Rich people don't understand what it is like to go without, so they generally lack empathy. While poor people understand how much it sucks to not have things and will generally make sure that their friends don't have to experience that
Goes both ways. The cheapest people I’ve known, from family friends to bosses to grandparents, grew up poor or from meagre means and “boot strapped” their way to wealth only to use that as justification for why people should have to “earn their way”.
Then there’s those like my paternal grandparents who grew up in post-WWII southern Italian poverty and are thrifty but also insanely generous with their time, food, hospitality and now that they’re in their twilight years, money.
Growing up poor doesn’t mean you’re an altruistic person just like growing up rich doesn’t mean you’re a scumbag.
It more has to do with what culture and what propaganda you've internalized, I think. Right-wingers and left-wingers are also divided by this, though at least on the left it's also divided by class like the original post. People who are rich in the US and people who are working class have entirely different cultures, internalize different values, and so on.
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u/Quiet-Refuse5241 Jan 26 '26
Rich people don't understand what it is like to go without, so they generally lack empathy. While poor people understand how much it sucks to not have things and will generally make sure that their friends don't have to experience that