Gaming The System For More Wealth Is Becoming More Acceptable

When you're young and naive, you tend to want to do things the right way. You're taught by adults that cheating and lying are wrong. As you get older and wiser, you start to become aware of people gaming the system to get ahead.

What you also realize is those who game the system seem to end up staying ahead! Let me share some examples as well as one harmless example about myself.

Gaming The System In Sports

Ex-Major League Baseball player Alex Rodriguez earned $441.3 million over a twenty-two-year career. That’s some serious FU money!

In a 2007 Katie Couric TV interview he denied ever using performance-enhancing drugs. Two years later in 2009, Rodriguez admitted to having used steroids during his baseball career.

But did A-Rod have to give any of the money back? No.

Instead, after retiring as a player, Rodriguez became a media personality, serving as a broadcaster for Fox Sports 1, a cast member of Shark Tank, and a color commentator for ABC News,  ESPN, and CNBC.

He had been welcomed with open arms.

Nobody seems to care that A-Rod took steroids. He is a hero to Yankees fans everywhere for helping them win the World Series in 2009. As a result, his actions have encouraged some athletes to game the system and take performance-enhancing drugs as well.

Just don't ask A-Rod's competitors what they think of him. Also, don't ask Dodger fans about the 2017 Astros. Even though the Astros later admitted to an illegal sign-stealing scheme, they still got to be 2017 World Series Champs.

Gaming The System Is Commonplace

Gaming the system in sports is one way to get ahead. However, there are many examples of people gaming the system in almost everything.

  • Claim to be an underrepresented minority in order to get into a school or win a political election when you're not. Even after these people are found out, they still get to keep their diplomas and positions.
  • Get sweetheart government contracts because you're buddies with the politicians in charge. Government corruption is ubiquitous. But if you've got the money, some art dealers and luxury property agents will still sell to oligarchs.
  • Insider trading by congresspeople. Despite making millions of dollars from investments based on insider information the public can't trade on, these people continue to get reelected.
  • Legally buy your children's way into elite private universities by donating more than $10 million to a school fundraiser. Just don't bribe school officials with anything less than $1 million. Otherwise, you might get thrown in jail.
  • Join an awards panel so you can vote for yourself and your friends. You would think this would obviously be unfair. However, the practice continues because nobody cares.
  • Paying money to submit your book for an award, which shuts out poorer authors who don't have as much money.
  • Hire your children for leadership roles at a public company despite them not having the relevant experience or skills. Nepotism is still quite common place as wealthy parents trade favors.
  • Manipulate the search engine algorithms so you outrank experienced authors who have the expertise and authority. This is a fascinating topic I can write a whole post about after being online since 2009.

If you haven't figured it out by now, the system is rigged. If you play completely by the rules, you will have a much tougher mountain to climb. However, if you're completely above board and make it, you will feel tremendous pride.

Try The Above Board Route And Then Reconsider

In 2015, I was bumped up to a USTA 5.0 level tennis rating. Initially, I felt proud because less than 1% of USTA league tennis players are rated 5.0. Suddenly, I was playing against ex-Division I college players.

The first year was fine as I went 3-3. But the second year I went 1-9. That was no fun, but at least I kept trying.

As a 40-year-old in 2017, I asked to appeal my rating back down to 4.5. I got denied. So I took the year off because my son was born. Then in 2018, I decided to appeal again. Got denied again. I ended up going 4-12.

Then in 2019 and 2020, I appealed again. Denied denied. As a result, I couldn't find a 5.0 team to play on, so I played 9.5 combo.

USTA Rating Distribution
USTA Rating Distribution. 1% are rated 5.0

Winning The League Title

Finally, in 2022, the USTA committee finally granted my appeal which enabled me to play in an age 40+, 4.5 league. Our team ended up winning the league title on March 27 and I went 8-2 for the season.

It wasn't easy, but playing at the 4.5 level is about 30% easier than playing at the 5.0 level. There weren't 120+ mph bomb serves or young bucks as quick as lightning hunting down returns.

Now I can die easier knowing that our team will forever be city champs in 2022!

Time To Game The Tennis Rating System?

