if prices fell enough, would demand fall too?

Did someone ask if all sperm contained the same DNA? Absolutely NOT. That is the beauty of sexual reproduction & meiosis.

Or sorry, if identical twins have the same DNA?

How is this for luck?

http://www.luxist.com/2009/08/05/paris-hiltons-dog-house-costs-more-than-many-homes/

Somebody tell me how Prince Baby Bear pulled itself up from its pawstraps.

UWSMom its kind of pathetic that you dont know that all sperm does not contain the same DNA.

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2006/04/b1579981.html

"■By international standards, the United States has an unusually low level of intergenerational mobility: our parents’ income is highly predictive of our incomes as adults. Intergenerational mobility in the United States is lower than in France, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Norway and Denmark. Among high-income countries for which comparable estimates are available, only the United Kingdom had a lower rate of mobility than the United States."

I dont remember anyone giving me any source data to the contrary.

malthus, i wonder if it makes it worth being Paris's dog? do you think she's a mommy dearest type?
nice digs though, thanks for the laugh.

Can we just sum this up?
SES of parents a huge predictive factor (many, many studies). SES comprises education, wealth, and also whether you're child of an immigrant, etc. DNA also a huge factor (separated identical twin studies). I would call these
2 factors "luck" - maybe some call it "fate".

Of course the above 2 factors aren't 100% determinative, there are also outside factors (what country & era you were
born in, who your neighbor was - ex. Jobs) and also your personal work ethic (though some would say that mostly genetically and SES-determined).

This inevitably drives to politics. If you believe its more personal responsibility and less luck, you are more likely to drive to lower taxes and less welfare. If you believe that there's a lot of luck working in this world, then you may be likely to offer more help to the less fortunate. All this said, the data is clear. Wealth and priviledge are passed to a great extent, and the US is much less of a meritocracy on the numbers than people believe..and despite all these trite immigrant stories and personal testimonials.

It can. I am all for free education, free school bfkasts & lunches, free pre-k/nursery/daycare, free health care if you're below 18. Not sure I am pro-limitless welfare w/o mandatory birth control/vasectomy/tubal ligation.

Heck, throw free afterschool & dinner on the list if you're under 18. As well as summer programs.

Nice try 30yrs...as usual an insightful comment. Too bad it was buried in this trainwreck of a thread. I find the stock market to be similar. Not many like to 'catch the falling knife' but when the money managers need to keep up with benchmark performance, they'll chase stocks to unsustainably high levels.

*sigh*. i'm ok with being wrong. like i said, didn't have time to research genetics and dna. though i do wonder how varied it could really be from cell to cell.

ar - don't be stunned. i've read everything you wrote just haven't commented on it all. you aren't the poster i was referring to anyway.

walter - it's a huge wreck and i'm partially to blame. poor original poster :(

Rhino, I dont know if your political preference argument really correlates. I believe strongly in personal responsibility. yet, I feel there are some who are naturally disadvantaged that deserve some help. I think we would all agree that Obama has some pretty good DNA and he has made the best of it through personal effort. However, if his luck --or fate or whatever you call it,-- had led him to be born in Kenya and his ambition carried him to be President of Kenya instead of the US, his personal sphere of influence would be quite different. So too, the children of poverty -- no matter how much they strive to overcome their personal situation they will never be on the same playing field as, perhaps, lesser beings born into many generations of wealth. There must have been thousands of intelligent, hard working souls who would have made a better president that the intellectually challenged, perpetually vacationing George Bush. But no matter what your status at birth, it is extremely difficult to compete with generations of political power and extreme wealth.

the basics, so people don't think i'm a complete nutjob

http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/basics/dna

apt23, i think it's correlative but not causative!!

uwsmom, sorry for the confusion. this is rather philosophical, no? i love this kind of discussion. but who says you are wrong? we just disagree.

I was the original poster on this one, but it's ok how the thread turned out. It's nice that people on Streeteasy like to talk to each other so much.

GG, very good of you to say so. sorry for the hijacking, but i'm just going to blame it on w67th! no personal culpability here. joking, of course.

and rhino, you keep going back to the same point. i get it. ses is a HUGE factor. i have not once said that i denied this. my points were so much simpler than any of that. again, so sorry they were missed.

GG: I liked the original post and think it deserves real attention. The hijacked thread is interesting also, but I do wish they were separate.

"So too, the children of poverty -- no matter how much they strive to overcome their personal situation they will never be on the same playing field as, perhaps, lesser beings born into many generations of wealth. There must have been thousands of intelligent, hard working souls who would have made a better president that the intellectually challenged, perpetually vacationing George Bush. But no matter what your status at birth, it is extremely difficult to compete with generations of political power and extreme wealth. "

Of course... but the goal shouldn't be to pull down the rich and make things fair... it should be to give everyone a chance to make *something* of themselves. Our goal should not be to create a million presidents - that, of course won't work. But it should be such that the vast majority can, with hard work, be productive members of society.

Whining about silver spoons is completely destructive when it comes to that goal.

Focus on making sure all kids have a chance, that schools are safe and kids have the *opportunity* to learn. If they or their parents screw that up, there is only so much the government can/should do.

"Of course... but the goal shouldn't be to pull down the rich and make things fair... it should be to give everyone a chance to make *something* of themselves."

We arent trying to make things fair? Why not? The upward mobility of the bottom 25% in this country is a joke. Health care cost is oppressive and elementary education is substandard for too many. If it requires a greater contribution from the dynastically wealthy then so be it.