I first heard about the Ovarian Lottery when reading Warren Buffett’s autobiography. He is an extraordinary investor, but he himself remarked that if he had been born somewhere in the middle of Asia, he would be destined for a life as some type of labourer.
Most likely, he would end up very very ordinary since he would not be able to utilise most of his innate talents.
This kind of thinking helps Buffett to justify pledging most of his wealth away and also motivate other billionaires to follow suit.
So basically, the aim of this chapter is to force us to acknowledge how luck plays such a crucial role in our successes and to be more charitable. In the book, the author Rolf Dobelli mentioned that most Americans would pay up to 80% of their income to be born in America as compared to Bangladesh.
But well, this was just a thought experiment, otherwise, we would be able to eradicate a big part of inequality with the developed world donating away 80% of their income.
That said, most of us here in Singapore are more concerned with the “Within the Developed World” type of inequality rather than the “Developed World vs Developing World” kind. It’s not surprising since it’s human tendency to want to compare with people around us vs a distant idea.
The bulk of the aristocratic 9.9% that continues to extract huge gains from the economic pie (without skin in the game) is starting to irk the masses. And it doesn’t help that the advantages/benefits are being entrenched further and further with every generation. Social mobility is ebbing.
Thought Experiment for Singaporeans: How much of your income would you give up to be born to parents who stay in a freehold landed house.
My answer? I would probably be willing to give up almost 100% of my income. With median landed houses transacting at >$3 million, that’s likely to be higher than my lifetime income.
People who start off with little assets (or horrors, with huge burdens) would find it increasingly harder to catch up with those who receives (or will receive) huge inheritances. This always happens in a system when the winners start to surface and then they learn to game it and entrench their advantages and pass it on to their children.
Persuading the 9.9% to do otherwise is futile. It goes against the natural instincts of parents who want to provide the best for their child. Yes, all schools are good schools in Singapore, but some schools are “better” than the rest. That’s why a big proportion of children of the 9.9% are studying in IP schools.
So yes, we can all acknowledge our good luck and be humble about our achievements. We might even decide to give away the bulk of our wealth (eventually). But you would be stepping on your own food if you have won the ovarian lottery, and choose not to leverage on the good luck to entrench things further.
It’s hard to prevent the tragedy of the commons. When everyone else is grazing, it’s immensely difficult to stop and choose to walk away.
I think almost anybody will be willing to give up >100% of income to be born into a UHNW family.
It’s not just the obvious tangible properties & wealth, but the deep networks and the type of upbringing & exposure that can make life so easy or enterprising.
E.g. I know people who easily get lepak $10K a month civil service jobs because of who their parents are or which ministers they know. Or getting >$15K a month jobs in banks with mediocre degrees.
Of course there are more enterprising “rich kids” who for e.g. go into boutique hotel chains or setup law / medical practices or some other businesses, where the right connections can make access to capital & opportunities so much easier & less stringent.
So if it’s for your children’s sake, I wonder how sacrificial parents will be if a fantasy like being born into a billionaire family can happen? 30 years shorter life? Die of cancer by 50? I think many will consider.
Hi Sinkie, dont think that being born into money, with power networks and connections makes life “easy”. Of course some aspects are streamlined, but there are really just different kinds of challenges. You might be surprised by how many “rich kids” that should not have a worry in the world, are depressed, anxious, lost and deeply unfulfilled.
Too many people think win toto will makes all their problems vanish.
peace
the key thing which the mainstream media doesn’t report on is does the kid choose their parents or who in the right mind will give up on opportunity? if one is borned into a rich family, one doesn’t even have a choice but to follow what the parents decide on until they are independent. as long as one has to rely on parents for money, one has to follow the demands of the parents, so which kid will say i dont want your money daddy, i will disown you and move out and live on my own, but that can only happen after a certain age, certainly not pri/sec school.