It always has taken a village, imho. But current societies appear to have become so focused on "I" alone, that the village of supporters has shrunk as we as a nation have grown. I grew up in an era when the Westerns tended to glorify the strong, silent hero who saves everyone. But it was against a backdrop where communities were coming together for barn-raisings, mom and pop stores on Main Street dominated the economy, large corporations were rare and frequently the villain. The idea of rugged individualism was within a context of mutual, community support. That context has been lost, imho.

It's basically the same in the UK. I work full-time and without my family giving me help sometimes I'd be broke. Who you know matters more.

Well said very true. It is the same across the world. It's scary how the economy, inflation and all hitting the common man. In 70s , one person earning is enough to feed all the family.

I think it was NEVER a guarantee -- some of the hardest-working people I've known in my life were just barely getting by. People with two, even three jobs that could barely make ends meet.

Hard work has not been a key to success in the USA during my lifetime. It could provide you with a modest living in the earlier days, but not what I'd consider thriving. Today it barely let's you scrape by, and sometimes not even that.

Hard work doesn't build wealth, wealth builds wealth. Underpaying people who work hard so that you can pocket the profit generated builds wealth.

you have to work smarter not harder.
we went through a period just after COVID when it was hard to find employees - not the case any more.

and wow, what is AI going to do to us - probably remove a ton of jobs from the workforce.

Americans love to pay more for healthcare than all western countries. It's $4 to have an operation in Sweden and no monthly cost because they believe in universal healthcare. Some people pay $700 a month in USA and have a deductible of $5000 if they need an operation. Insanity why American like this system. They love to pay more for everything, I guess. I went without healthcare for 10 years because I couldn't afford it when I was younger.

Hard work, at least the right kind of hard work, can help a person succeed today, but it is not a guarantee. I see sanitation workers, roofers, shrimp boat crews, and others working extremely hard with little hope of success.

I agree. It’s much harder to climb out of poverty or even go from middle to upper class.

Not at all. My dude and I both work full time and we BARELY scrape by.

There’s a lot of workers buried in paupers graves that would tell you it was never enough

Hard work helps, but, knowing how to manage money means just as much or even more.

Only bad managers / employers are demanding "work harder".What's needed, and more rewarded, is working smarter, getting better results.

Depends on what your principles are.
Your principles are what SHOULD matter the most.

Sadly many have self serving principles.

There are only so many hours in the week that you can work, only so msny qualifications and accolades that you can gather. The rest is largely down to the vagaries of the free market, personal connections, and a huge amount of luck.

Good morning maam how are you doing

Everyone who works should earn enough to live to a reasonable standard...but our governments dont seem to want us to live well. They want to control us and continually lie about what they say they are doing for us...they all fiddle..

A little luck goes along way too

Much easier for Bosses to control people if they say if you worked harder you'd get there.

Where is there:)

Hard work has never been a guarantee of anything other than exhausting yourself.

It's been that way for a long time.

You have to work smart and spend wisely

There was never a guarantee

Has hard work ever been sufficient for success? Necessary, perhaps; sufficient, most likely not.

Success in this country was never only about hard work; if it were the slaves’ descendants would all be wealthy.

2026 will be an interesting year for sure !!!

True damn true 💯

[media=https://youtu.be/E5VMZqgVzRo]

If you are working hard, you are not going about it right. Only laborers work hard or hardly work, that is the difference.