Hard work is a (mostly) necessary but insufficient condition for becoming successful.
The main problem here is that much of US society believes it is a necessary and sufficient condition - i.e., they've perverted "you need to work hard to get rich" to "if you work hard you will get rich", or the more pernicious format: "if you're not rich you didn't work hard".
The last form of this thought is one of the most persistently toxic concepts of modern US society.
The main problem here is that much of US society believes it is a necessary and sufficient condition - i.e., they've perverted "you need to work hard to get rich" to "if you work hard you will get rich", or the more pernicious format: "if you're not rich you didn't work hard".
The last form of this thought is one of the most persistently toxic concepts of modern US society.