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This particular rational is complete bullshit. I really mean that, there is no 'cake' or 'pie' or whatever other pastry the metaphor people have on the brain. We do not line up for our ration of wealth, we are not just given anything. If I have more then you 99.9% of the time I did more then you and planned better then you, the iota's worth left had dumb luck.
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9th, the battles I was referring to took place in the 19th and early 20th century, when Britain followed a laissez faire approach to capitalism. I am referring to a time when a very small class of industrialists controlled had a strangelhold on economic power and the mass of the working classes lived in slums, worked in the 'dark satanic mills' of the cities and were forced to let their children work in dangerous jobs in the mines and mills. The working class fought hard for protection, for a fair wage, for decent working conditions. They had to fight for these things because they were being treated by their employers as if they were little more than dumb beasts.
The fact that a small class of people had sole access to finance, to the vote, to a decent education, to a childhood without working in dangerous conditions, does not mean that they did more or planned better. The system at the time did not allow for social mobility.
Every single protection that the working classes ever gained was fought for and fought for hard. Laws governing safety at work? Fought for against the wishes of the employer-class. A fair day's pay for a fair day's work? Fought for against the wishes of the employer-class. Legislation against children working? Fought for against the wishes of the employer-class. Laws governing minimum safety and hygiene standards in housing? Fought for against the wishes of the employer and landlord-class. The right to unionise? Fought for against the wishes of the employer-class and the political elite. Old age pension? Fought for, and fought for fucking hard by a class of people who were used to working until they dropped.
I find it interesting that you relate most strongly to that employer class. You relate to the minority who controlled the entire economy rather than the majority who worked in it. Me? I'm under no such illusion. I am a workingclass woman from Salford, if I'd have been born 150 years earlier, I would have lived in a slum, most likely with 6 people to a bedroom. I would have been working by the time I was 7 in a dangerous job with a very high risk of injury and mutilation. At best I may have been 'in service' from the age of 10, working for a wealthy family. Me and my entire family would have worked 12 hours a day for just enough to eat and with no hope of ever changing and not one of us would have had the right to vote. Meanwhile those who owned the mills and factories would have experienced vast wealth and controlled the political system.
I am able to live the life I live now, with the opportunities I have now and the protections that prevent my exploitation because my forefathers (and mothers) fought for them. I would also posit that you are able to live the life you live and have the protections you have, because your forefathers fought for them.