Yes, Your Parents’ Status Does Influence Your Earning Power

[Sunstone]

Those aren't hardly contradictory views. We know that higher status parents improve your starting position. We also know that individual effort yields rewards. So what's the point of the conversation?

That's quite simplistic. There are perhaps a dozen factors -- at the least -- that contribute to whether or not a person does better than their parents economically. In addition to that, all the evidence suggests it is getting harder and harder for people to do better than their parents.

 

[Sunstone]

When has the odds ever been fair to every individual in human history?

What's the logical relevance of your question?

 

[suncowiam]

What's the logical relevance of your question?

Reality

 

[Valjean]

There is a status hierarchy in civilized, pastoral and even horticultural societies. They are stratified, and the various status communities are often insular, supportive of in-group members and exclusive of out-groups.

There are status markers by which these status communities recognize each other: dress, language, bearing, possessions, education, &c -- and money is not always the sine qua non of the noble class.

High status communities confer their particular status markers to their children, making them recognizable and supported by others of their class.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Working smart is more important than working hard.

Just as with wealth, life doesn't distribute things equally at birth, and many people do not have the ability to work smart. Being able to work hard is a much more prolific quality. But, if people aren't willing to pay you large amounts of money for the hard work you do, then you're not going to get rich.

I've known people who have worked two full-time jobs, for years on end. That is working hard, but not smart. None of them got rich.