points by jansport123 1 day ago | 0 comments
seems to be a general rule of life, some people are just born with the right combination to be really good at a certain game at a certain point in time. The only issue with wealth is that they can influence other games in which they have no ability just the same and that is dangerous for a democracy. Imagine if roger Federer was messing with the elections just because he was the best at tennis. Tech must be one of the few fields where someone believes that they are good at everything just because they made it.
[–] benrutter 1 day ago
[–] apercu 1 day ago
So bezos’ parents were in a position to fund him to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, Enron musks dad owns mines, bill gates mom was on the IBM board. It very much has little to do with skill.
[–] benrutter 1 day ago
I think that's pretty much true- it's worth saying there are other people who have the insane privilege of the three you mentioned who aren't some of the wealthiest people in the world, so there's some kind of explanation needed aside from just privilege, even if that's just "luck".
I think it's an interesting thought, I'm not sure I have a hot take here or anything. The likes of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are clearly good at amassing wealth (and interested in amassing wealth) but I suspect a lot less is attributable to skill than many would think.