Given how fun it was to win again, I never plan to go back to 5.0 level again. Nor should I as a mid-40s man with a bum knee and torn shoulders. Being in 5.0 purgatory for seven years was terrible after the third year.

This desire leads me to a dilemma. Should I game the system or continue to play my best?

Going 8-2 still means I lost twice. However, I believe at the 4.5 level, I can win at least 70% of my matches with a regular doubles partner. However, if I keep on winning and win by significant margins, the USTA computer algorithm might automatically bump me up to 5.0 again, which is what happened to me in 2015.

Therefore, the next time my doubles partner and I are up 6-1, 5-1 in a match, it may be prudent to strategically lose some games to make the score closer! Sandbagging doesn't seem very honorable at all, but it happens all the time.

Here's the deal. The USTA tennis rating system is itself unfair.

Fighting Fire With Fire

How is it fair that an injured old man like me who never played D1 college tennis has to compete in a league with 20-something-year-olds who have? Ridiculous. If there were separate 4.5, 4.75, and 5.0 leagues, this would solve the skill discrepancy problem. Unfortunately, there are not enough participants.

As a result, my solution to staying at 4.5 is to blend in better.

Until the USTA rating system is improved, I have no other choice. I no longer care about the status of being a 5.0 tennis player. Instead, I just want to have fun and play in an appropriate league where I can win at least 50% of the time.

Navigating A Rigged System

Thankfully, nobody cares about recreational tennis except for a few diehards who form super teams to try and go to nationals. I'm not hurting anybody by not diving after balls or tearing my shoulders more by serving my hardest. Instead, I'm likely making my opponents happy for letting them win more games.

But my innocuous example of gaming the USTA tennis rating system makes me wonder how we can better compete at more important things when the system itself is so rigged? The people who cheated their way to wealth and power aren't going to give most of it back. Instead, they are going to use their ill-gotten gains to get even further ahead.

I know my children will have a tougher time than average getting into a good school and landing a good job because of who they are. Yes, they will absolutely try harder to get ahead. However, my expectations are low because we're not a part of a chosen group of people society fights for.

So what's the solution?

Accept the world is always going to be unfair. Then do what you can to take care of yourself and your family.

Insurance Policy For A Rigged System

My solution to navigating a rigged system is to create career insurance policies for my children.

One insurance policy is building a rental property portfolio. This way, the kids always have somewhere to live and something to manage if they can't get a good job out of college. If you have an affordable place to live, you can afford to take more risks.

My other solution is to keep my small online business alive for a couple more decades. Even if they end up with no employment opportunities, I can always hire my kids to do some business development, PR, writing, videography, or finance work for Financial Samurai. As the owner of a private business, I can do what I want.

My final solution is to generate as much wealth as possible so there's no need to depend on anybody to survive. In other words, build generational wealth. However, this is a suboptimal solution because I want my kids to earn their financial independence.

In conclusion, I say try to do things the right way. Your soul will feel amazing if you succeed. Even if you fail or way poorer than you could have been, you will feel good knowing you tried your honest best.

Related posts:

When People Doubt You, Just Keep Winning

How To Feel Better About Losing Tons Of Money In The Stock Market

Understanding The Angst And Anxiety Of High-Income Earners

Readers, what are your thoughts about gaming the system for more wealth and power? Have you thought about gaming the system in other ways? Any other examples of gaming the system I haven't touched upon? Have you ever gamed the system to your advantage? Will there ever be equal opportunities for all?

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52 thoughts on “Gaming The System For More Wealth Is Becoming More Acceptable”

  1. What does everyone think about tech workers working 2 or more jobs to ‘game the system’? I have experience with this and doubling my income with 2 full time jobs (not slacking off at 1, just don’t need to be the type A at both jobs) has changed me and my family’s life. There’s a blog that talks about this which I discovered after doing the 2 jobs since 2018, its a movement baby! Overemployed.com.

  2. Dec 31,1964– Dow- 874.12
    Dec 31,1981– Dow- 875.00
    17 years stocks went no where

    INDEX funds could be a big let down if a over 60 person is caught in this predicament.
    what would u do with 50% cash, with 33% RE, 18% Total Stock market index.
    over 60 person.
    This is what this guy says about buying the dips. any comments?
    ofdollarsanddata.com/why-buying-the-dip-is-a-terrible-investment-strategy/

    1. Who knows. But I think the other is only a young guy, about 30 years old who has only bee investing for the past 5-6 years. So what does he know about buying the dip given his lack of real-world experience?

