The failure that is being talked about is the fact the we reward risk-taking much more than we reward effort. No one is saying there was no risk involved, rather what we're saying is the proportion of how much we reward risk vs. how much we reward effort is skewed in favor of risk. And the magnitude of this skew is unhealthy to society and leads to results that I (and others, clearly) don't consider fair.
To that I would add that the only risk we're rewarding in this way is the risk to capital. While we do pay more for jobs that are more risky in terms of safety, it's close to impossible to become a multi-millionaire by risking your life in your job. I would say that kind of risk is higher than the one taken by entrepreneurs, but entrepreneurs and investor have an easier (though not easy) path to getting outsized rewards for their risk.
It's OK to reward risk, and it's OK to reward effort, and it might even be OK to reward risk more than effort. But by how much more?
To that I would add that the only risk we're rewarding in this way is the risk to capital. While we do pay more for jobs that are more risky in terms of safety, it's close to impossible to become a multi-millionaire by risking your life in your job. I would say that kind of risk is higher than the one taken by entrepreneurs, but entrepreneurs and investor have an easier (though not easy) path to getting outsized rewards for their risk.
It's OK to reward risk, and it's OK to reward effort, and it might even be OK to reward risk more than effort. But by how much more?