Socialist, and the dangers of government.

[HappySqurriel]

pastro243 said:

HappySqurriel said:

Rath said:
@HS. That ignores the fact that some people are naturally far more skilled than others. Somebody can be born intelligent and earn a lot of money without putting much effort in ever. Another person can be born stupid and put a lot of effort in and never get much money.

Effort is rewarded in a capitalist society, but nowhere near as much as natural talent is.

I have (personally) never seen someone who was highly successful because of natural talent without putting in a lot of effort to develop that talent. Beyond that, with how many "Stupid" people I have known who have overcome a (dramatic) disadvantage to be successful in their chosen field, and how many "Smart" people I have seen fail simply due to lazyness and poor choices, I don't accept the argument that any significant percentage of the population is failing because they don't have the opportunity to succeed.

Well I know  many guys that are very smart and dont have to work as near as much as others do. You see it more clearly in the university.

And lack of oportunities exists, some are born with a lot and many more dont, I was raised by parents who are doctors, in a place where I saw almost no crime and with a bunch of people that were culturaly superior to the mayority of people. When you add genetics and enviorment, money, its all an advantage you have to other people, even if they make their best effort, a few will succeed, while the others, making half the effort will obtain better results.

Its not a good reality, and I would love people to have equal oportunities(on the good side), but its true, and in a world where competition is so harsh, effort isnt always enough.

Now, I don't disagree that there are advantages that allow people to become more successful than other people (or as successful with less effort) ...

What I have been saying is that the system is rational (not fair) and knowing how the system works people who are willing to put in the effort will always achieve far greater results than if they didn't put in the effort. To use an analogy to demonstrate my point, consider personal fitness ... there are lots of factors which influence the level of work and dedication required to achieve personal fitness goals but someone who puts in a meaningful effort towards their fitness goals will always be more fit than if they didn't put forward that effort; and everyone has the potential to be extremely fit if they put in enough effort. Now, the system is not fair but to claim that someone is over 300 pounds for any reason except for the choices they made is unreasonable.