      In general, I just like to listen to experienced investors who have real skin in the game. Not sure how you found him?

  3. I was talking to a close friend of mine and he plays tennis as well (competitively in college and now he teaches tennis). He told me about the Universal Tennis Rating system ( https://www.universaltennis.com/ ) that provides it’s own rating system and also allows you to contact/meet other players around your rating system. I didn’t know if you knew about this but thought it might be helpful.

  4. Ms. Conviviality

    Money allows people to game the system/get an unfair advantage. A couple of examples I’ve observed:

    – Paying for proven experts and coaches to advance your career (mindset work, negotiating salary) or business (SEO optimization, tax loopholes, setting up turnkey business). Paying for knowledge that would have taken years to learn and put into practice shortens the timeframe for making more money and living a better life sooner.

    – Using gold to bribe family’s way out of communist country. There was nothing making this family more deserving of escaping than any other family.

    I’ve met people who are much smarter than me and with great potential but due to lack of money, they have not been able to get as far in life because they can’t invest in the services/tools to help them advance. I’m a believer that with determination, one can achieve anything but it will take longer, unfortunately. Fortunately, anything can be achieved when we have the internet and YouTube university.

    1. Great examples. Go internet! I do believe anybody who wants to learn more can. And that is a great thing that more education is available to more people online. It keeps me going!

  5. I don’t think gaming the system is more acceptable. More prevalent sure, with everything online and more transparent these days. This is where character and integrity is questioned. You won’t have a functioning society and trust if you just “try to look out for your family” and not your community as a whole. As for A-rod, at least it wasn’t taxpayer money that belongs to us like what’s happening with wealthy people taking unethical tax breaks or pandemic relief money.

  6. Our plan is to die past 80, then leave it all to next generation, who will likely be past 60. Rinse and repeat. Keeps the generational wealth in the family as a fallback and a judiciously applied life-enhancer, but no one gets their hands on control of any of it until they’ve already had plenty of time to succeed on their own.

    Too bad one wealthy grandfather married a trophy wife after his first wife died and she blew through it all before he died, while the other wealthy grandfather fell into very bad spending habits before he died.

    Pretty sure it’s going to work for my dad and me though, as we are both self-made multi-millionaires (doesn’t mean what it used to, that’s for sure) strictly from saving some of our wages and investing, but it’s still untested. Still, my kids seem good with it, and I’ve got high hopes for my grandson. He doesn’t seem like one content simply to lean back, take it slow, and live off the fat of the land, but he’s only two so we shall see.

  7. FIRE millionaires who game their income to get maximum ACA healthcare subsidies is my pet peeve.

    1. Why does this bother you? Those of us FIRE’ed on in the FIRE path have paid more than our fair share in taxes. Taking advantage of a subsidy is no different than claiming a standard deduction on taxes, tax loss harvesting investments, or any of the numerous other ways to save money simply by being prudent.

  8. SeekingFIRE

    Sam, long time reader of your site but this is the first time I am posting. Huge fan of your articles and appreciate the time you take to write them and push us to think.

    I think it comes down to individual choice and what keeps you up in the night (or allows you to sleep peacefully in the night). What might be gaming to me might be doing the right thing for the other. My personal opinion is to follow the rules to the best extent possible but I do recognize there are times when we have to operate in gray areas. I rather stay on the side of truth versus gaming things. I think many of us would want to be like that but would we be on the side of truth if were in a situation where our (or our loved ones) life was at stake – and if we were to game it our chances of survival would increase?

    I teach tennis to my kids and last year my son was playing a match and he was serving 5-4. After my son won a point, the other kid thought that the game and match was over (though the score was 40-15). So the other kid came to the net but my son was explaining to him that it was only 40-15. As a parent and someone who likes to be on the side of truth, I was like just take the game and end it. But I was glad to see that my son was being fair. So I think when it comes to our loved ones, I feel we might be open to little bit of fibbing.

