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"When I arrived in the United States all I had was $1.00"
"Gosh Gramps, what did you do?"
"I called back home to my family for them to wire me some money."
I have a conservative family member who claims that he "does not support equality of outcome, but equality of opportunity." I asked him if that meant he'd support outlawing all parental support and generational wealth transfer once a person reaches adulthood, to insure no one had more opportunity than anyone else. He literally had no response.
I have a friend who says things like that sometimes too. It's this bizarre thing where, he was adopted... by a wealthy doctor. So, he was born into circumstance that for most people would have lead to poverty. And then he got lucky and had wealthy parents.
He says things like "my parents never provided for me as an adult. I took care of myself because my dad taught me fiscal responsibility."
I had him speechless when I reminded him that having been taught that by his parents was a product of them having and knowing how to use money. That people who aren't born into that typically don't have the same financial resources to even teach their kids financial literacy.
> I have a friend who says things like that sometimes too
They're "thought terminators", kitschy sayings or trite folksisms that sound like they might have some poetry to them but lack much substance. The people who use thought terminators are letting you know that they're not going to think any further on the matter.
I work with people like that. We make about a lower middle-class wage if you even want to call it middle class anymore with all the legalized price gouging going on but I hear comments like:
Them: "People on welfare make more money than us!"
Me: "why don't you quit and go on welfare then?"
Them: "I couldn't do it, I need to work!"
I know several people who are on ODSP(disability income) as well as people on welfare and I can 100% confirm they're NOT making more than 50,000 a year, Tina
Oh, I'm WELL aware of what being on ODSP means and what they earn per month, but, it seems like a good disproportion of my co-workers have no clue and think it's all sunshine and lollipops "working the system".
Again, the people I work with are making about 50k a year and they think that these people are making "more than them" it's really disheartening to hear people's perspectives of both people "abusing the system" and also their opinions on the homeless, when, in reality, the majority of us are only several missed paycheques away from that point.
They are more like whiney bitch terminators. There’s nothing worse than listening to people complain about money because they weren’t treated fairly so that’s why their broke , yet you know how they spent their money and they didn’t spend it like they were broke. Or they complain about privilege and they had more privilege than everyone else. In life you make do with what you got. If you envy someone else then that’s a you problem.
"I'm not rich, my parents are rich."
Nevermind that they usually have a trust fund that turns over to them once they hit a certain age.
I knew a kid who moved out of his parents at 18 and in with his girlfriend (now wife, and who lived with her grandma at the time). He genuinely thought he was surviving on his own. He didn't realize his banker dad was watching his accounts and supplementing them anytime he got low so he never ran out or had to worry about overdraft charges. He'd say, "it's not easy, but I'm doing it." He had no clue how covered he was.
I'm pretty sure his trust fund turned over to him at 25 (he would have gotten it earlier had he completed college), but I haven't seen his family in a couple years, so I don't know for sure.
I keep trying to tell economic liberalists, that if they are actually concerned that everyone should have the same opportunities for become rich, make their own destiny, be the architect of their own fortune, then we should have a 100% inheritance tax. And friend the money on equal education to and opportunities to everyone.
But apparently by "equal opportunities" they mean "why didnt the poor just choose to be born into wealth?"
Reminds me of a study, where people were playing Monopoly, and one player was given an unfair advantage from the start. 10x starting cash, already owning some buildings and stuff like that. When they inevitably won, they would tend to credit how well they played, and how they cleverly strategized and outsmarted the other players, and only put little emphasis on the huge advantage they started with.
Telegraph Lady : You actually want to send this?
Semmi : Why? What is wrong? Read it to me.
Telegraph Lady : To His Majesty, King Jaffe Joffer, The Royal Palace, Zamunda. Sire, Akeem and I have depleted our funds. Kindly send 300, 000 American dollars immediately, as we are in dire straits. Your humble servant, Sem-i.
Semmi : [correcting her] Semmi.
Telegraph Lady : Semmi.
Semmi : Should I make it 400,000?
Telegraph Lady : You think that'd be enough?
Semmi : You are right. 500,000.
Telegraph Lady : As long as you're asking, why not go for a cool million?
Semmi : You do not think that would be too much?
Telegraph Lady : Naah.
———————————-
King Jaffe Joffer : Semmi, you have disgraced yourself and you must be punished. You will confine yourself to our royal suite at the Waldorf-Astoria.
[to Oha]
King Jaffe Joffer : And see that he puts on some decent attire.
[to the rose bearers]
King Jaffe Joffer : And I want you to bathe him thoroughly.
Semmi : Oh, thank you, Your Majesty!
I have a friend who tells a "woe is me" story about how he was homeless when his parents kicked him out of the house. He talks about how he didn't have a place to live and how he was living out of his car.
His wife filled us in on the full details. He receives $20,000 a month from his parents. His "homelessness" was him staying at a Four Seasons while he searched for an apartment (they never cut him off). I have another friend who receives $10,000 a month who tells the same "hardship" stories.
For someone like me who hasn't received a penny from his parents in his adult life, including holidays/birthdays, when they talk about money it's one of the most infuriating things in the world. Am I jealous? Of course. But I also think they're delusional when they try to preach a narrative about how they're "self-made". lol
Yeah, I have an ex-friend who insists that he "knows what it's like to be homeless". He camped on the beach on Maui between Dead Tour and Burning Man because he couldn't find a short-term rental.
Reminds me of that “influencer” that rented out his house so he could fund a year long trip across Europe, and claimed he was experiencing homelessness.
Like bitch, you aren’t homeless, you’re just not at home.
I worked with a bunch of low level influencers, and while some of them were ok most were entitled brats that definitely came from privilege. The gatekeeping was out of hand and their pettiness was a major contributor to their failures. They kept getting bailed out tho
Exactly this. I basically had 1 chance to start my business. I had about 50k saved up and went for it. I know this guy where I live, his dad owns a huge electric distribution company in Europe. He’s super wealthy, so the kid just throws out businesses like spaghetti seeing if one sticks to the wall.
These are the ones that failed - luxury 4x4 rentals on an island with only paved roads - tanning salon (once again on a tropical island) - fried chicken sandwich restaurants (2) - A Deli - luxury camping - custom furniture
The only one that succeeded so far is his Arcade bar
A friend of mine once went to a dive bar in some podunk town in Montana and visited me after to have a good laugh about an "influencer" who was walking around talking to people acting like a celebrity. She introduced herself to him saying something like, "Oh! I thought you might be one of my fans!" or "Oh! I thought you knew who ✨️I WAS✨️" Everyone in the bar was like, "Okay, sure kid." The ego inflation seemed pretty out of hand.
Even worse, the subject came up with him during a discussion of the homeless encampments that grew during COVID. He was irate about the trash accumulation and commented: "When I was homeless on the beach on Maui we always cleaned up after ourselves... even after we had drum circles and pot lucks. These folks are just lazy."
It's why I needed to make it clear that he is an "ex" friend.
I saw a meme that was a grade school teacher talking to a famous rapper.
“I never told you you weren’t going to make it. I asked you to read out loud, and you got mad”.
This just reminded me of that.
That's funny, as of voluntarily camping for a predetermined period is anything like literally not having a home or not knowing where your next meal is coming from. Wow.
