Justice Archives - KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show · Burt Cohen

Rugged Individualism And The Role of Luck

·58 min·3 clips

In America, we firmly believe we make our own luck—but what's wrong with this picture?

Bert Cohen interviews Mark Robert Rank, leading poverty researcher, about how luck and chance shape American lives more than hard work or self-reliance. Rank challenges the American mythology of rugged individualism by presenting research showing two-thirds of Americans experience poverty, 80% experience economic insecurity, and randomness plays a bigger role in outcomes than grit. Contrasts American individualism with European acceptance of chance's role, explaining why European countries have stronger social safety nets. Argues recognizing luck's role requires humility and better economic policy.

As heard by us

A sharp reminder that luck, not effort alone, shapes who gets ahead.

This conversation starts with a familiar American idea: people make their own luck. It then traces that belief back to the Puritans and into a modern argument about policy, with Bert Cohen and Mark Robert Rank keeping the focus on how success is often read as proof of worth.

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want to question the idea that success is self-made.

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