    1. Did your son win the match when the finished? I hope his good sportsmanship was rewarded with a win.

      1. SeekingFire

        Randy, my son did win the match.

        But in general what is more important…winning by playing fair or winning at any cost (including gaming the system)? I personally like to play (not limited to games but in life in general) fair, and would love to win every time but that does not happen. And I am okay with it…I feel happy that I gave my 100%. You win some and you lose some. Learn from the losses and move on.

  9. Incentives matter. My friend became a nurse practitioner rather than a physician assistant because as a male in a nursing program he was considered a minority, hence prizes (scholarships, etc). If someone takes something from you, taking it back isn’t stealing/gaming, it’s actually the right thing to do

  10. Go Elizabeth Warren! The hero of the Native American people! Amazing people still believe she didn’t try to game them system to get into school, get law jobs, and become a Senator.

    Native Americans are most oppressed people in America. For her to take advantage as a white woman is shameful. So I say shame on anybody who supports her.

    1. I have mixed feelings about some of Elizabeth Warren’s political stances, but this blog has enough readership that letting false information sit unanswered seems inappropriate.

      Two things:

      1. There is no evidence that Elizabeth Warren used her sliver of Native American ancestry to gain career advantage. The Boston Globe did a deep dive on this. See:
      https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2018/09/01/did-claiming-native-american-heritage-actually-help-elizabeth-warren-get-ahead-but-complicated/wUZZcrKKEOUv5Spnb7IO0K/story.html

      “In the most exhaustive review undertaken of Elizabeth Warren’s professional history, the Globe found clear evidence, in documents and interviews, that her claim to Native American ethnicity was never considered by the Harvard Law faculty, which voted resoundingly to hire her, or by those who hired her to four prior positions at other law schools. At every step of her remarkable rise in the legal profession, the people responsible for hiring her saw her as a white woman.”

      2. Whether you agree with her or not, I do believe Elizabeth Warren’s entire career history, dedication and effort, make it clear that she is sincere in her convictions.

      1. Most people who agree with Elizabeth are white people on the liberal side.

        Are you?

        Most minorities I know are offended she fakes being the most repressed minority to get ahead.

        And if you think Harvard and other schools weren’t salivating to hire a Native American professor, you are fooling yourself.

        What is your background?

  11. It’s so true that life isn’t fair and there will always be people who don’t play by the rules or have “unfair” advantages or who game the system in other ways.

    One experience I remember as a hs student was auditioning for a musical where the girl who got the lead was a really bad actress with a soso voice (when there were much better girls) but her parents were donating money to the school and pressuring the director to choose her. I knew then that there would just be more and more of that in college and in the work and client world. So I made up my mind to do my best in everything and pull every string I could reach going forward so that even when I failed I could at least say I did everything I could.

    1. Oh snap! I can totally see that happening! As a high school tennis coach for three years, lotta parents were pretty nice to me :-)

      I did have to manage expectations regarding where their sons would play in the lineup on occasion. It was good conflict resolution practice.

      You should check to see where your old classmate is now! That would be fun.

  12. My opinion: there’s no way your children won’t be successful in life unless, THEY choose not to. You are a wonderful example for your children. I’m sure your success with FS will lead to opportunities for your children, should they choose to pursue them.

    1. Thank you Scott. Although, the one thing I’ve learned in my short time here is to never be certain about such things. It’s good to think in possibilities and probabilities, but not in certainties.

      That said, Hardship and suffering are inevitabilities. I just hope I’ll be around for my children when they need me.

  13. like MJ and Kobe’s trainer, Tim Grover, said…”winning solves everything” I’m not one of those people that agree with this statement 100% but I recently passed a very important exam towards my certification and although the journey leading up to the exam was let’s say… very turbulent lol, I definitely felt what Tim Grover was saying after I find out I have passed the exam… so in retrospect, I think to Sam’s point, as long as you’re the one winning you’d care less about the methods you have employed to achieve your winnings; although ethics are a challenge but I definitely 100% agree with in this life to get ahead you do indeed sometimes need to think strategically and apply “creativity” lol

    1. Hey congrats! Don’t tell me you paid a test taker $10,000 to take the test for you!

      I’d keep that on the down low. Only meet in public places and converse in person. Check for wires!

