{"id":530545,"date":"2017-07-31T15:30:50","date_gmt":"2017-07-31T15:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=530545"},"modified":"2017-07-31T15:30:50","modified_gmt":"2017-07-31T15:30:50","slug":"why-some-folks-resent-your-financial-success-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=530545","title":{"rendered":"Why Some Folks Resent Your Financial Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alexander Green<\/a><\/span> I’ve now written nearly a dozen columns regarding author and New York Times columnist Robert Frank’s contention that our country is not a meritocracy, that economic and financial success is primarily due not to education, hard work, talent, skill, or risk-taking\u2026 but to \u201cluck.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having covered this topic as thoroughly as Ken Burns covered the history of jazz in his 18-hour PBS special, I promise this missive on the subject will be my last.<\/p>\n

But I want to emphasize that ideas are powerful. They have consequences.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, here are seven good reasons to reject Frank’s thesis:<\/p>\n

\tIt stokes resentment and class envy. Europeans have a long tradition of hostility toward \u201cthe rich\u201d and for good reason. For centuries, most of the wealth there was inherited or stolen (or both). Virtually everyone worked for royals, aristocrats and other \u201cnobles\u201d who had done little or nothing to earn what they had. Contrast that with America’s market-based economy, where every transaction is voluntary and the wealthiest individuals \u2013 like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos \u2013 have generally done the most to transform society for the better.<\/p>\n

\tIt’s dispiriting. Am I really supposed to tell David, my 13-year-old son, \u201cEducate yourself. Work hard. Get back up every time you’re knocked down. But, listen kid, in the end it’s really all about luck\u201d?<\/p>\n

\tIt’s demeaning to those who have sacrificed a great deal \u2013 including often the best years of their lives \u2013 to achieve their economic success. It’s particularly insulting to those who have come the furthest \u2013 women, blacks, Hispanics, gays, and those with mental or physical handicaps. I’d recommend taking a step back before you tell these folks their success was primarily luck.<\/p>\n

[iu-adbox]<\/p>\n

\tIt excuses failure and provides intellectual cover for slackers, shirkers and nonachievers who desperately want to believe that \u201cthe economy is rigged\u201d and economic success is not about good habits and smart choices.<\/p>\n

\tIt reveals an unwarranted anti-business bias. When Roger Federer won his eighth Wimbledon title and 19th Grand Slam singles title two weeks ago, was your first thought, \u201cWow. That Roger sure is lucky\u201d? When you attend a recital at Carnegie Hall, do you walk out saying, \u201cYou know, when Itzhak Perlman picks up that violin, I can’t believe how lucky he gets\u201d? No one attributes long-term success in athletics, music, literature, entertainment or the arts to luck. It isn’t true in business either.<\/p>\n

\tIt provides intellectual justification for high progressive tax rates. Frank and his ilk want to convince people that the economically successful didn’t really earn it and don’t deserve it. Therefore, government confiscation and redistribution is simple social justice.<\/p>\n

\tIt isn’t true. Frank’s claims don’t just defy common sense and everyday experience. As I mentioned in previous columns, decades of research and data by Dr. Thomas Stanley reveal it to be false.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Frank’s views have taken root with many. They refer to economically successful individuals as \u201cthe fortunate\u201d or \u201csociety’s lottery winners.\u201d (The latter is a particularly low blow. Freely made economic transactions are, \u2026read more<\/a> <\/p>\n

Source:: Investment You<\/a><\/p>\n

The post <\/a>Why Some Folks Resent Your Financial Success<\/a> appeared first on Junior Mining Analyst<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alexander Green I’ve now written nearly a dozen columns regarding author and New York Times columnist Robert Frank’s contention that our country is not a meritocracy, that economic and financial success is primarily due not to education, hard work, talent, skill, or risk-taking\u2026 but to \u201cluck.\u201d Having covered this topic as thoroughly as Ken […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530545"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=530545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530545\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=530545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=530545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=530545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}