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Comment by Fargren | Hacker News Reader

I'm in a similar situation as the OP, and have heard that argument used for me. I don't like it. In order to live frugally and responsibly, I was lucky to have the upbringing that taught me to do it, and to not have anyone depend on me so that I could focus on getting to this point. I was lucky to live in a relatively wealthy country during a relatively stable time.

I made a couple of good decisions, and put in some effort, sure. But a lot of people work harder than me and make harder decisions every day, and they are doing a lot worse than me. What separates me from those people? Luck, mostly.

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What you call luck is actually a set of economic signals that has incentivized good behavior and teaching good behavior.

If your Ferrari-renting, living above their means counterparts are bailed out while your frugal living means are not rewarded, then you are incentivized to live above your means when things return to normal.

There’s also just straight up luck. I was fortunate enough to get a decent job that paid well largely because I knew the right people; I have friends with similar levels of education who aren’t so well off.

They’re not any less thoughtful with their money than I am (in fact probably more so), it’s just a matter of circumstance.

"Knowing the right people" isn't exactly pure luck either. People do have a certain amount of influence over the social connections they (or their family) choose to cultivate.

It might not be "luck" but it certainly is privilege, I would call it "Economic/Wealth privilege". Which isn't to say it means purely rich vs poor, but it's much easier to be in an environment that fosters "knowing the right people" if you have economic privilege. Although not impossible, certainly unequal.

Let's add some more context: high school, the guy in question was a former student of one of my teachers from a few years before who visited from time to time. I chatted with him occasionally in class. Later in college I found out he worked for a local tech company, which was pretty rare in that area. Got a recommendation, got the job.

It was luck.

You apparently found him interesting enough to keep up on his activities after graduating, put enough effort into making a good impression that he was willing to recommend you, and took advantage of the opportunity when it presented itself. Not everyone would. Was there some luck involved? Sure. There always is. But it wasn't all luck.

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