> The moment someone gets successful there is some tendency to try and tear them down, find out why they were privileged, what connections they had, and worst case say they got lucky
> So after a few years she started sniffing out where the firefighters hung out, their bars, and went out there and spoke to them, told them her story, made connections. She did get accepted following that
You’re saying that people tear down successful people by saying they’re privileged or have connections (but implying that they’re not successful because of these things and rather because they took a risk), and then immediately say that if it weren’t for the connections, she wouldn’t be successful? Seems contradictory to me. There’s no recipe for success, so discounting the luck factor also seems disingenuous.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that your friends “made it” but I doubt that it’s solely their own doing without any “insider” help. It’s the same thing now, applying for companies - if you don’t have a referral, you’re not getting to the front of the line for callbacks.
Personally, I’m against glorifying hustle culture and this sort of risk taking, because it implies that everyone can do it and if you’re not successful then you aren’t taking enough risks.
> Especially among the highly educated in our western system, people desire guaranteed paths. “Check these boxes and get this, get this credential and get that.”
But that’s how it used to be - and it’s not so anymore. I think it’s a valid complaint.
> You’re saying that people tear down successful people by saying they’re privileged or have connections (but implying that they’re not successful because of these things and rather because they took a risk), and then immediately say that if it weren’t for the connections, she wouldn’t be successful?
When people say "oh, they're successful because of their connections," they generally don't mean because they went out did a bunch of customer acquisition work, they mean because they have a dad who's a bigwig at Amazon or something.
True, but my point is that merit only takes you so far. If you really want to “make it”, you need merit AND an underlying freedom to take risks.
If what you have is the only means of survival, your appetite for risk is strongly diminished. So when someone claims that “you would have made it if you took risks” is a little two-faced.
> So after a few years she started sniffing out where the firefighters hung out, their bars, and went out there and spoke to them, told them her story, made connections. She did get accepted following that
You’re saying that people tear down successful people by saying they’re privileged or have connections (but implying that they’re not successful because of these things and rather because they took a risk), and then immediately say that if it weren’t for the connections, she wouldn’t be successful? Seems contradictory to me. There’s no recipe for success, so discounting the luck factor also seems disingenuous.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that your friends “made it” but I doubt that it’s solely their own doing without any “insider” help. It’s the same thing now, applying for companies - if you don’t have a referral, you’re not getting to the front of the line for callbacks.
Personally, I’m against glorifying hustle culture and this sort of risk taking, because it implies that everyone can do it and if you’re not successful then you aren’t taking enough risks.
> Especially among the highly educated in our western system, people desire guaranteed paths. “Check these boxes and get this, get this credential and get that.”
But that’s how it used to be - and it’s not so anymore. I think it’s a valid complaint.