leaving uni with a degree that would allow you to cold call financial services companies. How about growing up in a place where nobody ever teaches you that uni is within the realm of possibilities, and everyone bullies you for daring to think that it might in fact be possible? All because you were born to the wrong parents. I agree with you that your brother enjoyed a lot of luxuries. I'm just pointing out that you also enjoyed almost all of the same luxuries.
  - madaxe_again 11y ago
    That was where my parents started. My dad is a Nigerian-Austrian, grew up working Plymouth docks, my mum a navy nco's brat, grew up in a caravan on base in Scotland and left home at 14. I'm fully aware of the privilege that I've had, and yes, in some regards I've been fortunate. There are many who have been less, and more, fortunate. Most of the £200k was mortgage debt in my dad's name that I was paying so my great aunt didn't end up losing her house. I could barely hold a bank account my credit rating was so shot. But this is all besides the point.
kijin 11y ago
That was my impression as well. According to GP's narrative, he was "lucky" because his ass was on fire. After all, he didn't do anything to deserve the situation he found himself in, did he? On the other hand, his brother was "unlucky" because his ass was NOT on fire. (Having a competent older sibling tends to do that to a younger sibling's ass.) GP wishes that more people were as lucky as he was. Oh, and GP even had the luxury of being able to annoy financial services companies. Many people would kill for the luxury of being able to annoy McDonald's managers in the same way.
- madaxe_again 11y ago
  Yes, the luxury afforded by a single train ticket and paying cash to stay in s hostel, sweaty nights knowing that I had money for six days and beyond that, black hole I didn't want to think about. I found a job on day six after maybe 150 companies. QA. Manual testing. Fabulous job for a physics graduate! Oh wait, no, the pits, but work, and income, and oh my god I can have a roof over my head and almost make ends meet. Now I just need to freelance and find a bar job too. "Luxury!" (Yorkshire accent) If you think my situation sounds like it was remotely pleasurable, be grateful you haven't been there. There are far easier and kinder ways to have ones safety net removed than to have your family completely explode and dump their obligations on you. Had to pack up and auction off the family home at 19. Every penny went against lawyers or their debt. Shit ain't easy, I promise you.

by 1stop 11y ago

UVB-76 11y ago

Indeed; also note that traits like intelligence and motivation are highly heritable, so the lottery metaphor is not as outlandish as it might seem. More to the point, though, when did we all agree on a single definition of "productivity", and when did we decide to hold it up as the purpose of life? I must have missed that AGM.

madaxe_again 11y ago

If starting life £200k in the hole with two dependants and nothing to my name is luck, then I'd hate to imagine what bad luck is. My brother is no chump, he just has the (seeming) luxury of being able to take his time - something we have far less of than we think. I'm really not clear on what lottery you think I won. I won't deny that much of life is serendipity, but the difference is having to seize every opportunity you come across, no matter how slight - and we all have plenty of opportunities, but when there is no burning need to assume the risk that goes hand in hand with them, one does not. I suppose, if anything, the moral is that having both everything and nothing to lose is an almighty motivator.

kijin 11y ago
> If starting life £200k in the hole with two dependants and nothing to my name is luck, then I'd hate to imagine what bad luck is. Not even being able to take out a £2k loan, let alone £200k? Having three dependents, two of whom have serious disabilities that require all of your time and money to care for? Even your definition of "starting life" is ridiculous. You define it as leaving uni with a degree that would allow you to cold call financial services companies. How about growing up in a place where nobody ever teaches you that uni is within the realm of possibilities, and everyone bullies you for daring to think that it might in fact be possible? All because you were born to the wrong parents. I agree with you that your brother enjoyed a lot of luxuries. I'm just pointing out that you also enjoyed almost all of the same luxuries.
- madaxe_again 11y ago
  That was where my parents started. My dad is a Nigerian-Austrian, grew up working Plymouth docks, my mum a navy nco's brat, grew up in a caravan on base in Scotland and left home at 14. I'm fully aware of the privilege that I've had, and yes, in some regards I've been fortunate. There are many who have been less, and more, fortunate. Most of the £200k was mortgage debt in my dad's name that I was paying so my great aunt didn't end up losing her house. I could barely hold a bank account my credit rating was so shot. But this is all besides the point.

kijin 11y ago

That was my impression as well. According to GP's narrative, he was "lucky" because his ass was on fire. After all, he didn't do anything to deserve the situation he found himself in, did he? On the other hand, his brother was "unlucky" because his ass was NOT on fire. (Having a competent older sibling tends to do that to a younger sibling's ass.) GP wishes that more people were as lucky as he was. Oh, and GP even had the luxury of being able to annoy financial services companies. Many people would kill for the luxury of being able to annoy McDonald's managers in the same way.

madaxe_again 11y ago
Yes, the luxury afforded by a single train ticket and paying cash to stay in s hostel, sweaty nights knowing that I had money for six days and beyond that, black hole I didn't want to think about. I found a job on day six after maybe 150 companies. QA. Manual testing. Fabulous job for a physics graduate! Oh wait, no, the pits, but work, and income, and oh my god I can have a roof over my head and almost make ends meet. Now I just need to freelance and find a bar job too. "Luxury!" (Yorkshire accent) If you think my situation sounds like it was remotely pleasurable, be grateful you haven't been there. There are far easier and kinder ways to have ones safety net removed than to have your family completely explode and dump their obligations on you. Had to pack up and auction off the family home at 19. Every penny went against lawyers or their debt. Shit ain't easy, I promise you.