Ben Carson, despite growing up in the slums to a single mother, became a world renowned neurosurgeon.

Statistically, Ben Carson's success is a rarity, but there were factors in his success that were not related to his upbringing, otherwise he would have failed as others in his position would have failed.

Should hard work, natural intelligence and giftings be punished in the grand scheme of things because others might not have that same inherent benefit? Should family wealth, connections, social status be punished because others lack?

Should Ben Carson be more deserved of his income because he came from worse background compared to his neurosurgeon colleagues?

I spent 15 years of my life studying my craft (medicine), while my contemporaries drank alcohol, smoked marijuana, traveled extensively, spent rather than saved, and otherwise wasted their gifts. Should they be rewarded and me punished?

And we can cut right to the meat of it: punishment versus reward, because this is exactly the direction that modern politics takes these studies and attitudes. It was part of Obama's class warfare tactics when pushing for tax increases on individuals making over $400k. I don't know how much you earn, but if you're in the 1% like me, you would feel the constant antipathy simply because you have a certain income (but a fraction of the wealth because of delayed gratification, student loans, opportunity costs, etc).