It seems to me that the letter-writer (inadvertently) exemplifies *two* erroneous assumptions often made in our society.  

One is the old Social Darwinist position that if you are a failure and poor,  you *deserve* to be poor as a matter of 'natural selection'.

The converse (mis)assumption is that if you are born into poverty, you are stuck there and no amount of talent, self-discipline, or hard work will lift you out, because the Whole System Is Stacked Against You.  :-/