  14. Tamara Lovdal

    Love the article. The line between gaming and cheating the system IMO is blurry at best. However, I respectfully disagree with your goals of financially safety netting the kids after college and beyond. The world is going to be unfair. If they can’t get a good job out of college, get a bad one..or get two bad ones. Need an affordable place to live? Get roommates. My four children will inherit our decent-sized rental portfolio at some point. But, I believe they will better able to decide what to do with it if they have had to face the world without career insurance policies.

      1. Tamara Lovdal

        I don’t think it’s ever easy to watch them struggle…that’s not a financial thing imo, it’s a love thing. But the struggling is part of what grows you up. I personally believe that it is central to succeeding. I haven’t turned my back on my young adult kids. They are our biggest pride. But I’m not bankrolling them either. In your article, you said your career insurance was in case the kids didn’t get a good job right out of college and your rental portfolio would always provide a place for them to live. That’s not the same as someone getting “thrown out on the streets” (by whom?) or “becoming destitute.” Not many parents would allow that to happen and it has nothing to do with the size of your RE portfolio or bank account.

        I love your newsletter. Your financial views are really fresh. I just think we maybe have different parenting styles. And that’s ok.

        1. Yes, differences are OK and great. I hope I don’t have to use my insurance. But I do want to teach them until 18 years old about business, real estate, investing, and everything else.

          What is it that you adult kids do and how old are they?

          1. Tamara Lovdal

            My kids are 24-28. We have a teacher, a CPA, a consultant in organizational strategy and a pretty successful gypsy in the film industry.
            Our youngest just took the plunge and bought her first house. We weren’t involved until she called to ask us to come do a walk through w her. And not again until she got her keys.
            My goal wasn’t necessarily to teach them about
            our business as much as it was to teach them to wirk hard and to follow their bliss.

        2. Jake Palmer

          My question to you though is what is “success?” Fulfillment, doing good in the world, making money?

  15. How do you propose that your kids learn financial independence when your insurance will pay them out, your real estate portfolio will give them a home that they never had to work for, buy, or pay for, your business will give them a job and the generational wealth youre devising will ensure they likely wont even need one? you’ve devised a wonderful system to ensure they’ll never need to be financially independent while simultaneously expecting them to be.

    1. Sure, by teaching them to take care of the properties while they are younger and also making clear it is my property and not theirs.

      It’s been great to paint and spackle the walls, pull the weeds and water the plants with my son so far. He earns money he puts in a piggy bank to buy a toy he desires.

      Remember, insurance policy is just that. It hopefully is never meant to be used.

      How are you competing and ensuring the survival of your family in a rigged system? What are some of your insurance policies?

      1. “Mom and I are rich. You’re not rich. In fact you’re broke. Don’t confuse our money for yours.” I have to tell my teenager that on occasion. I started preparing her mentally for a huge drop in living and spending expectations at age 15. When she moves out next year for college she’ll be ready to live on $50 a week instead of $5000, or she’ll figure it out very quickly. Moving back in to our house is not an option.

      2. Great question. By teaching them to fish rather than giving them the fish.
        By teaching them that nothing in life is free, how to get a job, how to climb the ranks, how to keep a job, how to save and budget and invest. In short by giving them the tools rather than just handing them the finished product that I built. This will build their self confidence and skills and allow them to feel a sense of accomplishment and independence. In short, preparing them for the real world, not the trust fund world.

        1. Something I’ve done with my kids is to create a ‘dad bank’. When they get some spending money on a birthday, or do a little job for the neighbors, or whatever and get a little cash – I ask if they want to put some or all of it into the dad bank. The dad bank operates like an extremely generous cd. Any money they put in has to stay for at least 1 year. Every 6 months, the dad bank pays 5% simple interest on any deposits. When they turn 18, the dad bank will pay out all deposits. Even by ages 7-9, the kids were seeing how money that is not spent on ‘things’ can earn more money. And they still sometimes want to spend a bit, but they will weigh that against the option of saving. I’m hoping that this experience will teach them the value of putting money toward investments that pay back, and limiting spending that is relatively wasteful.

