[sokoloff]

It’s unclear the extent to which it’s futile. Does getting educated, working hard, doing side work, DIY work to save money, spending money wisely, saving and investing for retirement, buying one house, marrying one spouse, help your family “get ahead”? Pretty reliably. Nothing’s guaranteed in life, but doing that list gives you pretty good odds to enjoy life and get your kids started on their own enjoyable lives.

[courtf]

This is true, but when so much of our culture and the starting conditions many people find themselves in are decided before our birth, often as a matter of public policy, the whole exercise starts to feel a bit, contrived? The rules of the game are really up to us, we're not talking about axioms of the universe here and yet, we're so often expected not to question anything, and simply focus on our personal success while ignoring externalities and plights of others.

What if succeeding personally while watching many others suffer unfairly, in a rich country where it needn't be that way, isn't enough to enjoy life? Do we have a duty to expand our sympathies beyond the self and the family? Most ancient wisdom says yes, and yet the modern status quo has failed to conserve this crucial pillar of humanity. Instead we have prosperity gospel, and its more secular version, the mythical meritocracy. Failed ideas that the human race has fought off more than once, only to find itself in the same boat again.