[bleepblorp]

> I think it’s really a middle ground. Yes, a large majority of the wealthy people did get there by working hard, and being disciplined with money.

That depends on how you define 'wealthy.' There is a vast gulf between the kind of money people of sound mind and body can get through hard work and the degree of wealth the truly rich actually own.

The guy who grew up in a ghetto but is now making a six figure income (anywhere but San Francisco) did it mostly though his own hard work. I would not, however, call that guy wealthy when compared to the truly rich.

The 40 people who own more wealth than the bottom 50% of the US population own it by virtue of being born to the right parents. There is no degree of hard work that will make someone a billionaire. Those people got that far by being born into a family that could give them seed capital and access to elite education that enmeshes them into the right social networks.

When people talk about income inequality, they're not talking about people earning $500,000 in wage income by working 80 hour weeks. Instead, they're talking about people who are extracting a tens of millions of dollars in economic rents (as largely untaxed capital gains) without needing to do any work for it.

[californical]

Yeah, that ties in to the second part of my comment — it’s really a question of where to draw the line.

I’m a semi-follower of the FIRE idea, so I come in with that perspective. But it would be great to be able to build enough wealth that working becomes optional, and that I can help fund a future child in kick-starting their own company at a young age. My wealth then largely has come from my hard work, but I can also use that to further my kid’s success (in a responsible way). Isn’t that what every parent wants?

The situation where that kid becomes a billionaire is an edge-case of just two generations in a row of disciplined and fairly lucky individuals. There’s nothing wrong or immoral with anyone in that scenario.

Society then has to draw that line, where if my daughter becomes a multi-billionaire, how much of that wealth gets taxed and distributed to the people who it would help.