Having interacted with a lot more privileged people since I immigrated to central europe, a lot of it is ego protection. These people tend to live in a bubble, where they’re surrounded with people like them. Having to interact with less privileged people tends to put their life and opportunities in stark contrast and to prevent their psyche from cognitive dissonance, they have to embrace such ideas in order to soothe themselves that they deserve where they are.
Guess my ego is strong enough to know that my readiness in college and finding jobs was highly dependent on the support my family gave me…
How is it not luck that my parents cared about my academic success from early in life? That I didn’t need to have a side job during college? Or the more subtle knowing that, whatever happened, I was always welcome back home, so I could take more risky career moves without fearing to end up in the streets?
Sure, I “worked hard”, aka studied in college, applied for a bunch of jobs, applied myself in those jobs and had the luck (again!) that my effort was rewarded. I know rich kids that took too much for granted and didn’t get very far. But they still have a roof over their head and as many warm meals as they feel like.
Having interacted with a lot more privileged people since I immigrated to central europe, a lot of it is ego protection. These people tend to live in a bubble, where they’re surrounded with people like them. Having to interact with less privileged people tends to put their life and opportunities in stark contrast and to prevent their psyche from cognitive dissonance, they have to embrace such ideas in order to soothe themselves that they deserve where they are.
Guess my ego is strong enough to know that my readiness in college and finding jobs was highly dependent on the support my family gave me…
How is it not luck that my parents cared about my academic success from early in life? That I didn’t need to have a side job during college? Or the more subtle knowing that, whatever happened, I was always welcome back home, so I could take more risky career moves without fearing to end up in the streets?
Sure, I “worked hard”, aka studied in college, applied for a bunch of jobs, applied myself in those jobs and had the luck (again!) that my effort was rewarded. I know rich kids that took too much for granted and didn’t get very far. But they still have a roof over their head and as many warm meals as they feel like.