💸🧠 Why aren’t you rich? success, class, luck, and the game you were born into

### 💸🧠 Why aren’t you rich? - success, class, luck, and the game you were born into

Discussion night - reading/viewing packet provided. Not a self-help seminar.

Short summary
Every few months, the internet rediscovers the same advice:
Wake up earlier.
Be disciplined.
Build grit.
Take risks.
Think like a winner.
Stop making excuses.
Fine.
But here’s the annoying question: what if those traits are not the main cause of success, but the result of already living in a world where success feels possible?
This meetup is built around a packet called Game Theory #3: Rich Dad, Poor Dad. The packet starts with Jiang’s argument that rich and poor families are not just teaching different money habits. They may be preparing children for completely different games: one world teaches negotiation, confidence, risk, and strategy; the other teaches obedience, caution, and survival. Then the packet brings in Angela Duckworth on grit, Sendhil Mullainathan on scarcity, Raj Chetty on geography and mobility, Annette Lareau on parenting and class, and Peter Turchin on elite overproduction and political instability.
So this is not a “how to get rich” night.
It’s a night about whether the success story we tell people is honest - or whether we’ve turned class advantage into personality advice.
The question I want sitting in the room
If someone is successful, how much credit do they deserve?
And if someone is struggling, how much blame do they deserve?
That’s the whole fight.
The parts I think will get people talking

• Grit vs stability: is discipline really a character trait, or is it easier to build when your life is predictable enough to trust the future?
• The marshmallow test problem: if you grow up in a world where promises break, is “take the reward now” actually irrational?
• Rich parenting vs poor parenting: are rich kids taught to negotiate because negotiation works for them, while poor kids are taught obedience because punishment is closer?
• Vancouver version: if housing, family money, school networks, and location shape your odds this much, what does “merit” even mean here?
• Scarcity: when rent, debt, instability, and stress eat your attention, is “bad decision-making” sometimes just bandwidth collapse?
• Elite overproduction: what happens when too many educated, ambitious people are chasing too few good positions? Is that where political rage starts?

The uncomfortable part
This topic can make everyone defensive.
If you succeeded, you may want your story to be mostly about effort.
If you struggled, you may want your story to be mostly about unfairness.
Both instincts make sense. Both can also hide something.
The goal here is not to flatter anyone.
The goal is to understand the machine better.

Reading / viewing packet

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yhTndXDW-IKYnsYr8OiWHKnRCLzBOhM-/edit?usp=share_link&ouid=106877739920669003491&rtpof=true&sd=true

• Jiang - Game Theory #3: Rich Dad, Poor Dad
• Angela Duckworth - Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
• Sendhil Mullainathan - Scarcity
• Raj Chetty - The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility
• Annette Lareau - More Than One Way to Grow Up
• Peter Turchin - How Elite Overproduction Brings Disorder

If you’re short on time, read the packet summaries and come with one strong reaction.
Come ready with one of these

• one thing you agreed with
• one thing that annoyed you
• one personal example that made the topic feel real
• one question you genuinely want the room to answer

How the night will feel
We’ll start with a quick gut-check:
“What do you think matters most for success: discipline, family, money, geography, luck, or timing?”
Then we’ll move through the big arguments without turning it into a lecture. I’ll keep us anchored in real life: school, work, housing, parenting, immigration, risk, failure, and the invisible advantages people don’t always notice when they’re standing on them.
Not a motivational seminar.
Not a capitalism-vs-socialism shouting match.
Not a place to confess your net worth.
A serious conversation about why some people get to treat the future like a ladder, and others are taught to treat it like a threat.

When and where
📅 Date: May 24th
🕒 Time: 3-5 pm
📍 Location: L6 North (room number 690)

Cap 12–15 + waitlist
Small room on purpose. This topic gets stupid fast if the room turns into a crowd.

Small note
If you haven’t done the full prep, you can still come - just expect to listen a little more at first. The best version of this night is people arguing from the packet, not just from vibes.