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I Won The Lottery, and So Did You

What do you mean I won the lottery, Hunter?

That’s what I thought until I decided to not sleep ALL night and watch a one hour speech by Warren Buffet, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway who’s net worth is 73.5 Billion Dollars.

In his presentation, he was asked the question, “What is your take on Social Security and the Welfare System?”

His answer really takes everyone’s best interest into account, and that’s why I wanted to share this with you today.

 

NOTE: These aren’t his exact quotes – just as I remember

When he was asked this question in front of over a hundred high school students, he replied with this answer:

“Well first things first, we all won the lottery… when I was born I had a 1 in 50 chance to be born in the United States, and I was fortunate enough to be born here. You guys have also won the lottery, so you’re already ahead of the game.”

That statement right there was a big eye opener to me in itself. Yes, I’m grateful that I live in this country, but when you really get to the numbers (1 in 50) although I’m sure the numbers have changed since when he was born, it really makes an impact.

He continues…

“Imagine if, 24 hours before you were born, a genie came to you and said, “you’re about to be born in 24 hours, and you can create the world however you want it.”

“What’s the catch?”, you’d say.

The genie would reply back, “Here’s the catch… you don’t know if you’re going to be male or female, white or black, smart or stupid, healthy or have a crippling disease, what country you’re to be born in, or if you’re born rich or poor.””

This reply to the question Warren Buffet asked is about the best answer I think he could have given. Obviously, everyone’s interpretation on this is different, but it does really take into perspective everyone elses positions.

Personally, I don’t get caught up in all of the politics that go into social security and welfare, but I am aware that a lot of people complain about it.

It impacts my life in that my mother is very ill and does have a very deadly disease that she was born with. Luckily, it’s not as severe as it could be, but the medical bills aren’t cheap. She worked her entire life as a nurse and helped thousands of people, and she didn’t stop until her doctors told her she had to.

However, a lot of people abuse the system too, and it is FAR from perfect. Warren Buffett acknowledges this but claims that it is constantly improving.

I’m not going to get into this debate, but I really just wanted to share Warren Buffett’s viewpoint on this because it really made me appreciate what I have a little bit more. I hope it did the same for you.

You can watch the full interview below: