[badkungfu]

> Another way to reduce envy is to realize that, ultimately, it's luck all the way down. There are plenty of talented, hard-working people who will never see even moderate success

Realizing that it's luck all the way down only reinforces my opinion that the wealthy pay a pittance in taxes relative to the value they get from our society. Those talented, hard-working people who will never see success deserve affordable healthcare, a functioning safety net that allows them to overcome difficulty and take chances, equal education opportunities for their kids, and a hope for a retirement that doesn't require giving up everything or overburdening their families.

Unhappiness that we (in the US at least) are not on that path is more than envy.

[cortesoft]

This is always my argument for why wealthy people should pay quite a bit of taxes.

No matter what system we have, SOME people are going to be advantaged by it. We can't always know with certainty beforehand who are the people who are going to be advantaged, but we have a pretty good idea that the people who make a shit ton of money were advantaged in some way. So lets have them pay more than what would seem to be their share, since things were clearly set up with advantages for them.

[kchronic8]

> Those talented, hard-working people

I can assure you that most people in the world have neither of those attributes.

[csallen]

Considering these attributes are relative by definition, it's a fact that half of the population is harder working than average, and half of the population is more talented than average. But when you add in the context that there are numerous ways to be hard working or talented (e.g. someone may suck at reading, but be an extremely disciplined bodybuilder), it becomes pretty much a guarantee that the majority of people are talented or hard-working at something.

[rhizome]

Hey, check out Mr. Talent Measurer over here.