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Comment by CSMastermind | Hacker News Reader

I'm biased here. I grew up well within the bottom 20% if not the bottom 10% of family incomes. I'm now personally in the top 5%. At no point in my life did it feel like there was anything holding me back. In fact if anything it was frustrating to watch as other people in my situation got handouts while I had to work my way up. I think America is just fine (with maybe a little too much affirmative action).

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I grew up well below the bottom 10% as well, and I'm no where near the top 5% either. I often feel a sense of inadequacy when I compare myself to those with better upbringings, and their subsequently greater accomplishments.

At the same time I saw a lot of kids worse off than myself work much harder and I feel disappointed or even ashamed that I didn't take advantage of the opportunities I did have.

Well, it depends on your environment. What where your parents doing and what was your personal "big break"?

I grew up in a pretty bad home. My mother was crazy and didn't work and my father was an alcoholic who owned a bar. Got my first job at 13 and I've been working since. After high school I joined the Marine Corps and spent 6 years in the infantry. Got out 6 years ago and went to college on the GI Bill. Worked throughout college (including internships every summer) and got a great job when I got out. Worked my way up as fast as I could.

I'm not sure there's a "big break" I could point to besides maybe when I decided to join the military? But that's really something anyone could do.

> maybe when I decided to join the military? But that's really something anyone could do.

Not if you're handicapped physically in any way, not if you fail psychological screening, not if you're an immigrant, probably not if you're too old and so on (I'm talking about the military in my country, but is it any different in the US?). And of course not if the military as a whole is against your beliefs.

Going into the military is like becoming a priest. Most of the same advantages and disadvantages apply. Yes, it is a way out of poverty, but it's also a way of life you need to buy into.

>>what was your personal "big break"?

This.

Many times.

Often people luck-out and think that the same would happen to everyone sooner or later. Or worse they think it was their work all along and nothing else.

You can very easily deceive yourself into believing a certain set of things when the times are going good. Unfortunately you might have to fail for reasons beyond your control(for a lot of time, on a lot of things) to convince you otherwise.

None of the successful people I know had a single "big break". It took a handful, but more importantly it took the willingness to take risk or do without.

1. Did you study in high school while everyone else was having fun? 2. Break - get into good school 3. Did you graduate with a difficult degree? This is pure tenacity. 4. Did you do interesting projects on the side in college? Tenacity. 5. Said degree + projects lead to job. Sort of break. 6. Moving across the country for a better job - tenacity. 7. Switching jobs many times to move up - tenacity 8. Promotion to management/lead/whatever. Tenacity + break because you have a boss that likes you 9. Large jump in salary by jumping to a company on the way up - break. 10. Several years with low medical bills, no divorce, whatever so you can save $50k+ per year. Break with slight tenacity for not splurging on stuff

And then there are people who reject any "big break" coming to them because they feel they need to accomplish something on their own.

Of course you think America is just fine - you made it out the bottom. Survivorship bias at work? ;)

Handouts from America's thread-bare welfare system?

You should really listen to the show from RadioLab. NPR's On The Media aired some of it too.

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