Warren Buffet had some interesting insights which he presented to some wharton students on why they are so lucky to be where they are.
"y the genie, Buffett believes that first you would want a "bountiful world," one with no system that stifles capacity or production. Our country, he says, has done pretty well in setting up equality of opportunity. Second, you would want a prosperous and just society. He however pointed out that some people are just not going to fit very well in any world you design. And finally, you would want to minimize fear and terror in your society. When setting policy, Buffett believes a rich society should make it a policy goal to minimize the terror and fear experienced by its members. After presenting us with his view of the "ideal world," Buffett asked rhetorically, "Did any of you males peek at your ticket when setting policy? Any whites peek?" Buffett emphasized that Wharton students should spend some amount of time realizing how lucky we got with our "tickets," and asked, "Would any of you go back to that theoretical barrel and pick out 100 tickets at random, and then, after looking at each one, trade who you are today for what's written on one of those 100?" He answered for us, "Probably not.""
http://www.whartonjournal.com/media/paper201/news/2006/02/27/News/Oracle.Of.Omaha.Offers.Words.Of.Wisdom-1637797.shtml?mkey=1125810
