Brian,
I admire your accomplishments, I really do. I too know what it is like to come from a WIC background. But you are not the rule. It might be something inborn inside of you, or it might be something that was instilled. But without that something you wouldn't have succeeded. I can't tell you where that something came from. I just know that the worse things are the less likely a person has that something inside of them that let's them know that they can do better; that gives them the confidence to set goals and to reach them; that gives them the security that allows for independence.
Do you think the "class divide" is because of nepotism somehow?
I do believe that there are elite families in this country who at least have an affect on government policy. But I do not believe they have all the power as to divide the classes in themselves. I want to get away from the word nepotism with regard to leadership because it's not so much applicable to a country of 300 million people who democratically elects it's leaders. It wouldn't make sense really.
It's more a collective, metaphorical nepotism that divides the classes. And you find it through all class stratification. The billionaire is better than the millionaire is better than the middle class is better than the working class is better than the impoverished. The amount of money you have is directly tied to a sense of worth and that is instilled. For all intents and purposes, that worth becomes self-worth. Is this a marker for a man, their class association? It's one that cannot be fully denied. Man is greedy. Man wants control. I'm sad to say but money is necessary to have control, save for the lucky few who can live with intellectual prosperity outside of these societal rules.
But a man has to prove it too himself to be able to climb this class ladder. Whereas those at the top inherently have a lot less to prove and on down the line. For example, a CEO's son will most likely never have to prove to himself that he has to go hungry or that he has to walk to work instead of driving or that he has to join the armed forces just to get ahead. And the consequences for not performing become more insidious as you go down the class ladder.
And you bring up entitlement? It's hard not to feel entitled when you are surrounded by people who take the simplest things for granted. People don't have mothers or fathers or either of the two. People get raped. People are abandoned. People are physically and mentally abused. People are born with physical and mental disabilities. People are born with the wrong color of skin or the wrong sexual preference. This occurs in all class stratification but the percentages are far greater inverse to wealth. And if you've experienced any of these in your lifetime you should understand the detriment and the instability that it can cause in a person. So much so, that they often lose all hope and sense of self.
no one "deserves" anything.
People deserve a fair opportunity. And sometimes that means understanding that they don't have the inner drive or know how to make things happen for themselves. Drive is something that you are born with, that is instilled, or that is taken away. Don't fuck over the people who were less fortunate by demanding the same standards and then forgetting about them with they can't perform up to your ignorant expectation.
People first need to believe in themselves. I don't see how that is possible when the first thing a poor person realizes is how inferior they are. Like I mentioned before, it's an aristocratic control and it goes on down the line. People are greedy.
"What need would there be to be so impressive if it wasn't for fear of being the opposite."
- Alain de Botton
I really think this sums up quite well the manner in which drive comes to be in a person. I believe the unfortunate are instilled with the belief that they already are the opposite of impressive.
