The truth, as always, is that it's a very nuanced issue, and we both have valid points. You're right about people who inherit all their wealth. They often lack basic empathy for their fellow citizens and lack the understanding that they didn't truly earn what they have. And I'm right that there are people out there who truly do, against all odds, become successful without much help from anyone else. I think it's extremely important to recognize both of those truths and call them both what they are rather than yelling past each other to push our own political or ideological agendas.
I struggle with this on a daily basis, especially as a former liberal.
That would be pretty much be my answer.
Yeah it is nuanced issue and I agree it is hard to figure out. It is not even the divide between the two people, but even between the same person who was poor and now maybe made it (through a combination of factors: work, luck, etc).
I often have to stop and remember what it was like to ration food or stand in long lines to get bread and so on. And I find myself criticizing like I mentioned others do (why don't they learn to program it is easy or why don't they work 3 jobs, save and invest etc.) it takes a bit of introspection to catch myself not doing it.
> I struggle with this on a daily basis, especially as a former liberal.
I don't even know if am a liberal or conservative. Probably a mix depending on issues.
I see a discussion ensued ;-)
The privilege mentality I define as a worldview (or call it an attitude) where those who have the privilege (it doesn't have to be money, it could be time, social status, freedom, or health, or any other significant advantage) have a hard time understanding the position of those that don't have it.
This usually happens when talking about wealth as privilege. And manifests in examples where rich people will look with disdain at poor people and will label them as lazy or "in charge of their own fate, yet deciding not to take advantage of it" etc. This often happens because they look back at their own lives, and think they got wealthy / powerful through sheer willpower and hard work. In reality it turns out a nice inheritance helped, going to an Ivy League helped, being lucky to invest at the right time in a market worked, having the right friends at the right time worked, etc.
What has happened in that case is the privileged person re-wrote or re-interpreted their own history to make it better and more agreeable story (rather than, well I got lucky and inherited a bunch of money, it ends up with, I set up a successful hedge fund with my college buddies etc).
But I was referring to "privilege" not just as wealth but as being in the tech industry, where wages and demand is much better than other industries. Good programmers can often ask for high salaries. They can work from home, etc. That is not comparing with Donald Trumps out there, but comparing to those that work for TSA, or McDonalds or Amazon.
What often comes out of it is well meaning ideas like "teach coal miners to program" and so on, because looking back it seems like programming is pretty easy and with a bit of free time on the weekend one can easily end up with a 6 figure jobs. In reality things are different and a lot more goes into what makes a person now successful.