Its a human blind spot. A lot of people confuse wealth for intelligence. In lower socio-economic levels, succeeding involves a lot of intelligence. Its a fucking struggle. Lots of fish trying to eat each other and take what little resources we have. One fuck up and it’s all over. So anyone that is succeeding is also someone that with enough intelligence to foresee pitfalls and avoid them or escape with their wealth.
Those values are used to evaluate the people at the top which are swimming in a whole different pond. The neopotism and safety nets built into the upper crust of society is not part of the calculation that a lot of people use to factor into how they see these people. They still apply the same dog eat dog mentality to the upper crust of society.
honestly wealth at any level requires luck… intelligence barely factors into it. it’s less that 1 fuck up and it’s all over, and more that 1 fuck up without someone to cover it up or bail you out and it’s all over… the wealthier you are, the bigger the fuck up before you or someone else can bail you out:
poor? it’s an unexpected car issue
rich? it’s that you fucked over literally an entire country for years on end in a very public way that gained you very little
Smart people who make good products that people want will have the invisible hand distribute them wealth. Dumb people who make bad products that no one wants will go backrupt. This is the core philosophy behind why capitalism “works.” It is a system that conflates wealth with virtue, by design.
You’re right to point out that it is incorrect logic, but no one is confusing anything. The entirety of our Western world is build around this idea and reinforces it to its people at every single opportunity. They’re making the judgements that they have been told are correct. Can we really say people are confused when they’re confidently acting exactly as they’ve been taught from birth?
Look I don’t like Musk either but even starting off wealthy becoming the richest man in the world takes some doing. He was way ahead of the curve on reusable rockets and EVs and succeed there where a bunch of people failed. I think where he fails is when it comes to protecting his image and maintaining relationships. He’s a thin-skinned narcissist who thinks he’s humanity’s savoir and eventually that got to him.
None of them are geniuses, it’s just really hard to lose at capitalism when you have capital.
Its a human blind spot. A lot of people confuse wealth for intelligence. In lower socio-economic levels, succeeding involves a lot of intelligence. Its a fucking struggle. Lots of fish trying to eat each other and take what little resources we have. One fuck up and it’s all over. So anyone that is succeeding is also someone that with enough intelligence to foresee pitfalls and avoid them or escape with their wealth.
Those values are used to evaluate the people at the top which are swimming in a whole different pond. The neopotism and safety nets built into the upper crust of society is not part of the calculation that a lot of people use to factor into how they see these people. They still apply the same dog eat dog mentality to the upper crust of society.
honestly wealth at any level requires luck… intelligence barely factors into it. it’s less that 1 fuck up and it’s all over, and more that 1 fuck up without someone to cover it up or bail you out and it’s all over… the wealthier you are, the bigger the fuck up before you or someone else can bail you out:
poor? it’s an unexpected car issue
rich? it’s that you fucked over literally an entire country for years on end in a very public way that gained you very little
Smart people who make good products that people want will have the invisible hand distribute them wealth. Dumb people who make bad products that no one wants will go backrupt. This is the core philosophy behind why capitalism “works.” It is a system that conflates wealth with virtue, by design.
You’re right to point out that it is incorrect logic, but no one is confusing anything. The entirety of our Western world is build around this idea and reinforces it to its people at every single opportunity. They’re making the judgements that they have been told are correct. Can we really say people are confused when they’re confidently acting exactly as they’ve been taught from birth?
But Musk wants to be a trailblazer and prove that you can lose at anything.
I like the way you put it
Look I don’t like Musk either but even starting off wealthy becoming the richest man in the world takes some doing. He was way ahead of the curve on reusable rockets and EVs and succeed there where a bunch of people failed. I think where he fails is when it comes to protecting his image and maintaining relationships. He’s a thin-skinned narcissist who thinks he’s humanity’s savoir and eventually that got to him.
That…and developing some serious drug habits in recent years