Quote:
Originally Posted by Via Chicago
I'm not sure I could have laid on the sarcasm any heavier.
The point is, plenty of people work hard in life, and regardless of whether they do so flying cross country every week to tend to investments or getting up at 3AM to bake bread every morning for minimum wage, or teaching kids science, the economic rewards for each are vastly different. Some of the most noble careers in life pay very very little. Bragging about 6-7 figure real estate investment returns (which is more or less a form of gambling) when 60% of the country has less than 1000 in savings (and seniors are declaring bankruptcy is increasingly record numbers is really not a good look and displays a lack of appreciation for what the situation really is for the vast majority of our peers in this country. The recovery has perhaps come for you several times over, but many are still hanging out in the cold. And I'm the one advocating for irresponsible behavior? Dude, you're the one who appeared in a video titled "Little Village - Real Estate Gold Mine". What kind of message does that send to people, that you're framing A) a poor neighborhood as some sort of "gold mine" to be harvested, and B) real estate investment as some sort of sure thing/can't loose proposition? I don't think I'm the one channeling a go-go 80s "greed is good" philosophy here |
You're never going to have a system where anyone who has the desire and drive is guaranteed success. Some will win, some will fall flat on their face. On that we can agreed.
But I find it frustrating that you sort of discount and trivialize the experiences of us forumers who have done well for ourselves as random anecdotes. The simple fact is, most of the people I know that aren't 1%'s still do ok for themselves. But they chose professions and walks of life that were known to not be particularly lucrative. Whereas those of us who did climb into the top 1% made different life choices, and getting there was excruciatingly hard. And there was no guarantee of success.
Just like TUP, I became a doctor. On Friday nights when everyone else was chasing women, inhaling beer bongs, and generally dicking around and having fun, I sequestered myself in the library to study Organic chemistry. Every time I walked into a test, I felt like my life depended on it, and even getting a B+ would completely ruin my chances of getting into medical school. The thought of being ordinary was simply unacceptable. And here's the thing. Even after 14 years of college, medical school, internship, residency, and fellowship, it's not like I cashed in my golden ticket and was given a pile of cash. I still work my ass off, doing a complicated job where people lives depend on the care I provide.
But since you previously talked about Chicago public teachers, I'll tell you another story. My brother was a high school teacher in South Holland for a long time. And I will tell you, his college experience was very different than mine. He pretty much coasted on a beer keg throughout college. Smoking pot, screwing his girlfriend, and skipping class; taking 5 years to graduate from the University of Iowa with a C+ average. And in the end, he was still making something like 90k a year. Putting in a fraction of the effort I did.
Don't discount our personal stories as irrelevant anecdotes. Most people in the 1% are here because of life choices, intellect, hard work, and self reliance. If we don't achieve one of our goals, we blame ourselves. Unlike you, who always seems to blame the system. Those of us who made something of ourselves don't look at the system as a roadblock. We see it as a construct to be learned and channeled.