LET’S JUST ASSUME that it was 24 hours before you were born and a genie came to you and he said, “Herb, you look very promising and I’ve got a big problem. I’ve got to design the world in which you’re going to live and … I’ve decided … it’s too tough, you design it.” … You say, “I can design anything? … There must be a catch.” He says, “Well, there is a catch. You don’t know whether you’re going to be born black or white, rich or poor, male or female, infirm or able-bodied.…” You’re going to participate in what I call the ovarian lottery. You’re going to get one ball out of there and that is the most important thing that’s ever going to happen to you in your life. That is going to control whether you’re born here or in Afghanistan, or whether you’re born with an IQ of 130 or an IQ of 70…. I think that’s a good way to look at social questions, because not knowing what ball you’re going to get, you’re going to want to design a system that includes lots of goods and services, because you’re going to want people—on balance—to live well. And you’re going to want it to produce more and more so your kids are going to live well and your grandchildren are going to live better than your kids, but you’re also going to want a system that … does not leave behind a person who accidentally got the wrong ball.—University of Florida, October 15, 1998#巴菲特语录# 咱们想象一下在你出生前24小时，一个精灵来到你身边，他说，“Herb，你看起来很不错，我有个大问题。我要设计你想要生活的世界，这个有点难度，你可以来设计。你说:“我什么都能设计?”……这里一定有圈套。这里有个陷阱。你不知道你生下来是黑人还是白人，是富人还是穷人，是男性还是女性，是体弱多病还是身体健全....” 你要参加我谓的卵巢抽奖。你要从那里得到一个球，这是你一生中发生的最重要的事情。将决定你是出生在这里还是阿富汗，或者你出生时智商是130还是70.... 我认为这是一个看待社会问题的好方法，因为不知道你会得到什么球，你会想要设计一个包括许多商品和服务的系统，因为你会希望人们生活得更好。你会希望社会会产生越来越多的东西，这样你的孩子们就会生活得更好，你的孙子们就会比你的孩子们生活得更好，但你也会希望系统不会抛弃不小心拿错球的人。