Hello everyone.
What are some of the problems that come out of affluence? What about the dependents of wealthy parents?
I've had lots of close experiences with people in the upper middle class and have developed a short list of why it can be difficult to derive insights into the economically higher strata from the outside looking in. The knowledge of privileged is itself a privileged thing.
1) Because of the scarcity of resources, there are not nearly as many affluent people as there are non affluent people.
2) With a stronger sense of propriety in upper and upper middle classes, it can be especially difficult to have a candid discussion about the problems the drive to have money or an infusion of funding can create in life.
3) Since homelessness is perceived as a problem as opposed to indulgence, there are many more studies on the cause and effects of the homelessness compared to the latter.
4) On a similar vein as #3, we have this idea that research needs funding and funding is not provided without a potential return on investment. That is to say, if the results of research on the privileged does not match the expectations of that researcher's benefactors, it will probably be modified or remain unpublished.
---
Seeing as how we all come from different walks of life, i'd like to ask for your insights into this idea that maybe privilege without balance can cause just as many problems as it can remedy.
Below are a few personal anecdotes from those few who have opened their lives up to me enough to appreciate the opportunity costs of their station in life. The information below is here to provide a little more background into my reasoning for creating this thread. All of my personal data set is male. Feel free to tl;dr.
---
1) Older black male whose parents cared enough about him to send him to a private school where he experienced a similar situation to the stereotypical mulatto. Alienation from both his less fortunate black peers and from the elitist children at the school he attended. This is an issue of race, but it was compounded by an infusion of money. He now seems fairly well adjusted but has tremendous sympathy for people (with money) for reasons I cannot comprehend and seem vaguely self-serving. I have a hard time feeling sympathy for someone who is able to spend money to express via apperance exactly how dissatisfied with life they are.
2) Younger white male, extremely delusional due to being cloistered for the majority of his life. When I first met him, he thought it would be cute to put on his fencing costume and jump on the bed screaming something about nighing gales. I played along but left wondering if this kid was truly alright in the head. I find out later from his significant other that he feels that if he behaves randomly, us poor people will like him better. Effectively what he was doing was emulating what he thought might be in tune with my value system. Randomness. He has moved far away to live in high society (no support system), soon his funding will deplete.
3) Young white male who is alienated at school because he is an "emo-******", it isn't because he has problems or because he is passionate, it is because the less materialistically fortunate students see that he is spending his parents money on trendy dark cloths, shitty music, chains, exotic hair cuts, dyes, piercings, etc. All this buildup of the superficial layer and no substance. His only real problem he has is that he has no real problems. At least, his problems are perceived as trivial by his peers. This makes him an easy target.
What are some of the problems that come out of affluence? What about the dependents of wealthy parents?
I've had lots of close experiences with people in the upper middle class and have developed a short list of why it can be difficult to derive insights into the economically higher strata from the outside looking in. The knowledge of privileged is itself a privileged thing.
1) Because of the scarcity of resources, there are not nearly as many affluent people as there are non affluent people.
2) With a stronger sense of propriety in upper and upper middle classes, it can be especially difficult to have a candid discussion about the problems the drive to have money or an infusion of funding can create in life.
3) Since homelessness is perceived as a problem as opposed to indulgence, there are many more studies on the cause and effects of the homelessness compared to the latter.
4) On a similar vein as #3, we have this idea that research needs funding and funding is not provided without a potential return on investment. That is to say, if the results of research on the privileged does not match the expectations of that researcher's benefactors, it will probably be modified or remain unpublished.
---
Seeing as how we all come from different walks of life, i'd like to ask for your insights into this idea that maybe privilege without balance can cause just as many problems as it can remedy.
Below are a few personal anecdotes from those few who have opened their lives up to me enough to appreciate the opportunity costs of their station in life. The information below is here to provide a little more background into my reasoning for creating this thread. All of my personal data set is male. Feel free to tl;dr.
---
1) Older black male whose parents cared enough about him to send him to a private school where he experienced a similar situation to the stereotypical mulatto. Alienation from both his less fortunate black peers and from the elitist children at the school he attended. This is an issue of race, but it was compounded by an infusion of money. He now seems fairly well adjusted but has tremendous sympathy for people (with money) for reasons I cannot comprehend and seem vaguely self-serving. I have a hard time feeling sympathy for someone who is able to spend money to express via apperance exactly how dissatisfied with life they are.
2) Younger white male, extremely delusional due to being cloistered for the majority of his life. When I first met him, he thought it would be cute to put on his fencing costume and jump on the bed screaming something about nighing gales. I played along but left wondering if this kid was truly alright in the head. I find out later from his significant other that he feels that if he behaves randomly, us poor people will like him better. Effectively what he was doing was emulating what he thought might be in tune with my value system. Randomness. He has moved far away to live in high society (no support system), soon his funding will deplete.
3) Young white male who is alienated at school because he is an "emo-******", it isn't because he has problems or because he is passionate, it is because the less materialistically fortunate students see that he is spending his parents money on trendy dark cloths, shitty music, chains, exotic hair cuts, dyes, piercings, etc. All this buildup of the superficial layer and no substance. His only real problem he has is that he has no real problems. At least, his problems are perceived as trivial by his peers. This makes him an easy target.
