First off: great cartoon; thanks for the link to it.
That said, that very real situation is why my wife and I took care to find each other, prioritizing a family and educational history alongside other "desires", why we work hard to provide a loving, stable, and nurturing environment, and why we're putting aside money in 529s for our kids.
I don't know what the outcome will be, but we are making our own investments and current sacrifices to help our kids achieve whatever seems best for them. That not every child worldwide has that same beginning is perhaps unfair, but it won't cause me to do less for my family in the interest of fairness.
But they're also playing under quite different chances and difficulty levels, and facing much different odds. Heck, they're really playing a different game, period.
What's hard to understand about a kid from a well off middle class family with 2 educated and working parents who put money aside for their kid's studies has it much easier than some poor kid with one parent with unstable job and medical bills?
http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/the-pencilsword-on-a-plate