> It did nothing to change my opinion of our system where labor earns a pittance and all real wealth comes from the lottery of birthright, corruption, picking the right stock, or getting lucky in entrepreneurship.
replyWhat is real wealth in this scenario? I had no birthright, involvement in government corruption, nor did I pick the right stock or start a company. Just boring old S&P 500 and not blowing money on really dumb stuff or making mistakes. Which is harder than it looks, but if your perception is real wealth = multi-digit millions then yes sure you have to get lucky. What is surprising or interesting about that? Rare thing is rare, else it wouldn’t be of value.
What's interesting is that 50 years ago, we had a system where if you worked hard for 30 years, your career would make you wealthy. Now, that is impossible, because structural inequality (stock buybacks etc) give all of the profits to the CEO, board, and shareholders rather than to the employees. You have to play the stock lottery and get lucky if you want to afford a house in an HCOL area.
replyIn short, careers used to be inherently profitable, but now we have a system where only gambling is truly profitable.