Prosperity and happiness are accidents of birth or worse the consequence of sinister conspiracies to defraud others. Disparate results are at best fortuitous and at worst evidence of greed and avarice. From this perspective it is easy to argue that government ought to intervene to level the arbitrary and hence inequitable differences between us. The unsuccessful or the unhappy are just the victims of ill-fortune or the evil plunderings of others. The less prosperous find it more agreeable and less taxing to the their self-esteem to blame their circumstances on others.
Conservatives appreciate and incorporate the partial and incomplete truths in both visions.
It is part of the conservative wisdom that all us are born in unique circumstances with different sets of talents, aptitudes and abilities. We grow up in different families or with no families at all. These difference can profoundly influence the people we ultimately become. However, within these limits, we are free to act over an entire spectrum of ways. Although monetary rewards depend in part on the marketability of our talents, to great measure personal happiness is orthogonal to fiscal happiness.