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Economic inequality cannot be explained by individual bad choices, study finds (phys.org)

submitted 1 year ago by Girlparts@kbin.social to c/news@kbin.social

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A global study led by a researcher at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and published in the journal Scientific Reports finds that economic inequality on a social level cannot be explained by bad choices among the poor nor by good decisions among the rich. Poor decisions were the same across all income groups, including for people who have overcome poverty.

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[–] chaogomu@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

There's a great analogy that I was introduced to a while back,

Life is like a carnival dart throw game.

Middle class kids get one throw. Most hit the board somewhere in the "doing okay" region, some miss the board completely, but a small number actually hit the bullseye. They're the rags-to-riches success stories.

Rich kids get as many throws as they want.

Poor kids? They don't get a throw, they're the ones working the booth.