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Let's say you somehow "chose" to be hardworking. Since not everyone is hardworking, it seems that not everyone makes the right choice. Did you "choose" to choose to be hardworking? It's turtles all the way down.

Whether you're born rich, smart, hardworking, or adaptable is all luck. In the end, your brain is a mesh of deterministic neurons -- "choices" are impossible.

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If you're interested in exploring the consequences of this line of thought, check out the philosopher John Rawls. If you'd like, I can try to summarize what are quite nuanced arguments and conclusions, though you're best of reading his works directly. Michael Sandel (of Harvard fame) is the best living champion of his ideas, and his book "Justice" is thorough and approachable. Sandel also has an EdX course with the same name, and he covers John Rawls towards the end.

Rawls is my favorite philosopher on the topic of social justice, and I can't recommend him highly enough.

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