Being rich is not about hard work. Its about pure luck

Originally posted by Colossus-Big C
From lottery winners to inheritors of great fortune. I honestly believe becoming rich is pure luck. Read all the bios of great movie actors, singers, billionairs.

All of these people have that one luck factor that got them where they are now.

Then you have people who worked hard all their lives and never amounted to sh^t.

Who agrees

My old Man is not pure rich, but, he has a good nest egg.

He owns a property on the beach and he has different investments (stock market, property (land) and superannuation).

He left school at 15 because he's Father died at 10 years old and his Mother died when he was 14.

He worked in the the trucking industry with his brothers, then he turned to the building industry. Power stations as a leading hand, then a site Manager.

After that!!! He worked as a builder.....carpenter, then foreman, then a Manager in different building sites. 30 years ago, he started his own building company. 20 years, there was 100 full time staff.....not sub-contractors. If you don't know what is a sub-contractor, well..............you're a lost cause 😆

Originally posted by BackFire
1/3rd is still a minority.

Yes, but it's not about whether it is a minority or not. It is about whether people that have interne may live in what we could consider real poverty. And they do. There is people in African countries that live in what most people would consider poor conditions that do have Internet now.

Well then obviously they aren't actually living in poverty.

Originally posted by BackFire
Well then obviously they aren't actually living in poverty.

YOU CAN'T EAT THE INTERNET!

I tried.

You can eat the keyboard and mouse, though. Maybe even the whole computer that is allowing you to access the internet.

A significant amount of these people have smartphones, not traditional computers.

Cellphones have basically become as ubiquitous to life in Subsaharan Africa as in the developed world. In fact there are entrepreneurs in countries like Kenya who've made comfortable livings by creating charging stations (some of them are powered by handcranks) for cellphones for people who don't have electricity in their homes.

Yes, this.

Originally posted by Bardock42
Ah, not really. Over 1/3rd of people have access to the Internet now. Some of them live in poverty that's hard to imagine for you and me. I guess you can always find one person that's worse off, but still, I don't think that argument works anymore.

I agree with your greater point, just a little nit-pick

Fair enough. But like you said, a nit-pick. The larger point still stands. I'll retire that particular example to make the point, though...thanks.

Digi is talking about relative poverty, I assume. What is poor in a First-World country is rich in a poor country. Technology is unevenly applied, in the case of internet connection and cell phones, but things like air conditioning, clean water, and safety from people brandishing AKs is scarce. Therefore, it's not a good indicator of relative poverty in itself.

Originally posted by Stealth Moose
Digi is talking about relative poverty, I assume. What is poor in a First-World country is rich in a poor country. Technology is unevenly applied, in the case of internet connection and cell phones, but things like air conditioning, clean water, and safety from people brandishing AKs is scarce. Therefore, it's not a good indicator of relative poverty in itself.

This.

So like I said, I just need a better example to make my point. The point itself is no less true.

This whole conversation bores me a bit though. Rather than bicker about what causes wealth, why aren't we talking about how we might be able to turn hard work into wealth? A shameless plug for my investing thread, I admit, but at least it represents an effort to escape an economic class via research and work. Like, I've gone into why I think this thread's entire premise is flawed. But even if we could "answer" it...who cares? Does luck or hard work cause wealth? Or what combination of the two? Who the **** cares?! What does that answer get us? A brief cathartic release to our ingrained persecution complex? Or maybe a pick-me-up pat on the back for those who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps to make a living? Worthless, either one.

If you think wealth is caused by luck, go out and try to prove yourself wrong. If you think it's hard work, enjoy the fact that you have less competitors because the "luck" crowd is waiting for Jesus to give them a winning lotto ticket. Then go and prove yourself right.

That sums up my true feelings about this thread. My other posts were just acquiescing to the OP's terms of discussion.

Digi, are you rich? 😉

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
Digi, are you rich? 😉

No, not by most definitions of the word. Why do you ask?

Originally posted by Digi
No, not by most definitions of the word. Why do you ask?

I was reading your post, and that question came to mind.

Digi is loaded. He cleared out my Steam wishlist. Guy is 1337.

Originally posted by Stealth Moose
Digi is talking about relative poverty, I assume. What is poor in a First-World country is rich in a poor country. Technology is unevenly applied, in the case of internet connection and cell phones, but things like air conditioning, clean water, and safety from people brandishing AKs is scarce. Therefore, it's not a good indicator of relative poverty in itself.

Well, that's sort of what I said as well. At any rate, Digi made a very good point about needing to stay at least within the US to make some decent comparisons (and even then CoL is a huge factor, as his link points out).

Cost of living does change from state to state, and west coast (CA/OR/WA) generally has higher wages and CoL, as does NYC.

I'm not sure why this kind of issue exists, since it's not assumed that people in these areas are innately worth more nor do they work harder/better, but this is why I am not a bureaucrat.

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
I was reading your post, and that question came to mind.

Ah, fair enough. I'd probably be considered lower middle class based on most accounts, and in others I might sneak into "middle middle." But I live within my means, and have some recently-expanded investment plans that I hope push me a bit north of where I'm at right now, even if the next few years carry with them the specter of some large purchases and costs that I'll need to pay (new car, grad. degree, etc.)

Originally posted by Stealth Moose
Digi is loaded. He cleared out my Steam wishlist. Guy is 1337.

http://gaben.tv/

Originally posted by Digi
Ah, fair enough. I'd probably be considered lower middle class based on most accounts, and in others I might sneak into "middle middle." But I live within my means, and have some recently-expanded ... that I hope push me a bit north of where I'm at right now, even if the next few years carry with them the specter of some large purchases and costs that I'll need to pay (new car, grad. degree, etc.)...

Cool. I am currently middle to upper middle class, but I started out life at the bottom. My family was poor, poor. I didn't make my money because of luck or hard work (my father worked much harder then I do). What made the difference for me was education.

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
Cool. I am currently middle to upper middle class, but I started out life at the bottom. My family was poor, poor. I didn't make my money because of luck or hard work (my father worked much harder then I do). What made the difference for me was education.

A form of hard work, one might argue. But 👆