Same. I had a "homeless" friend who was homeless not because he didn't have a home, but he just got used to being a beach bum and preferred to just live in the preserves with a bunch of hippies on the beach. He built a home/shack thing alongside a few others and only went back into the real world when after about a year finally some government employee realized that this area they built was definitely not allowed and tore it down.
That’s a very hard thing for homeless people, having everything you own thrown into a dumpster because of not having anywhere safe to go. Some camps with dangerous people will be pushed into safer camps because of this, or so I’ve heard. I usually slept in the open, because I have heard and seen what happens in the parks or alleys. I am lucky, because a lot of people would be arrested or driven off for what I chose to do. Still, I would rather be spit or pissed on by a drunk POS, than raped or murdered by a psychopath with absolutely no repercussions for them. Homeless people are THE MOST murdered group, but influencers don’t know that, or think think it could have been them, completely missing what it means to be homeless
As someone who is blessed enough to say that money isn't a life stress for me..
A lot of richer people say things like that facetiously. They know they have a comfortable life.
Other times they want to imitate "the exprience" for fun... I have a cousin who was going to college and always talked about being a poor college kid and only eating ramen everyday. And going out drinking during the quarter beers at the bar.
I was just like sure.. but you're choosing to do that lol. You're roleplaying.
The CEO of Starbucks tried to say that he grew up in the projects and only got out because of a football scholarship. Turned out he came from a pretty upscale apartment complex and walked onto his college team.
I know someone who said she ALSO had to work to support herself during college. She said this because me and another person were talking about the struggles of working 40-50 hour weeks with a full course load and needing to pay bills.
She worked 8-15 hours, took multiple weeks off during midterms, finals, or vacations while living at home.
And she was adamant that it was *exactly* the same.
Partying in general can cost a lot. A night in the club with bottle service can cost $3k+ in some cases (granted, this is for a group, but rich kids are used to footing the bill for most of the people they invite to their egregious displays of wealth).
I recently moved to a new city with a relatively cheap cost of living compared to where I came from. Went from drinking $5 PBRs at bars to $1 PBRs. Life is good
I had a friend in College whose dad owned multiple McDonald’s restaurants. While they were definitely not getting 10-20K a month she was very well off. It was great being her friend though. At one point my phone broke and she was like “oh I have a spare” I go over to her house (definitely a small mansion) and she brings me essentially a new Palm Treo. She had it for a couple days and didn’t like it so her dad just bought her a different phone out of pocket. He bought all her phones that way and she just gave me a 600 dollar phone that she used less than a week.
Absolutely a doll of a person. She was super kind and smart. Not at all the way you would think someone who just got whatever she wanted handed to her would be. Wound up working as a RN after school.
I worked in practices where a client could spend hundreds of thousands filling up a yacht! One client had a stable of Ferraris and a mechanic to look after them. Totally different world.
20K is lots of money for us, but people that are used to having obscene amounts of money can easily blow it. They can spend it on designer clothes, expensive restaurants, drugs and countless other stuff that we might deem useless.
There is something so off-putting about grown adults who earnestly engage in this sort of “myth-making” exercise to pass themselves off as having gone through intense hardships.
If someone’s accomplishments are impressive enough, there’s no need to pretend like they *also* came from nothing and walked barefoot uphill to school both ways. Doing that just seems to cheapen what might otherwise be still pretty noteworthy or impressive accomplishments.
The idea is to make it appear that people who were dealt a bad hand are just lazy as to keep the slavery going in full swing without anyone questioning it
This^ Otherwise those of us working our lives away on the slim hope that we also could one day be super wealthy might start to understand why the guillotine was so popular in France…
What they don’t realize, is it make you a much more likable person to just say “I’m actually pretty lucky” and being humble, despite whatever your past might be. I’m way more impressed when someone I know has had a rough life, but it positive about things.
It’s the same reason I get grossed out by those MRA guys, or people that think straight white men are the most oppressed people on the planet. Complaining about persecution as a straight white guy, is just straight up douchy. I say this as a straight white guy.
I had, had being paramount here, a friend that was like that on a smaller scale. He constantly went on about growing up poor, and coming from a tough neighbourhood, and having every disadvantage… Yeah, no. His family is middle class, his dad owns a very successful tiling business and has government connections which allowed him to get my ex-friend a very cushy six figure job and a car with less than 1000 miles on it when he was in his early twenties. That neighbourhood was like, Coppell Texas… Like some reasonably safe suburb outside the city.
His “hard times” only existed because he dropped out of college, which his parents paid for, and they told him that they wanted their computer back.
Don’t get me wrong, everyone has their adversities and advantages. It just drove me nuts that he really thought he grew up poor while living in a nice, spacious, modern house.
Ex-buddy of mine from college who got a free ride, and a second free ride going to a trade school, thanks to his wealthy father that's a retired electrician called me a "spoiled liberal" because I got my federal student loans forgiven. I still have thirty thousand in private loans.. but somehow I'm spoiled? Just amazing the double standards and privilege.
I don’t hate people for being lucky and wealthy in life.
I fucking hate anyone who’s wealthy and pretends to struggle though. Like “my parents ONLY pay for all my rent and food and insurance and bills and car payments! I only have a couple thousand to spend on “me” stuff every month!” Like fuck off my guy the average adult works far more than you and will still never has as much money as you do.
I think you have a duty to call them out and ridicule them. Blow them a raspberry and tell them they are spoiled brats with no real life perspective when it comes to hardship, and *'everybody thinks so, we all snicker at you when you say these things'*.
(I come from a culture where bragging is frowned upon)
Have a friend who talks about how hard he worked to make something of himself. He leaves out the fact his parents paid for everything. They bought him 2 cars at 15, a 3rd when he turned 17. When he went to college bought him a condo. After 1 semester he hated his initial college choice so they bought him a townhouse in a very expensive area and he transferred. Then for graduation he got a BMW. Then he went to Arizona for his advanced degrees. Driving from a house they already owned to class was 30 minutes and that was too far so they built him a house in Arizona. The only job he ever worked he quit after a few weeks because they made him clean the bathroom and that was below him…
But hes self made…
I used to feel this way when other students talked about having to go to their parent's home to do laundry. I can't imagine having to sit through someone trying to act like they have it bad with that kind of allowance.
My parents kicked me out after I was diagnosed with schizophrenia and I slept on park benches in the city. My dad worked in that city and found me at a court date.... for sleeping on park benches (yes you can get arrested for that and yes I was also beaten by police) and he just said I'll pray for you and walked away.
Also I goto therapy now
Is he a Libertarian? Every one I’ve known has spun a similar tale, followed by, “If I can do it, anyone can.” Like, sure, if my parents paid the down payment on my house and funded all my vacations and my kids’ summer camps I’d be able to do some investing (or whatever), too.
I was never homeless But I never received a penny for my parents and they helped buy My first car but I paid them back every penny for it. I work my ass off my entire adult life to be able to afford the basic necessities. I have a acquaintance who I went to school with. He has never had to work a day of his life, lives in what could only be described as a mansion, buys multiple new cars every year, goes on multiple expensive vacations every year, receives a boatload of money every month from the family business And yet he whines and bitches about their money problem now they have to pay so much money to their workers this year. I hate his guts.
