[joslin01]

There's opportunities for everyone who works hard toward achieving their vision. Many times, not being born into wealth ends up being a greater driver than being born into it. In my personal experience, all those ones you probably envy that are working on their "dreams" are also working 2-4 hours a day at most because their wealth has given them too much comfort. Many will spend a lot of the day just talking and delude themselves that it's work, but really, it's just laziness.

The idea that you (and presumably others) are incapable of working on your own ideas because you're not wealthy is ludicrous, and nothing more than an excuse to validate inaction. If you want something, go get it.

[Rainymood]

>If you want something, go get it.

Yeah if you wanna go to an Ivy League JUST DO IT! It doesn't matter that you have to work 20+ hours every week to support your family which can't pay the bills! Time you could have invested into school. But does that actually matter if you go to a crappy school your parents decided on? It doesn't matter that you guys don't have money to cover health insurance or regular dentist or doctor's appointments! Got a car? NO! Fuck it not enough money!

The world is WAY less meritocratic than we think.

[crdoconnor]

How many star CEOs from the inner cities or trailer parks do you know?

[volaski]

You are yourself and you can do whatever you want. The stats are just stats. Just because no one has seen a black swan before, does not mean black swan doesn't exist. It is foolish to think that it is impossible to achieve something and give up even without trying just because of the stats.

[crdoconnor]

It's shit like this that made Steinbeck call America a nation of temporary embarrassed millionaires.

[volaski]

What does "America" have anything to do with this? You could complain all day long about how bad of a situation you are in, or you could do something about it, and that's a fact.

[crdoconnor]

Boundless optimism and "the power of positive thinking" are uniquely American.

It's generally assumed that positive thinking is how you get ahead (another American belief), but that doesn't seem to be the case: http://www.newyorker.com/currency-tag/the-powerlessness-of-p...

[volaski]

How is something as common as "positive thinking" unique to American? I don't understand how you picked up that idea. It's like saying "being courteous to elders" is uniquely Chinese.

[joslin01]

I like you volaski.