Drunken Philosophy: Who are the "Losers" in Current Society?

Loser! We've all heard the accusation and we may have been called a loser at some time. Have "success" in the sense of having more, earning more, or having some fame, and "failure", in the sense of the opposite of those qualities just mentioned, become the new virtue and vice? Too often, lack of traditional success has been attributed to lack of effort--personal fault. Working hard and continuously leading to success has been a mantra in the US for most of the past 125 years possibly beginning with the Horatio Alger stories. But many people work very hard but do not achieve the traditional definition of success. Many philosophical schools (Stoicism and Taoism) emphasize that there are a limited number of things under our direct control--many of which provide a substantial "head start" toward "success". Those NOT under our control include your skin color, gender, the wealth of your parents, stability of your home life, educational quality and opportunities, among many. So, more to the point: how much of traditional "success" is the result of luck versus effort?
So have we overemphasized the traditional definitions of success to the point that immense wealth and power have become the new virtues? How would you define "winner" versus "loser" in these times of excessive income/wealth disparity? Kurt Vonnegut, discussing capitalism. said "The system is not the problem; it's the tendency to blame the poor as a way of shifting responsibility away from the rich." And more specifically: some would say that Trump is a "winner" in the traditional sense, but with regard to all measures of traditional virtues: truthfulness, empathy, honesty, wisdom, courage, self-control, justice, and and self-reflection, he seems to me to be almost completely deficient. Is he a winner or loser? Has he and those like him become the new standard of winners and those of us with little power become losers? Why do so many "conservatives" feel compelled to attack and persecute our most vulnerable citizens? See you on May 17 at the Oracle!