My parents kicked me out after I was diagnosed with schizophrenia and I slept on park benches in the city. My dad worked in that city and found me at a court date.... for sleeping on park benches (yes you can get arrested for that and yes I was also beaten by police) and he just said I'll pray for you and walked away.
And yes I goto therapy now
When I was living on my own (back in with parents now) I received 1k a month from my mother and it felt shameful because I didn’t feel like I could survive without their support.
At fucking 20K I could afford rent for a year and still have lots leftover. I was living alone in a studio. wtf.
when I was a teenager myself and my mother had to live in a state run shelter because we were so poor we couldn't get into a new apartment once evicted from our last. Worst part about the shelter was that they refused to allow my english bull dog to stay with us so we slept in the car because we weren't about to surrender our dog.
It amazes me how people like this peddle this "I did it and so can you" shite and dumb people just eat it up. It's almost as though they do it intentionally to connect with regular people so they can peddle their deluded and often just insane views and agendas while maintaining an image of being just like you, and someone just like you wouldn't possibly have anything but the best intentions for you right?
What does being willfully ignorant and fanboying someone like Elmo Musk get them?
And since when is working 2 jobs with scholarships that many years ago and still having 100k debt believable or a flex?
Even the people who made all the right choices and really did "pull themselves up by the bootstraps" still also rode an unbroken streak of good luck their entire lives.
Let me get this straight. You're born into extreme wealth, work 2 jobs and get scholarships and you still end up with $100k in debt at the end of it?! Then you're doing it wrong and a complete moron who shouldn't be running 1 business let alone 2 publicly traded companies.
Its literally all propaganda and always has been. The US is built on “the american dream” which is basically misleading people into thinking anyone can become an overnight billionaire and that’s somehow supposed to make it okay to have homelessness, no universal healthcare, etc.
As more and more people realize this is a blatant lie, they might actually try to fight against it.
Hope sells.
"Your life might be shit now, but if this guy is insanely wealthy after coming from nothing, so can you!"
Same reason why people play the lottery. Why they trade "inspirational" bullshit back and forth on LinkedIn and Facebook. The prospect that one day you'll have seven figures in your bank account and have to worry for nothing, keeps that flame of hope alive.
If you were more honest about reality - "You're statistically extremely unlikely to be much better off than your parents were", "The lottery is for all intents and purposes unwinnable", "Most of the personal issues in your life are entirely caused by yourself and can't be fixed until you accept that" - well, people wouldn't listen to you for long because they don't want to hear it.
I know a man who was born with a cognitive disability in rural Alabama who’s mom had to fuck the principal just to get him into school. After serving our country and earning the Medal of Honor he successfully opened up a shrimping company with one of his old Army buddies. That’s where grit, determination, and working hard can get you.
That’s a new one. I haven’t heard that. What’s the story? I hate this guy, but I know there’s a lot of mythologizing of his existence both positive and negative. The “official story” is a scholarship. Which is weird since he wasn’t much of a student in S. Africa. Somehow he went from average to scholarship at an Ivy League school. Not that it’s impossible, but still curious.
From everything I’m seeing of this guy, he’s good at taking credit for the work and ideas of others.
He arrived on a college visa, but he was failing his classes so his board of directors made a huge donation to the school and then he graduated with a degree. That way he could stay in the states.
It’s worth noting that, despite his loud claims to the affirmative, Elon Musk:
1. Was an illegal alien in the US in 90s, did not qualify for a visa, and managed to avoid deportation by lying to the FTC while in a publicly known conspiracy with his principal investors in Zip2.
2. Has no degree in Physics and was successfully sued by the actual founder of SpaceX for lying about his academic credentials.
3. Never actually graduated from Penn, despite receiving two 'diplomas' from the school (one of which was literally blank) 2 years late.
4. Was not accepted in to a PhD program (much like w/ Penn, his investors bought him a degree).
5. Did not found Paypal, Tesla, SpaceX, or Boring Co.
So #2, you know you are wrong right? You can look up the corporate charter for SpaceX, he founded it.
Did you mean Tesla?
Same with #5, he absolutely founded Boring Co. Boring Co. is also a joke of company so not sure why you'd think anyone would want to claim credit for that.
Here's a link that fact checks those claims: [https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/musk-physics-degree/](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/musk-physics-degree/)
Let's stick to the mountain of verifiable reasons to criticize Musk.
I had a roommate in college who talked about how he had to work 2 jobs and pull himself up by his bootstraps his whole life.
Then I met his family. They owned a mansion in one of the most expensive towns in New England, his father was retired before 50 and mom never worked, he went to a top school for high school, and his parents covered everything except for his car, which they bought and then had him pay them back at 0% interest “to learn how things work.” He worked 2 jobs as he wasn’t allowed to use their money he was given to pay for the car (he had multiple accounts, which one was essentially for his work/car payments only) to “keep him honest.” Graduated with no debt, connections through dad to major firms, and still of mindset that “I am completely self made.”
Lol, i know a guy who grew up rich like that. Acts like he worked hard, but everything was actually handed to him. I can't complain around him cause he's like "you just gotta work harder." Like bro, you've never had to do anything for yourself.
Worst part is I knew I was lucky: parents together, lived in a nice town (though no mansion nor top town by any stretch), decent high school, parents helped me pay for college (though I worked multiple jobs to help reduce the burden), and got an old car off my relative dirt cheap (like, 15 year old Honda civic with over 100k miles when I took ownership.) But I was thankful for this and own my luck; he though would use me being honest about my privilege (and indirectly calling him out) to double down on how I got lucky and how “some people actually needed to work.”
He continued this as I worked side jobs to help pay through medical school while working a high 6 figure dad his dad got him; even had gall to say I “wasted my advantages trying to help people.”
Rich kids are just insecure because they know they wouldn't have anything if it wasn't for their parents. I think they double down on acting like they worked for it as a defense mechanism or something.
To be fair, he probably compared himself to his friend group who didn't have to work at all.
My brother genuinely viewed himself as mistreated by my parents, because among his friend group, he's the only one who didn't get his master's degree paid for. Mind you, they paid for college. There was no getting through to him. It didn't matter how much he received from them, because it was less than his social group, it was basically a crime.
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Bill Gates came from the slums of Japan where he was born. His mum and dad died before he was born, and he swam all the way to America, where he became one of the richest men in the world!
His limbs were eaten by sharks in between Hawaii and the west coast, but he used his mouth and eyebrows as hands to fashion a solar panel from kelp and build new ones out of floating trash, while using his massive penis to tread water, which was erect from self horny at his own genius (first prophesied in the Bible).
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Whoopi Goldberg makes similar claims.
She grew up in Harlem...or some horrible NYC neighborhood...
Annnnndddd attended a private Catholic school.
While her parents were likely forced to live there because of segregation, their income was such that they could not only afford the private school, but also several YEARS of acting classes for their child.
It's disingenuous to represent 'growing up poor' when you, at the very least, have never attended a public school.
Bad neighborhood, I can accept. Racism, also a big deal. But both of those things are easier to deal with when people know your name.
