And that anyone can achieve success by pulling themselves up by their bootstraps.
Both positions cannot be true.
Both legitimise peculiar forms of cruelty.
You can see why the government's rich backers champion these beliefs.
There's nothing we can do to help people, and if they're left behind, it's their fault.
This deadly moral determinism sits at the ideological heart of Boris Johnson's government.
They ensure their children succeed by sending them to private schools.
They ensure their friends succeed by giving them government contracts, without competition.
If they practised what they preached, they would set inheritance tax at 100%.
Capitalism for the poor.
Socialism for the rich.