I was born in America and had to do absolutely nothing to be better off than at least 3 billion people. I'm very lucky and this system is completely unfair
Seems like the conclusion of the article ends up admitting luck plays a large role. From the article you linked: "It is important to note that this research can not explain why a particular individual does well or poorly financially. Luck, timing, parents, choice of spouse and many other factors play important roles in shaping an individual's circumstances."
Here's the catch: When we say "wealthy" or "financially successful," those are really squishy terms. One person may mean the attorney down the street bringing in a cool quarter million each year from her practice. Another person may mean billionaires.
The linked study mentions correlations between IQ and earnings in the 5 figure range for the highest IQs. Wealth inequality is so out-of-control, the curve so steep, that the highest IQ people have an annual earnings advantage in the dollar range of what the super-rich collect in mere seconds.
The billionaires would need to have 5- and 6-digit IQ scores for the correlation to hold up. Bill Gates does seem pretty smart, but not that smart. Jeff Bezos seems slightly above average. Maybe. Elon Musk has an IQ above room temperature, for sure, but clearly not by that much.
So, given that wealth inequality is so stratospherically high, I read these memes as complaints about the super-rich, not your cousin who owns a large plumbing contractor business.
I guess if you think about it that way then everything is luck and we live in a deterministic world where none of your choices matter. That still wouldn’t support the argument in the OP meme though.