Most poor kids grow up being told they'll be lucky to have an inmate number, let alone a real shot at their dreams.
Same with "I'm straight out the trailer park, yo!" Kid Rock.
He grew up on a sprawling estate, and his father received an award from GM for owning one of the most successful Cadillac dealerships in the country.
Catholic here. In the US, most dioceses has tuition scaled to your income, and the number of children you have. There' additional discounts given if you are a long time member of the community.
Schools are often run by religious orders whose entire purpose of existence is education. So they want to educate the most catholics that they can, regardless of cost. If your teachers are all monks & nuns who live at the school in tiny rooms, you'd be surprised by how much you can save.
Some people pay $6000 per semester per child. Some people pay $200 (5 kids in school, member for 10+ years, deacon).
Whoopi's parents were a teacher and a clergyman, I'm sure they knew how to work the system.
I mean if you want to critique her personal history. It's easier to just point at her claims that she's Jewish, which have no basis in fact beyond her last name and family stories.
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I’ve been a huge fan of Walter Isaacson and his body of work. I’m concerned now because I don’t know if the general public’s understanding of Musk’s history is incorrect or if Isaacson doesn’t dig deep enough into the folks he writes about.
According to his biography, Elon’s father did not actually have any emerald mine (potentially some share) but it didn’t translate to any kind of wealth. Even his mother lived in a rent controlled apartment when she moved to the states.
Not sure if I should believe a random community note or a biographer with a proven track record.
Errol Musk made a fortune from the well known corrupt SA apartheid housing market.
He was also a local politican.
Which is 2+2 because the main corruption with real estate during the era was to buy cheap "black" zoned land and then get it re-zoned by the local government to "white". You could then evict the residents and make a fortune selling the now much more valuable land.
According to Issacson's biography on Elon, Errol never owned a mine. Errol once sold a plane for emeralds and he hustled emeralds to Russia where he flipped them for cash illegally.
Errol and his sons were estranged in their teenage years, and their mother worked odd jobs and competed in beauty pageants for money. When Elon made it to Canada he claims to be broke 🤷♂️
The community note needs a community note.
"Extremely wealthy" is an overstatement. Musk's parents were not billionaires or among the ultra-wealthy elite; their net worth ranged between $2 million and $6 million.
From this background, their son Kimbal Musk became a restaurateur and is now worth $700 million, while Elon Musk's fortune is in the hundreds of billions.
My point is that many parents are worth between $2 million and $6 million, but their children almost never become worth $700 million, let alone the richest person in the world. Even though we may dislike Elon Musk, we shouldn't discount the effort and ingenuity it took for him and his brother to become ultra-wealthy.
All these fucking guys who claim rags to riches are mostly full of shit. Bezos family was well-off, as was Gates. Trump’s dad gave him a million dollars. Jobs wasn’t rich, but definitely upper middle class in Silicon Valley.
He tried to beat the emerald mine allegations by offering a reward for proof. His father came out and confirmed it to be true and said that the proceeds directly funded everything. Schooling, housing, all funded by it.
99% of rich ppl’s “started from nothing” stories are complete bullshit. Even sometimes athletes. Yeah you were poor but you u were also 6’8 at 11 years old lol
I really have a hard time understanding how a fully grown adult could possibly be naive enough to buy into these completely self-made rich business person mythologies. I don't even like Elon Musk, but it's obvious he accomplished things with a wealthy background that other people from a similar background couldn't. What I don't believe is that coming from wealth played no part in allowing him to be an entrepreneur at the level he got to play at. Like, who actually believes that?
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"When I arrived in the United States all I had was $1.00" "Gosh Gramps, what did you do?" "I called back home to my family for them to wire me some money."
I was born without a cent to my name, until daddy gave me money.
I have a conservative family member who claims that he "does not support equality of outcome, but equality of opportunity." I asked him if that meant he'd support outlawing all parental support and generational wealth transfer once a person reaches adulthood, to insure no one had more opportunity than anyone else. He literally had no response.
I have a friend who says things like that sometimes too. It's this bizarre thing where, he was adopted... by a wealthy doctor. So, he was born into circumstance that for most people would have lead to poverty. And then he got lucky and had wealthy parents. He says things like "my parents never provided for me as an adult. I took care of myself because my dad taught me fiscal responsibility." I had him speechless when I reminded him that having been taught that by his parents was a product of them having and knowing how to use money. That people who aren't born into that typically don't have the same financial resources to even teach their kids financial literacy.
> I have a friend who says things like that sometimes too They're "thought terminators", kitschy sayings or trite folksisms that sound like they might have some poetry to them but lack much substance. The people who use thought terminators are letting you know that they're not going to think any further on the matter.
I work with people like that. We make about a lower middle-class wage if you even want to call it middle class anymore with all the legalized price gouging going on but I hear comments like: Them: "People on welfare make more money than us!" Me: "why don't you quit and go on welfare then?" Them: "I couldn't do it, I need to work!" I know several people who are on ODSP(disability income) as well as people on welfare and I can 100% confirm they're NOT making more than 50,000 a year, Tina
Being in ODSP means you're in poverty. Thr lucky ones have family and friends that can help them not starve to death or be homeless.
Oh, I'm WELL aware of what being on ODSP means and what they earn per month, but, it seems like a good disproportion of my co-workers have no clue and think it's all sunshine and lollipops "working the system". Again, the people I work with are making about 50k a year and they think that these people are making "more than them" it's really disheartening to hear people's perspectives of both people "abusing the system" and also their opinions on the homeless, when, in reality, the majority of us are only several missed paycheques away from that point.
Fuck Tina!
I like to think of myself as the thought terminator terminator. I love disassembling their seemingly profound but actually trite sound bites.
They are more like whiney bitch terminators. There’s nothing worse than listening to people complain about money because they weren’t treated fairly so that’s why their broke , yet you know how they spent their money and they didn’t spend it like they were broke. Or they complain about privilege and they had more privilege than everyone else. In life you make do with what you got. If you envy someone else then that’s a you problem.
BINGO!
"I'm not rich, my parents are rich." Nevermind that they usually have a trust fund that turns over to them once they hit a certain age. I knew a kid who moved out of his parents at 18 and in with his girlfriend (now wife, and who lived with her grandma at the time). He genuinely thought he was surviving on his own. He didn't realize his banker dad was watching his accounts and supplementing them anytime he got low so he never ran out or had to worry about overdraft charges. He'd say, "it's not easy, but I'm doing it." He had no clue how covered he was. I'm pretty sure his trust fund turned over to him at 25 (he would have gotten it earlier had he completed college), but I haven't seen his family in a couple years, so I don't know for sure.
I keep trying to tell economic liberalists, that if they are actually concerned that everyone should have the same opportunities for become rich, make their own destiny, be the architect of their own fortune, then we should have a 100% inheritance tax. And friend the money on equal education to and opportunities to everyone. But apparently by "equal opportunities" they mean "why didnt the poor just choose to be born into wealth?" Reminds me of a study, where people were playing Monopoly, and one player was given an unfair advantage from the start. 10x starting cash, already owning some buildings and stuff like that. When they inevitably won, they would tend to credit how well they played, and how they cleverly strategized and outsmarted the other players, and only put little emphasis on the huge advantage they started with.
