I acknowledged the role that luck played in my post, I'm fully aware that I'm a survivor. Unless you're saying my insight is incorrect, I'm simply saying what I think will improve the odds, not guarantee victory. I'm not sure why you're replying to me about this.

Where does personal agency end and circumstances begin?

A good work ethic isn't "luck". If someone has a good work ethic it's because the people in their life when they were growing up worked their butts off to give it to them. People don't escape poverty because of luck (look at lottery winner outcomes). They escape poverty after about three decades of hard work toward that goal, usually spread across multiple generations.

>Textbook survivorship bias.

Textbook "doesn't fit my narrative, find a way to discount it" bias.

If being born to a wealthy family is "luck" then being born to a family who will work their butt off to give you a good start is also "luck".

> "Where does personal agency end and circumstances begin?"

If it's "I choose to work harder", it's personal agency. If it's "we're voting away support systems because I turned out OK and you should just work harder" it's not.