How is this for simplification:
1. There is no guarentee of equal outcome, but the system is intended to provide equal opportunity.
2. Given equal opportunity, those that make no effort to make themselves a marketable commodity to employers, or those unwilling to work hard, self-improve and take risks to become employers themselves, will undoubtedly fall short of others that do.
3. With no guarnetee of success, even hard work and risk taking can lead to failure, but it is the more likely path to achieving one's goals.
4. As far as luck being a component - Luck is simply defined as: "when preparation meets opportunity". Therefore, hard work and self-improvement are always the key factors in determining one's achievements.
Agree. Well formulated.
Just realized what we’re talking about here is what T. Sowell calls cosmic justice.
It is not attainable by imperfect humans, and attempts to achieve it invariably make things worse. The more strenuous the attempt to reach it, the worse things are made.
Communism was, in theory, the most strenuous attempt to achieve cosmic justice ever made. It was going to provide both political/legal and economic equality.
Wound up with the highest pile of corpses in history.
I think the closest we can get is political/legal equality as provided by our Constitution, if properly applied. Going for economic equality is a bridge too far.