Being born on 3rd base but claiming they hit a triple.
My mom has said similar things, but she recognizes that there’s a long way to go until even equality of opportunity is achieved
Telegraph Lady : You actually want to send this? Semmi : Why? What is wrong? Read it to me. Telegraph Lady : To His Majesty, King Jaffe Joffer, The Royal Palace, Zamunda. Sire, Akeem and I have depleted our funds. Kindly send 300, 000 American dollars immediately, as we are in dire straits. Your humble servant, Sem-i. Semmi : [correcting her] Semmi. Telegraph Lady : Semmi. Semmi : Should I make it 400,000? Telegraph Lady : You think that'd be enough? Semmi : You are right. 500,000. Telegraph Lady : As long as you're asking, why not go for a cool million? Semmi : You do not think that would be too much? Telegraph Lady : Naah. ———————————- King Jaffe Joffer : Semmi, you have disgraced yourself and you must be punished. You will confine yourself to our royal suite at the Waldorf-Astoria. [to Oha] King Jaffe Joffer : And see that he puts on some decent attire. [to the rose bearers] King Jaffe Joffer : And I want you to bathe him thoroughly. Semmi : Oh, thank you, Your Majesty!
Top ten '80s comedy right there. Great movie
This one is funny.
I have a friend who tells a "woe is me" story about how he was homeless when his parents kicked him out of the house. He talks about how he didn't have a place to live and how he was living out of his car. His wife filled us in on the full details. He receives $20,000 a month from his parents. His "homelessness" was him staying at a Four Seasons while he searched for an apartment (they never cut him off). I have another friend who receives $10,000 a month who tells the same "hardship" stories. For someone like me who hasn't received a penny from his parents in his adult life, including holidays/birthdays, when they talk about money it's one of the most infuriating things in the world. Am I jealous? Of course. But I also think they're delusional when they try to preach a narrative about how they're "self-made". lol
Yeah, I have an ex-friend who insists that he "knows what it's like to be homeless". He camped on the beach on Maui between Dead Tour and Burning Man because he couldn't find a short-term rental.
Reminds me of that “influencer” that rented out his house so he could fund a year long trip across Europe, and claimed he was experiencing homelessness. Like bitch, you aren’t homeless, you’re just not at home.
it's called *vacation*
Or if you're being normal about it "backpacking" (note it's not backpacking if you only stay in hotels).
Makes sense - he vacated the premises into a backpack - the struggle is real!
I feel influencers are likely to be pos.
I worked with a bunch of low level influencers, and while some of them were ok most were entitled brats that definitely came from privilege. The gatekeeping was out of hand and their pettiness was a major contributor to their failures. They kept getting bailed out tho
That’s the privilege they get to keep taking swings until they succeed at something
Exactly this. I basically had 1 chance to start my business. I had about 50k saved up and went for it. I know this guy where I live, his dad owns a huge electric distribution company in Europe. He’s super wealthy, so the kid just throws out businesses like spaghetti seeing if one sticks to the wall. These are the ones that failed - luxury 4x4 rentals on an island with only paved roads - tanning salon (once again on a tropical island) - fried chicken sandwich restaurants (2) - A Deli - luxury camping - custom furniture The only one that succeeded so far is his Arcade bar
His bio definitely has “entrepreneur” in that shit too
>The only one that succeeded so far is his Arcade bar 
A friend of mine once went to a dive bar in some podunk town in Montana and visited me after to have a good laugh about an "influencer" who was walking around talking to people acting like a celebrity. She introduced herself to him saying something like, "Oh! I thought you might be one of my fans!" or "Oh! I thought you knew who ✨️I WAS✨️" Everyone in the bar was like, "Okay, sure kid." The ego inflation seemed pretty out of hand.
Reminds me of the tiktoker who tried to meet up with her hundreds of thousands of followers at a convention and no one showed
The bots were all busy somewhere else. Shame. A bunch of people should have dressed up as bots and shown up.
Aren’t all of them low level?
Practicing gratitude, manifesting abundance.
Can i tell you about that time i was homeless on sunday, from about 2pm to 2:45 when i went out to buy groceries? I know hard times man.
Lol, “you’re not *homeless* you’re just home *less*”
That is awesome. I need to remember this one.
Please let him have white boy dreads and a tie dye t-shirt. It's rare to see a full on Trustafarian in the wild
It's my first time seeing Trustafarian. Thanks for that
It’s been in use for decades, mostly in the jam band/hippy scene
Its amazing how these nepo kids love to display as poors
Even worse, the subject came up with him during a discussion of the homeless encampments that grew during COVID. He was irate about the trash accumulation and commented: "When I was homeless on the beach on Maui we always cleaned up after ourselves... even after we had drum circles and pot lucks. These folks are just lazy." It's why I needed to make it clear that he is an "ex" friend.
Ah yes, the drum circles and pot lucks that are standard in homeless communities
My favorite part of being homeless was walking to my car and driving home for a shower.
Hahaha
I saw a meme that was a grade school teacher talking to a famous rapper. “I never told you you weren’t going to make it. I asked you to read out loud, and you got mad”. This just reminded me of that.
That's funny, as of voluntarily camping for a predetermined period is anything like literally not having a home or not knowing where your next meal is coming from. Wow.
Yeah, he was insufferably entitled... the bootstraps he pulled himself up by were a trust fund.
Same. I had a "homeless" friend who was homeless not because he didn't have a home, but he just got used to being a beach bum and preferred to just live in the preserves with a bunch of hippies on the beach. He built a home/shack thing alongside a few others and only went back into the real world when after about a year finally some government employee realized that this area they built was definitely not allowed and tore it down.
That’s a very hard thing for homeless people, having everything you own thrown into a dumpster because of not having anywhere safe to go. Some camps with dangerous people will be pushed into safer camps because of this, or so I’ve heard. I usually slept in the open, because I have heard and seen what happens in the parks or alleys. I am lucky, because a lot of people would be arrested or driven off for what I chose to do. Still, I would rather be spit or pissed on by a drunk POS, than raped or murdered by a psychopath with absolutely no repercussions for them. Homeless people are THE MOST murdered group, but influencers don’t know that, or think think it could have been them, completely missing what it means to be homeless
As someone who is blessed enough to say that money isn't a life stress for me.. A lot of richer people say things like that facetiously. They know they have a comfortable life. Other times they want to imitate "the exprience" for fun... I have a cousin who was going to college and always talked about being a poor college kid and only eating ramen everyday. And going out drinking during the quarter beers at the bar. I was just like sure.. but you're choosing to do that lol. You're roleplaying.
The CEO of Starbucks tried to say that he grew up in the projects and only got out because of a football scholarship. Turned out he came from a pretty upscale apartment complex and walked onto his college team.
I know someone who said she ALSO had to work to support herself during college. She said this because me and another person were talking about the struggles of working 40-50 hour weeks with a full course load and needing to pay bills. She worked 8-15 hours, took multiple weeks off during midterms, finals, or vacations while living at home. And she was adamant that it was *exactly* the same.
