The pervasive myth that hard work == wealth needs to die. Every people I have met in my life wanted to have a shot at a decent life and would have put the necessary work for a decent wage.

The word lazy should be identified as what it really is: a pejorative.

I think it’s self evidently true that hard work is not equal to wealth and I don’t know how that meme became a thing.

You can exert extreme effort in unproductive directions and provide marginal, even extremely negative, value.

You can work extremely hard, all day every day, and accomplish nothing.

Gulags aren’t known for their wealth or value generation. They’re known for their labor input.