Betty Sue makes $286,000 per month on Etsy. She started with nothing, and now she’s filthy rich.

Come on, man. The chances of that happening to the average person are close to zero. Stories like this give people unrealistic expectations.

  • Kintarian@lemmy.worldOP
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    1 month ago

    I will remember survivorship bias. If hard work led to success, then a poor person working three jobs should be rich. I’ve noticed that a lot of these stories are closer to “from rich to richer.” Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard because his family could support his “hobby.” He didn’t have to work three jobs to pay rent, but he is set up as a rags-to-riches story, using elbow grease and grit to become the mogul he is.

    • ShareMySims@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      I will remember survivorship bias

      The just world fallacy is another one worth remembering, in the context of your post, but also generally.

      Also

      If hard work led to success, then a poor person working three jobs should be rich.

      You got George Monbiot’s quote almost exactly word for word:

      If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire.”

      He didn’t have to work three jobs to pay rent, but he is set up as a rags-to-riches story, using elbow grease and grit to become the mogul he is.

      Lastly, you’re right, but it’s important to remember what he does have, and why - privilege, and lots of it (being a white man from a rich background, with a supportive family to boot? They all put his starting points miles ahead of most others), which he is given by white supremacist patriarchal capitalism, which is why he (and many others, even without the billions, privilege is one hell of a drug) will never work to end those systems and work towards creating a world where everyone has equitable access and opportunity.