Successful people don't deserve it

The Compass (coming soon): https://www.thecompass.diy Patreon:   / angelosomers   Newsletter and free community: https://www.angelosomers.com "That an idea convinces you is not evidence that it’s true, just that it is convincing." - Friedrich Nietzsche Everybody wants to believe that people get what they deserve. That the successful earned their success, that the criminal earned his punishment, and that all our hard work will eventually be rewarded. But what if nobody gets what they deserve? What if the universe isn’t governed by a cosmic clipboard upon which our virtues and vices are tallied? In this essay, I explore the illusion of deservingness, the role of chance in shaping our lives, the problem of praise and blame, the strange case of Charles Whitman, the collapse of the meritocratic worldview, and the possibility that success and failure are not things anyone can truly take credit for. If nobody chooses who they are, then what becomes of pride, shame, justice, punishment, and responsibility? And if we let go of the idea that people deserve their rewards and punishments, what might we discover on the other side? Clips from: alain de botton - status anxiety adam curtis - hypernormalisation TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — the shadow of praise 2:49 - meritocratic shame 4:41- Buddha and chance 6:44 - taking credit 9:57 - praise and blame 15:33 - rebirth of innocence Musicbed: https://fm.pxf.io/angelo (Use code: COMPASS)