Ladder or Lottery?
Good non-fiction books teach you something. Great non-fiction books make you think. And the latest book from Gary Hoover, Ladder or Lottery, Economic Promises and the Reality of Who Gets Ahead, did just that.
You might think, I’ve heard this story. Income inequality, rich people and their children have inherent advantages. It isn’t a fair world. Well, you’ve heard a story, but you’ve heard a different version of it. Versions that emphasize college admissions, the varsity blues scandal, ACT tutors, financial aid shenanigans, maybe nepotism. But those are symptoms of a deeper problem, or maybe signals…bread crumbs…The deeper problem is that the social contract that many of us grew up believing was central to our country’s values, one I certainly benefited from, that said if you did a list of things put before you, checked all those boxes, you would be rewarded with personal, professional, and financial progress.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Gary this past week for the Kick the Dogma Podcast. And what he does is go back to “first principles” and it’s there, that no matter the subtopic, be it healthcare, education, family structure, student loan debt, employment certainly…you can see the erosion of the social contract.
Here’s my talk with Professor Gary Hoover.