For you will certainly carry out God's purpose, however you act, but it makes a difference to you whether you serve like Judas or like John. — C.S. Lewis, "The Problem of Pain"
As humans, we prefer to believe each of us wields the power to alter our destinies. But what if our ancestors already determined our fate hundreds of years ago for us? Do you think you have control over your fate? If so, how much? In Gregory Clark’s, “Your Ancestors, Your Fate,” Clark argues that our lineage might have a considerably larger influence on our life’s arc than we might be comfortable with.
Since the 1970s, American inequality of income and wealth have improved, yet recently a large-scale research study found that social mobility hadn’t changed much during that time. How is this possible? The study, orchestrated by researchers at Harvard and Berkeley, looked to step back in time in hopes of predicting your future. The findings only tell half the story. While it may be true that mobility is yet to follow the average wealth trends, the overarching theme of mobility points to the fact that it has always been slow.
If you look at social status measured broadly across the centuries, a few things pop out. In particular, not only has the evolution of social mobility, income, and wealth remained stagnant, but also occupation, education and longevity of a family appears to change much slower than many of us believe, or want to believe.
Let’s look at some examples the study cites. This trend holds true in Sweden, where a social welfare state keeps all who buy into the system happy. It holds true in England, the birthplace of industrial capitalism. And of course the United States, which proves the American dream is just that, a dream. Capitalism has not led to pervasive mobility, contrary to the reason it was created. Nor has global democratization, public education of the masses, the decline of nepotism, redistributive taxation, the emancipation of women, or any of the countless other achievements we so proudly boast as integral parts of our civilized world.
This boils down to an inconvenient truth: your overall life chances can be predicted not just from your parents’ status, but also from your great-great-great-grandparents who lacked the capacity to conceive accepting a friend request on Facebook. The study concludes about 10 percent of variation in income can be predicted based solely on your parents’ earnings. However, it is in my opinion that based on a large group of individuals, this percentage increases to 50 to 60 percent. While at the poles of the subject group, fortunes of high-status families inevitably fall, and those of low-status families rise to make a nice blend in the middle. Social scientists label this phenomena as “regression to the mean.” Yet, to truly reap the benefits of this trend, you simply won’t. Researchers estimate this process can take up to 15 generations (450 years) to balance out the extremes.
So, while the masses are enchanted by Hollywood dreams of fast cars and faster women, all while spending more capital than half of Africa, these fantasies will not be actualized by 99 percent of the population. Does this piss you off as much as it pisses me off? Below, I’ve listed a few questions about fate. Leave a comment of your answers. I’d love to hear what you have to say about where we are from, and where we are going.
How much control do you think you have over your fate?
Do you feel your fate is already predetermined by your lineage -- your parents and ancestors? Or, do you feel you are in the driver’s seat in determining your own success?
Do you think you will be better or worse off than your parents? In what ways? Why?
