Peter wrote:
However Barnier is pretending to be General Sutherland which is “not quite” the situation
And what does Mrs May pretend to be?
Emperor Palpatine?
Aviathor wrote:
And what does Mrs May pretend to be?
A rather bewildered, confused old lady who doesn’t quite grasp what it going on around her, surrounded by her greedy, power hungry children waiting for her to die so that they can fight over the pickings.
From here
Whiskey Papa wrote:
Lots and lots of luck, followed by prioritizing your time, and of course a bit of hard work now and then!
True. Social sciences have long since demonstrated that wealth is – in most cases – not accumulated by hard work (alone). Interestingly this is most true in the US, where climbing the social ladder is generally more difficult than in more social democratic countries such as in Scandinavia. This is of course contrary to the myth of the American Dream which is very persuasive and probably the reason why Americans tolerate living in an unfair society more than Europeans. But in Europe it is also true that hard work will only get you so far. Most “hard working” jobs are actually pretty poorly paid, e.g. nurses, construction workers, soldiers, firefighters etc.
I think the “hard work” required to get wealthy mainly refers to acquiring rare skills that set you apart from others and make you (or your services or products) valuable.
MedEwok wrote:
Social sciences have long since demonstrated that wealth is – in most cases – not accumulated by hard work (alone).
I can’t help posting this link which is a good illustration of MedEwok’s point: http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/the-pencilsword-on-a-plate
MedEwok wrote:
Interestingly this is most true in the US, where climbing the social ladder is generally more difficult than in more social democratic countries such as in Scandinavia. This is of course contrary to the myth of the American Dream which is very persuasive and probably the reason why Americans tolerate living in an unfair society more than Europeans.
One of the really good things in the US precisely that there are less social structures you can climb. Europe is rife with class structures. Just look at politics in the UK, and you’ll see that most of them are the elite – Lords or from prominent families with long ties to politics, or simply just rich and good provenance. Same in France – to be a president you pretty much have to graduate from ENA or any of the Grand Ecoles. In Europe, we laugh at the US and how a B-actor like Reagan or Schwarzenneger can become president and governor. That would be impossible i Europe. Why? Because they don’t have the right provenance. They’re not part of the elite.
The US has many faults, but it’s still a place where anyone, from any social structure, can reach any position. I think that’s a good thing. I think it’s healthy that even a B-actor can be elected official. Or at least it was until they elected a ginger madman. 
In my experience over the last 30 or so years (as a immigrant to the US, which was also key factor for me) it is a combination of work over time, but the work must be productive enough to generate a significant surplus over living expenses, which you must therefore control. If you then invest the surplus, you may not get ‘rich’ but you will be able to afford a plane or two and gather up enough assets (say $3M) to feel some sense of independence. That may not be dramatic, or represent ill defined ‘social mobility’ (which has no value to me) but a great many people actually do it.
wealth is – in most cases – not accumulated by hard work (alone)
Indeed not; you need to get paid for it 
The “thewireless” cartoon starts off good (basically: uneducated parents produce uneducated kids, and the result is predictable) but soon gets into the standard “politics of envy” stuff.
All pilots who I know (other than those doing 5hrs/year, or spend 24/7 posting on forums without actually flying) have some kind of skill and have at some point in the past worked hard. It doesn’t have to be a special rare skill. It just needs to be something people are willing to pay for. Come to one of our fly-ins and talk to the people who are there; my older son came to one last year and was really impressed at how everybody there had an interesting story to tell. A positive story, not whinging.
Peter wrote:
Come to one of our fly-ins and talk to the people who are there; my older son came to one last year and was really impressed at how everybody there had an interesting story to tell. A positive story, not whinging.
Yes, left column of the cartoon it is.
Social mobility in the US is much more a myth than reality. See the huge success of the fabulous book Hillbilly Elegy. European countries score better on many aspects of social mobility than 2017 USA.
I had to google on social mobility. It sounds like something which totally passed me by.
I also completely forgot to have a mid-life crisis; Justine thinks that maybe flying has eliminated the need for one, so that is a real benefit. I once had a woman working for me whose husband (an accountant in his 50s) had a mid-life crisis: he bought a sports car, grew a ponytail, got some tatoos, and shagged a barmaid. None of those ever interested me… well maybe the last one when I was in my 20s
