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Comment by rootusrootus | Hacker News Reader

Maybe the lesson is that there is no point to judging other people's relative success (whether more or less successful than yourself), and that you can just try to make your own life better. Don't wish for things you don't have, don't despair over success you haven't achieved, don't shit on people who haven't found success. Make your own life better, in any way you can, and make the lives of your loved ones better. Let the rest work itself out.

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> Don't wish for things you don't have

But we are bombarded with commercials every day, that want's us to wish for things we don't have. It is a foundation of our society.

Also rich people have more power than poor, even in democracies. And if there is too wide a gap between people in a society, they have fewer common goals.

> But we are bombarded with commercials every day, that want's us to wish for things we don't have.

Yeah, because the folks making the advertisements aren't wasting energy wishing for things they don't have, they're going out and putting themselves in a position where they can buy those things if they want.

Exactly. Commercials create demand for stuff we didn’t even imagine.

A very suicidal lesson. What will happen if following that trajectory is that whenever you get unlucky enough, you're forever locked in to that reduced capacity.

And yes, instead you could help and network with people instead of being an asshole. Usually if set up right, both sides benefit. Though it's not easy to do so right at all times.

> A very suicidal lesson. What will happen if following that trajectory is that whenever you get unlucky enough, you're forever locked in to that reduced capacity.

You seem to have missed the part "make your own life better, in any way you can."

Envy is a worthless emotion. Spend the energy on yourself.

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