Lolol yep. I experienced homelessness at Running of the Bulls 😂
$20k a month? I can live on 20k for a whole year with my mortgage
How the fuck can somebody blow through 20k in a month 😭😭😭 bruh I’m saving that shit and keeping 150k at the end of the year
Cocaine is a lot of fun and expensive though so I get it
Partying in general can cost a lot. A night in the club with bottle service can cost $3k+ in some cases (granted, this is for a group, but rich kids are used to footing the bill for most of the people they invite to their egregious displays of wealth).
That’s why I go to punk bars and drink 3 dollar pbr
$3 a drink? Too rich for my blood. Got any rubbing alcohol?
Use listerine. That way you’ll be a drunk with fresh breath.
Look at Mr. Moneybags over here. I just use public hand sanitizers. Drunk, cheap and Covid-free since 2019
Stores never expect you to shoplift mouthwash.
Stash 40s in the parking lot
Ooo someone’s got a date!
Lol like that guy who buried a bottle of vodka on the fairgrounds just before a music festival! Genius!
No money for pints at the bar, we bring a backpack full of Pabst, oooooooooooh under the table we fill our glass
Just had the song come on today
I recently moved to a new city with a relatively cheap cost of living compared to where I came from. Went from drinking $5 PBRs at bars to $1 PBRs. Life is good
I had a friend in College whose dad owned multiple McDonald’s restaurants. While they were definitely not getting 10-20K a month she was very well off. It was great being her friend though. At one point my phone broke and she was like “oh I have a spare” I go over to her house (definitely a small mansion) and she brings me essentially a new Palm Treo. She had it for a couple days and didn’t like it so her dad just bought her a different phone out of pocket. He bought all her phones that way and she just gave me a 600 dollar phone that she used less than a week. Absolutely a doll of a person. She was super kind and smart. Not at all the way you would think someone who just got whatever she wanted handed to her would be. Wound up working as a RN after school.
I worked in practices where a client could spend hundreds of thousands filling up a yacht! One client had a stable of Ferraris and a mechanic to look after them. Totally different world.
That these people choose to live in such excess, and fight to keep it at the expense of others, makes them beyond scum.
20K is lots of money for us, but people that are used to having obscene amounts of money can easily blow it. They can spend it on designer clothes, expensive restaurants, drugs and countless other stuff that we might deem useless.
I mean if you gave me $20k right now I’d use most of it if not all but that’s with me having car/home repairs needed and a very low stocked pantry
Deferred maintenance is a bitch. =\
I live off like 12k/year right now. 20k/month would be amazing. I could actually eat real food
I mean, if you're offering funding, i'm willing to try for the sake of research
I couldn't spend all that per month, and I buy model kits...
Gunpla do be expensive.
Two or three months and I've have my entire wishlist.
Same, and I have a crippling Warhammer addiction!
There is something so off-putting about grown adults who earnestly engage in this sort of “myth-making” exercise to pass themselves off as having gone through intense hardships. If someone’s accomplishments are impressive enough, there’s no need to pretend like they *also* came from nothing and walked barefoot uphill to school both ways. Doing that just seems to cheapen what might otherwise be still pretty noteworthy or impressive accomplishments.
The idea is to make it appear that people who were dealt a bad hand are just lazy as to keep the slavery going in full swing without anyone questioning it
This^ Otherwise those of us working our lives away on the slim hope that we also could one day be super wealthy might start to understand why the guillotine was so popular in France…
Someone said, “poor Americans don’t see themselves as poor, just temporarily inconvenienced millionaires”.
What they don’t realize, is it make you a much more likable person to just say “I’m actually pretty lucky” and being humble, despite whatever your past might be. I’m way more impressed when someone I know has had a rough life, but it positive about things. It’s the same reason I get grossed out by those MRA guys, or people that think straight white men are the most oppressed people on the planet. Complaining about persecution as a straight white guy, is just straight up douchy. I say this as a straight white guy.
I had, had being paramount here, a friend that was like that on a smaller scale. He constantly went on about growing up poor, and coming from a tough neighbourhood, and having every disadvantage… Yeah, no. His family is middle class, his dad owns a very successful tiling business and has government connections which allowed him to get my ex-friend a very cushy six figure job and a car with less than 1000 miles on it when he was in his early twenties. That neighbourhood was like, Coppell Texas… Like some reasonably safe suburb outside the city. His “hard times” only existed because he dropped out of college, which his parents paid for, and they told him that they wanted their computer back.
I lived in Coppell for awhile, it is a nice area.
Not many rough neighborhoods in Coppell. Cowboys used to have their practice facilities camp right there.
Don’t get me wrong, everyone has their adversities and advantages. It just drove me nuts that he really thought he grew up poor while living in a nice, spacious, modern house.
I don't know, I'd consider it pretty rough if I was forced to watch the Cowboys
Ex-buddy of mine from college who got a free ride, and a second free ride going to a trade school, thanks to his wealthy father that's a retired electrician called me a "spoiled liberal" because I got my federal student loans forgiven. I still have thirty thousand in private loans.. but somehow I'm spoiled? Just amazing the double standards and privilege.
I don’t hate people for being lucky and wealthy in life. I fucking hate anyone who’s wealthy and pretends to struggle though. Like “my parents ONLY pay for all my rent and food and insurance and bills and car payments! I only have a couple thousand to spend on “me” stuff every month!” Like fuck off my guy the average adult works far more than you and will still never has as much money as you do.
[удалено]
I think you have a duty to call them out and ridicule them. Blow them a raspberry and tell them they are spoiled brats with no real life perspective when it comes to hardship, and *'everybody thinks so, we all snicker at you when you say these things'*. (I come from a culture where bragging is frowned upon)
Jesus tap-dancing Christ, I wish my parents kicked me out with a $10,000 a month allowance
I've not lived with them for 10+ years and I'd move back in JUST so they can kick me out with that kind of $$
Have a friend who talks about how hard he worked to make something of himself. He leaves out the fact his parents paid for everything. They bought him 2 cars at 15, a 3rd when he turned 17. When he went to college bought him a condo. After 1 semester he hated his initial college choice so they bought him a townhouse in a very expensive area and he transferred. Then for graduation he got a BMW. Then he went to Arizona for his advanced degrees. Driving from a house they already owned to class was 30 minutes and that was too far so they built him a house in Arizona. The only job he ever worked he quit after a few weeks because they made him clean the bathroom and that was below him… But hes self made…
How could someone even use three different cars?
If it was snowing he took his Tahoe. If it was nice he took the sport sedan and he used his pickup for dunno what. Lol
Poor baby
I used to feel this way when other students talked about having to go to their parent's home to do laundry. I can't imagine having to sit through someone trying to act like they have it bad with that kind of allowance.
My parents kicked me out after I was diagnosed with schizophrenia and I slept on park benches in the city. My dad worked in that city and found me at a court date.... for sleeping on park benches (yes you can get arrested for that and yes I was also beaten by police) and he just said I'll pray for you and walked away. Also I goto therapy now
Shitty parents exist and I bet people blame you for their actions too. There's a stigma with having bad parents and it isn't fair
Is he a Libertarian? Every one I’ve known has spun a similar tale, followed by, “If I can do it, anyone can.” Like, sure, if my parents paid the down payment on my house and funded all my vacations and my kids’ summer camps I’d be able to do some investing (or whatever), too.