    2. I think a lot of these comments are out of touch with what actually happens. Many upper-middle / wealthy parents can (i) help out kids at a young age (down payment, security deposit, etc.), (ii) supplement the kids income (careers take a long time to progress. Incomes in the early to mid 20s are low. It takes a small about of annual giving for your kid to be able to live nicely) and (iii) through conversations and value setting, teach kids financial independence

  16. I agree with Alex, gaming the system means playing by the rules, cheating is something else entirely. Hitting a drop shot when your opponent is extremely deep on the court is playing the game and is entirely legal. But lying about an opponent’s shot that hit the line and calling it out, that’s not gaming the system, that’s cheating. Performance enhancing drugs, illegal. Moving to a high elevation or sleeping in a reduced oxygen level tent to beef up your red blood cell count are both fair play, but human growth hormone or transfusing your own blood cells back into your body are cheating. Bribing officials to get jobs or contracts is cheating but becoming friends with officials and getting stronger consideration because they have built up trust in you over time, that’s legitimate.

    1. “ Hitting a drop shot when your opponent is extremely deep on the court is playing the game and is entirely legal.”

      Actually, that’s called strategy. Not even in the realm of gaming the system.

      1. True, perhaps I should have called it “playing the game”. However, there was a period in tennis in its early days when hitting a drop shot was considered unseemly and something a gentleman or gentlelady should not do. Or so I have read, I’m old but not that old!

  17. I believe there is a stark difference between gaming the system and cheating. Gaming the system is using the system’s own rules, or human nature, to advantage oneself in ways not anticipated by the rule makers. Cheating is violating those rules. A-Rod is a cheater. Bribing officials is cheating, but being super nice, helpful, and generous to officials to gain favor is not. Insider trading by Congress people is gaming because it is not explicitly illegal. Donating money to a school in exchange for admissions is cheating. Donating money to a school with the hope, even expectation, of influencing admissions is gaming the system (i.e. no quip pro quo). SEO is gaming the system. Hiring bots to submit good/bad reviews is cheating.

    Then again, if you realize rich and powerful people are playing the game of life by a different set of rules, then perhaps the definitions of gaming v. cheating change as well.

    1. Great points. How about the transgender swimmer from Penn who went from competing as a man to a woman and winning the NCAA championships this year?

      Gaming the system or cheater?

      1. I’d rather not dip my toe into this pool, but there’s more to be said about gaming the system. By Alex’s definition, the swimmer was not cheating. Whether the swimmer was gaming the system or not depends on your individual viewpoint.

        However, when the system is gamed (like the way Sam is holding his USTA rating at 4.5), the game tends to respond. Hopefully, the rules will change so that Sam can both play to his max potential AND keep the competition viable. But the other risk is the Association responds by moving in the other direction: forcing Sam to move up, further corrupting the rating system until so few players want to play that it eventually collapses.

        1. What I noticed with the USTA system is the business went down during the pandemic because league matches stop for almost a year. And when you have people who feel the system is unfair, then you have even less revenue and people playing. You have to pay $30 to join a team, for example. And then you have an annual membership fee to pay.

          Because I felt the rating system was so off, I decided to skip out in 2017 and early 2020.

          If the USTA wants to grow their business and survive, they need to be more inclusive.

          1. I agree. I don’t blame you for one second. I would do the exact same thing. I’m sure the rating system was created to make sure that competition remained healthy and manageable. But even if it still largely accomplishes its purpose, it’s a flawed system. If it’s like most institutions, it will multiply its flaws in the pursuit of eradicating every last one.

            There’s something about the letter of the law that becomes a spirit unto itself.

      2. The Alchemist

        Given that the NCAA has (spinelessly, in my opinion) made the rules to allow it, it cannot be said that the trans swimmer is “cheating”. It’s not the athlete’s fault, it’s the NCAA’s. The swimmer is playing by the rules (however disingenuously, IMHO).

        I don’t believe anyone gives a fig that this individual has decided to live as a woman; no one is holding that against him/her. What they DO object to is (a) the NCAA allowing the playing field to be tilted waaaay out of wack; and (b) the transgender swimmer having so little conscience as to take shameless advantage of the NCAA’s fecklessness.

