There's definitely people like that out there but the narrative some people tell themselves to assuage any "survivor's guilt" they may have re: the job market and how well they've done is that most poor people deserve to be there in some way (lazy/stupid). That's what I like to call b.s. on. A lot of people I know who are wealthy definitely had a leg up in some way, be it parents helping out with college, etc. There's a lot more people like that than "self-made" success stories and even those stories involve a hell of a lot more luck than people want to admit and I've heard several successful people admit that. One actor said that on Larry King live (esp. in that business) and Larry said "you're goddamn right" (never forgotten that). Other factors involve someone believing in you or it involving who you knew more than what you knew, you lived in an area where the competition wasn't fierce, etc. Hell even being the right color in some areas.