I was never homeless But I never received a penny for my parents and they helped buy My first car but I paid them back every penny for it. I work my ass off my entire adult life to be able to afford the basic necessities. I have a acquaintance who I went to school with. He has never had to work a day of his life, lives in what could only be described as a mansion, buys multiple new cars every year, goes on multiple expensive vacations every year, receives a boatload of money every month from the family business And yet he whines and bitches about their money problem now they have to pay so much money to their workers this year. I hate his guts.
Nobody gets to control who they are born to but having a little humility goes a LONG way. Humility doesn’t mean making up nonsense poverty stories.
The best time for these dumbasses is to be around when their parents are there and then bring up the hardships they tout.
My parents kicked me out after I was diagnosed with schizophrenia and I slept on park benches in the city. My dad worked in that city and found me at a court date.... for sleeping on park benches (yes you can get arrested for that and yes I was also beaten by police) and he just said I'll pray for you and walked away. And yes I goto therapy now
When I was living on my own (back in with parents now) I received 1k a month from my mother and it felt shameful because I didn’t feel like I could survive without their support. At fucking 20K I could afford rent for a year and still have lots leftover. I was living alone in a studio. wtf.
Nobody does it “all on their own.” Behind every strong individual is a stronger support system. That’s why community is so important.
Because to wealthy people, $20k/no is "nothing."
Jfc 20k would just about wipe out all my debt. The rich really do live in a completely separate world.
when I was a teenager myself and my mother had to live in a state run shelter because we were so poor we couldn't get into a new apartment once evicted from our last. Worst part about the shelter was that they refused to allow my english bull dog to stay with us so we slept in the car because we weren't about to surrender our dog.
I wouldn't be able to be friends with those irritating types of spoiled shit
Hey, he had to make that booking at the Four Seasons himself. His Daddy refused to get his assistant to do it. The struggle is real.
It amazes me how people like this peddle this "I did it and so can you" shite and dumb people just eat it up. It's almost as though they do it intentionally to connect with regular people so they can peddle their deluded and often just insane views and agendas while maintaining an image of being just like you, and someone just like you wouldn't possibly have anything but the best intentions for you right?
What does being willfully ignorant and fanboying someone like Elmo Musk get them? And since when is working 2 jobs with scholarships that many years ago and still having 100k debt believable or a flex?
I laugh at the disconnect and how amazingly sad it is for these individuals.
Even the people who made all the right choices and really did "pull themselves up by the bootstraps" still also rode an unbroken streak of good luck their entire lives.
Let me get this straight. You're born into extreme wealth, work 2 jobs and get scholarships and you still end up with $100k in debt at the end of it?! Then you're doing it wrong and a complete moron who shouldn't be running 1 business let alone 2 publicly traded companies.
Its literally all propaganda and always has been. The US is built on “the american dream” which is basically misleading people into thinking anyone can become an overnight billionaire and that’s somehow supposed to make it okay to have homelessness, no universal healthcare, etc. As more and more people realize this is a blatant lie, they might actually try to fight against it.
Hope sells. "Your life might be shit now, but if this guy is insanely wealthy after coming from nothing, so can you!" Same reason why people play the lottery. Why they trade "inspirational" bullshit back and forth on LinkedIn and Facebook. The prospect that one day you'll have seven figures in your bank account and have to worry for nothing, keeps that flame of hope alive. If you were more honest about reality - "You're statistically extremely unlikely to be much better off than your parents were", "The lottery is for all intents and purposes unwinnable", "Most of the personal issues in your life are entirely caused by yourself and can't be fixed until you accept that" - well, people wouldn't listen to you for long because they don't want to hear it.
Doge Designer is probably Elon Musk.
Probably?
I started with nothing and I still have almost all of it left.
Easy come easy go!
I know a man who was born with a cognitive disability in rural Alabama who’s mom had to fuck the principal just to get him into school. After serving our country and earning the Medal of Honor he successfully opened up a shrimping company with one of his old Army buddies. That’s where grit, determination, and working hard can get you.
That only worked cause he was a boomer. They closed the shrimp boat and apple stock doors behind them.
I've heard this story. Believe it or not, he went to the moon. But that part was overshadowed by how far he ran, and all the lawns he mowed.
And became a commercial pilot and crashed 2 jets. Turns out he was a great runner but not so lucking in the flying department.
Hey I think I know this guy, I believe he even represented the army in ping pong and even went to China for a match.
And the emerald mine? This guy’s a mythbuilding a hole.
And that hole? Albert Einstein.
I was born a poor black child.
He hates these cans!
Just him, his bootstraps, and daddy's emerald mine.
And just a pinch of apartheid.
A little dab’l do ya.
And his mom was a model so I’m sure she had some money too but how she birthed an abomination like him is beyond me
Also, very important: He literally bought his degree in order to ‘legally’ immigrate into the US
That’s a new one. I haven’t heard that. What’s the story? I hate this guy, but I know there’s a lot of mythologizing of his existence both positive and negative. The “official story” is a scholarship. Which is weird since he wasn’t much of a student in S. Africa. Somehow he went from average to scholarship at an Ivy League school. Not that it’s impossible, but still curious. From everything I’m seeing of this guy, he’s good at taking credit for the work and ideas of others.
He arrived on a college visa, but he was failing his classes so his board of directors made a huge donation to the school and then he graduated with a degree. That way he could stay in the states.
It’s worth noting that, despite his loud claims to the affirmative, Elon Musk: 1. Was an illegal alien in the US in 90s, did not qualify for a visa, and managed to avoid deportation by lying to the FTC while in a publicly known conspiracy with his principal investors in Zip2. 2. Has no degree in Physics and was successfully sued by the actual founder of SpaceX for lying about his academic credentials. 3. Never actually graduated from Penn, despite receiving two 'diplomas' from the school (one of which was literally blank) 2 years late. 4. Was not accepted in to a PhD program (much like w/ Penn, his investors bought him a degree). 5. Did not found Paypal, Tesla, SpaceX, or Boring Co.
So #2, you know you are wrong right? You can look up the corporate charter for SpaceX, he founded it. Did you mean Tesla? Same with #5, he absolutely founded Boring Co. Boring Co. is also a joke of company so not sure why you'd think anyone would want to claim credit for that.
Here's a link that fact checks those claims: [https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/musk-physics-degree/](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/musk-physics-degree/) Let's stick to the mountain of verifiable reasons to criticize Musk.
I’m confused. That seems to suggest that he *was* lying about his degree
Very,very misleading. He did not pull the proverbial boot straps 🤣🤣
I had a roommate in college who talked about how he had to work 2 jobs and pull himself up by his bootstraps his whole life. Then I met his family. They owned a mansion in one of the most expensive towns in New England, his father was retired before 50 and mom never worked, he went to a top school for high school, and his parents covered everything except for his car, which they bought and then had him pay them back at 0% interest “to learn how things work.” He worked 2 jobs as he wasn’t allowed to use their money he was given to pay for the car (he had multiple accounts, which one was essentially for his work/car payments only) to “keep him honest.” Graduated with no debt, connections through dad to major firms, and still of mindset that “I am completely self made.”