        I would bet that 90% of Americans feel that Will/Leah has every right to live as s/he sees fit. However, it is blatantly obvious to anyone not captured by the new religion that male anatomy has enormous physical/athletic advantages over female anatomy. Allowing biological males who claim transgenderism to compete with females is blatantly unfair and, ultimately, will kill women’s sports. Biological females cannot compete with biological males; such “competition” becomes utterly meaningless.

        Prior to 2020, the total percentage of actual transgender individuals in the population was less than .2%. The recent rapid increase in the number of young people claiming to be trans is the direct result of a massive, artificial culture shift and aggressive, deliberate normalization of the transgender idea. IMHO, it is not right that an entire set of cultural norms be blown to smithereens to accommodate the needs of a minuscule segment of the population.

        A male athlete genuinely suffering from gender dysphoria is in a difficult position, no doubt about it; but if he possesses any integrity whatsoever, he will accept that it would be unfair and dishonest for him to compete against biological women.

        Note that very few (any?) biological female athletes are clamoring to compete in the men’s divisions. Why is that…..?

        1. I also note that no biological males are trying to compete as ballerinas as their anatomy puts them at a disadvantage. Regarding “cheating”, natural law > organizational rules, but as noted in my first post people will respond to incentives. Expect xx and especially their parents to pull them out of sports and return to more classical arts.

        1. Hi! Imho:

          Lots of good food for thought in this article- but in terms of sports it reminds of how Tim Ferriss won the Chinese National Kickboxing Championship. While he technically followed the rules, many people (including himself perhaps) would argue that he “gamed the system” – or was it a life hack?

          While many within the kickboxing world might view this in a negative light – it still has some humorous aspect to it as well.

          “The judges reportedly weren’t happy about the outcome, but their hands were tied, and also they were probably frightened that Ferris might shove them.”

          Also, gaming the system brought us the Subaru Brat (avoiding the 70s “chicken tax”) haha :) Plus things like how Converse All-Stars slippers – I mean sneakers haha.

          (https://www.themodernrogue.com/articles/2018/2/15/5-people-who-won-big-by-manipulating-the-system & https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelschein/2019/01/17/tim-ferriss-is-everything-thats-wrong-with-the-modern-world-and-why-you-should-follow-his-lead/?sh=79902ba23f3d & https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-why-converse-sneakers-have-fuzzy-bottoms-2015-8?op=1)

          This of course (perhaps arguably) differs from how VW tweaked their diesel cars to pass emissions test in the US, etc.

          ————————

          On a more serious note – is any person an island or even an isthmus?

          My guess would be all things in moderation – most people actually want to work and create – Imho people who don’t want to create/contribute etc actually may have other personal issues/challenges to overcome – the wealth may just exacerbate the condition in certain ways and actually create different challenges.

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          In terms of more “ad absurdum” arguments:

          Should parents even teach their kids how to speak? What about 2 languages? What about more desirable/employable languages like English? Should all parents not teach their kids English, since that given them an unfair advantage?

          What about learning other skills at home that other people may not know/learn from their parents – music, sports, math, history, languages, construction, real estate, culinary, agricultural, etc? For example, should Bach/Mozart/Beethoven’s parents not taught their children to play music?

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          And what about cheap debt (in the US) financed from the “petrodollar”/Fed/deposit insurance/etc? And possibly arbitraged between the interest rate and inflation rate, etc? Should all people in the US not buy houses (and go camping?) since it’s financed via an “unfair” monetary system advantage?

          Also, as an aside – the only book that I’ve read about how parents should pass generational wealth on to their kids – happened to mention philanthropy as an important aspect – but also happened to be authored by the head of Ivy League college philanthropy office …

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          In terms of passing on wealth to the next generation. I believe (imho) everyone should actually try to pass on as much wealth, knowledge, joy, abundance, good experiences, love, skills, etc as possible – to their kids and hopefully other people, too!

          Imho, most things in modern life are actually probably more abundant and less a zero-sum game than some might perhaps think.

          For example, the number of languages on person speaks (books read, skills mastered, instruments played, etc) doesn’t really affect the number of languages another person speaks, etc.

          But everything in moderation is also probably a good idea, too.

          In any case, best wishes to everyone.

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