I’ve always liked that saying about people who were born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.
Except they’re not the only ones. A lot of us not only idolize and idealize the successful, but assume that all success and wealth is deserved.
Well, no. Some success is earned, of course; but some of it’s inherited; some just a matter of luck; some attained because of privilege, visible or invisible; some attained unethically; and some… largely illusory. Even yuuuuuuuge success.
And one problem (not the only problem) with thinking all success is deserved is that it seems to go hand-in-glove with the belief that so is failure. That income inequality is natural and desireable, and then pretty soon you start quoting Paul Graham and it all goes to hell.
(Ooookay, I did not know that WordPress does that to Medium links. Room spinning… must sit down…)
We’re past the halfway mark of Birthday Week, in which I post a cartoon a day through Monday. Hope you’re enjoying it!