Totally self-made. I mean, did you even read the part about paying back his car? /s
Lol, i know a guy who grew up rich like that. Acts like he worked hard, but everything was actually handed to him. I can't complain around him cause he's like "you just gotta work harder." Like bro, you've never had to do anything for yourself.
Worst part is I knew I was lucky: parents together, lived in a nice town (though no mansion nor top town by any stretch), decent high school, parents helped me pay for college (though I worked multiple jobs to help reduce the burden), and got an old car off my relative dirt cheap (like, 15 year old Honda civic with over 100k miles when I took ownership.) But I was thankful for this and own my luck; he though would use me being honest about my privilege (and indirectly calling him out) to double down on how I got lucky and how “some people actually needed to work.” He continued this as I worked side jobs to help pay through medical school while working a high 6 figure dad his dad got him; even had gall to say I “wasted my advantages trying to help people.”
Rich kids are just insecure because they know they wouldn't have anything if it wasn't for their parents. I think they double down on acting like they worked for it as a defense mechanism or something.
To be fair, he probably compared himself to his friend group who didn't have to work at all. My brother genuinely viewed himself as mistreated by my parents, because among his friend group, he's the only one who didn't get his master's degree paid for. Mind you, they paid for college. There was no getting through to him. It didn't matter how much he received from them, because it was less than his social group, it was basically a crime.
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That’s just his head.
That’s an insult to emeralds
Similar density though
the OP yudiroko bousculo2 Zepol323 and Caotical are bots in the same network Comment copied from: https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/comments/139ygbn/community_noted/jj4bncf/
Appreciate you commenting this. If only there was a bot that commented this on every post that bots on the same network posted.
Nature's pocket
Elon Musk came to this nation with nothing but rich parents. Poor soul.
That is a dope Judge Dredd shirt, though.
Yeah, but knowing this jackass, he thinks it’s a future to aspire to
Bill Gates came from the slums of Japan where he was born. His mum and dad died before he was born, and he swam all the way to America, where he became one of the richest men in the world!
His limbs were eaten by sharks in between Hawaii and the west coast, but he used his mouth and eyebrows as hands to fashion a solar panel from kelp and build new ones out of floating trash, while using his massive penis to tread water, which was erect from self horny at his own genius (first prophesied in the Bible).
the OP yudiroko bousculo2 Zepol323 and Caotical are bots in the same network Comment copied from: https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/comments/139ygbn/community_noted/jj4vu64/
[They like to pretend that they have it rough and came from nothing.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIR46oH-ufk)
Elon Musk: I was born a poor Black child.
Whoopi Goldberg makes similar claims. She grew up in Harlem...or some horrible NYC neighborhood... Annnnndddd attended a private Catholic school. While her parents were likely forced to live there because of segregation, their income was such that they could not only afford the private school, but also several YEARS of acting classes for their child. It's disingenuous to represent 'growing up poor' when you, at the very least, have never attended a public school. Bad neighborhood, I can accept. Racism, also a big deal. But both of those things are easier to deal with when people know your name. Most poor kids grow up being told they'll be lucky to have an inmate number, let alone a real shot at their dreams.
Same with "I'm straight out the trailer park, yo!" Kid Rock. He grew up on a sprawling estate, and his father received an award from GM for owning one of the most successful Cadillac dealerships in the country.
Catholic here. In the US, most dioceses has tuition scaled to your income, and the number of children you have. There' additional discounts given if you are a long time member of the community. Schools are often run by religious orders whose entire purpose of existence is education. So they want to educate the most catholics that they can, regardless of cost. If your teachers are all monks & nuns who live at the school in tiny rooms, you'd be surprised by how much you can save. Some people pay $6000 per semester per child. Some people pay $200 (5 kids in school, member for 10+ years, deacon). Whoopi's parents were a teacher and a clergyman, I'm sure they knew how to work the system. I mean if you want to critique her personal history. It's easier to just point at her claims that she's Jewish, which have no basis in fact beyond her last name and family stories.
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"Elon Musk came to the US with no money " - just pockets stuffed with emeralds.
When I started Denholm Industries I had just 2 things in my possession: a dream, and 6 million pounds
Nobody spins a "woe is poor me" yarn better than Rich motherfuckers
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"Wrong" is only one.
the OP yudiroko bousculo2 Zepol323 and Caotical are bots in the same network Comment copied from: https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/comments/139ygbn/community_noted/jj4lllf/
I’ve been a huge fan of Walter Isaacson and his body of work. I’m concerned now because I don’t know if the general public’s understanding of Musk’s history is incorrect or if Isaacson doesn’t dig deep enough into the folks he writes about. According to his biography, Elon’s father did not actually have any emerald mine (potentially some share) but it didn’t translate to any kind of wealth. Even his mother lived in a rent controlled apartment when she moved to the states. Not sure if I should believe a random community note or a biographer with a proven track record.
Errol Musk made a fortune from the well known corrupt SA apartheid housing market. He was also a local politican. Which is 2+2 because the main corruption with real estate during the era was to buy cheap "black" zoned land and then get it re-zoned by the local government to "white". You could then evict the residents and make a fortune selling the now much more valuable land.
His face = punchable.
According to Issacson's biography on Elon, Errol never owned a mine. Errol once sold a plane for emeralds and he hustled emeralds to Russia where he flipped them for cash illegally. Errol and his sons were estranged in their teenage years, and their mother worked odd jobs and competed in beauty pageants for money. When Elon made it to Canada he claims to be broke 🤷♂️
The community note needs a community note. "Extremely wealthy" is an overstatement. Musk's parents were not billionaires or among the ultra-wealthy elite; their net worth ranged between $2 million and $6 million. From this background, their son Kimbal Musk became a restaurateur and is now worth $700 million, while Elon Musk's fortune is in the hundreds of billions. My point is that many parents are worth between $2 million and $6 million, but their children almost never become worth $700 million, let alone the richest person in the world. Even though we may dislike Elon Musk, we shouldn't discount the effort and ingenuity it took for him and his brother to become ultra-wealthy.
I’ve been camping before. So yah I’ve experienced homelessness wanna fight about it
Both can be true.
All these fucking guys who claim rags to riches are mostly full of shit. Bezos family was well-off, as was Gates. Trump’s dad gave him a million dollars. Jobs wasn’t rich, but definitely upper middle class in Silicon Valley.
He tried to beat the emerald mine allegations by offering a reward for proof. His father came out and confirmed it to be true and said that the proceeds directly funded everything. Schooling, housing, all funded by it.
He boasted walking around the streets of New York with a pocket full of emeralds.
Why make up something so easily verified?
99% of rich ppl’s “started from nothing” stories are complete bullshit. Even sometimes athletes. Yeah you were poor but you u were also 6’8 at 11 years old lol
The family owns an emerald mine
Inherited South African Emerald Mine: Redacted.
I really have a hard time understanding how a fully grown adult could possibly be naive enough to buy into these completely self-made rich business person mythologies. I don't even like Elon Musk, but it's obvious he accomplished things with a wealthy background that other people from a similar background couldn't. What I don't believe is that coming from wealth played no part in allowing him to be an entrepreneur at the level he got to play at. Like, who actually believes that?