Resentful of rich kids

[Anonymous]

You SHOULD be resentful of rich kids. Don't let the rich kids tell you different. They'll never understand.

But don't SHOW that you're resentful of rich kids, and work both smarter and harder to get rich.

[Anonymous]

The problem is that the DMV is squeezing out the middle class rung. That's where a lot of this resentment is coming from. For a time, it was possible to be middle class in DC and still have access to decent schools, a home that might not be huge but was large enough for a family, and access to reasonable mid-price amenities. You might have to go to PG County or Silver Spring to get it, but it was within reach for people making say 80-140k. You would never be rich, but that was okay -- you could live a full life in a vibrant community of people who invested in and celebrated each other.

That has changed. It is very hard to buy a house large enough for even a small family in DC for less than 600k, and if you want it inbound for a decent school, good luck. The same is happening in many of the close in suburbs, even PG County which for many years had prices depressed due to racism but that is ending. The school situation is obviously stratified and charters have not solved the problem and in many instances have made it worse. Many rich people in DC are getting taxpayer funded dual-language or Montessori education via charters, saving them the trouble of either investing in their IB school or paying for private. There are some fortunate poor and middle class families also benefitting, but in many cases it's just a way to transfer student funds from our public schools into hard-to-get-into charters populated by UMC families.

New development in DC is targeted at high earning professionals with little thought given to middle class families. Even neighborhoods that used to be destinations for MC families (Brookland, Petworth, H Street/Cap Hill) are now out of reach unless you've got 200k in cash for a down payment, plus the amenities are increasingly targeted at wealthy people making these neighborhoods less appealing to people under a certain income threshold.

And then I hear wealthy people in DC waxing poetic about wanting to do something about poverty and equity in the city. Well here's a question: if there is no room for a middle class in the city, what could we possibly help people in poverty into? Even if you could help people with affordable housing (of which there isn't near enough in the city), what then? They go buy endives at Whole Foods and gather with friends at bars that charge $14 for a draft beer? What does it even mean to be middle class in this city anymore?

[Anonymous]

I’m resentful of people who don’t have to support family. Must be nice to only worry about you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Rich people love to tell the less wealthy to be grateful that at least they're not totally destitute. It's a great deflection from their leading role in perpetuating inequality.

No trust fund here. I am the first one to go to college in my family and my husband used money left to him when his dad died to go to college. We made our money. So sick of people like you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Rich people love to tell the less wealthy to be grateful that at least they're not totally destitute. It's a great deflection from their leading role in perpetuating inequality.

No trust fund here. I am the first one to go to college in my family and my husband used money left to him when his dad died to go to college. We made our money. So sick of people like you.

No, you did not make your money. You gained an inheritance. You see the difference? THAT is exactly what this whole thread is on about. The privileged folks who can't seem to recognize their own privilege. Inheritance that pays for college is privilege.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem is that the DMV is squeezing out the middle class rung. That's where a lot of this resentment is coming from. For a time, it was possible to be middle class in DC and still have access to decent schools, a home that might not be huge but was large enough for a family, and access to reasonable mid-price amenities. You might have to go to PG County or Silver Spring to get it, but it was within reach for people making say 80-140k. You would never be rich, but that was okay -- you could live a full life in a vibrant community of people who invested in and celebrated each other.

That has changed. It is very hard to buy a house large enough for even a small family in DC for less than 600k, and if you want it inbound for a decent school, good luck. The same is happening in many of the close in suburbs, even PG County which for many years had prices depressed due to racism but that is ending. The school situation is obviously stratified and charters have not solved the problem and in many instances have made it worse. Many rich people in DC are getting taxpayer funded dual-language or Montessori education via charters, saving them the trouble of either investing in their IB school or paying for private. There are some fortunate poor and middle class families also benefitting, but in many cases it's just a way to transfer student funds from our public schools into hard-to-get-into charters populated by UMC families.

New development in DC is targeted at high earning professionals with little thought given to middle class families. Even neighborhoods that used to be destinations for MC families (Brookland, Petworth, H Street/Cap Hill) are now out of reach unless you've got 200k in cash for a down payment, plus the amenities are increasingly targeted at wealthy people making these neighborhoods less appealing to people under a certain income threshold.

And then I hear wealthy people in DC waxing poetic about wanting to do something about poverty and equity in the city. Well here's a question: if there is no room for a middle class in the city, what could we possibly help people in poverty into? Even if you could help people with affordable housing (of which there isn't near enough in the city), what then? They go buy endives at Whole Foods and gather with friends at bars that charge $14 for a draft beer? What does it even mean to be middle class in this city anymore?

Well said. This is happening all over the nation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is a tough area. I don't think I fully appreciated how the money and the competitiveness saturates you and your lifestyle until you left. We live in a rural area now and WOW do I feel like we have it good, whereas before I always felt like the poorest person in the room.

Same.

Same here too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is a tough area. I don't think I fully appreciated how the money and the competitiveness saturates you and your lifestyle until you left. We live in a rural area now and WOW do I feel like we have it good, whereas before I always felt like the poorest person in the room.

Same.

Same here too

We are pretty high income and we made the same move. I felt average making, at the time, $500k HHI and couldn’t afford a nice house in a good school district. We moved out to the boonies and are much happier living around normal people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its just frustrating because EVERYONE here is super rich. They all have parents who are executives, lawyers or successful business owners. DH and I have masters degrees but our parents were not as well-to-do so even with all our education and hard work, we can't quite compete with all the rich NOVA kids who were raised here.

When you post stuff like this, you give the impression that you are a complete dolt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You SHOULD be resentful of rich kids. Don't let the rich kids tell you different. They'll never understand.

But don't SHOW that you're resentful of rich kids, and work both smarter and harder to get rich.

Why though, to become the target of resentment by other non-rich kids? If being rich is so bad as to cause resentment, why would you want to become that very thing you resent?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m resentful of people who don’t have to support family. Must be nice to only worry about you.

Does your family know that their dependence on your results in feelings of resentment?

[Anonymous]

These vast generalizations are laughable. Not all affluent people have rich parents or Ivy League degrees and trust funds. My DH paid for everything he has, from 12 years old on into adulthood. He is 100% self made. There are many like him and many who work hard that don’t find a high level of success. He doesn’t have a medical or law degree but makes that level of money. I had a different experience growing up than he did. We had no down payment handed to us or trust funds. We bought a small condo that doubled in value, paid it off, kept it and rent it out. We bought a house that has huge equity. We live under our means. From the outside looking in you could make all kinds of assumptions of how early 40s couple could afford a multi million dollar house in a coveted neighborhood. Not everyone is a member of the ‘lucky sperm/egg club’.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am resentful of all the rich people who get down payments and college savings handed to them. Meanwhile here we are working like little bees getting nowhere.

blame your boomer parents. my parents were not rich and it is in the Asian culture to save and provide for the next generation. blame the boomer hippy bs me me me generation

My boomer parents brought us up scraping a poverty level income while they volunteered their medical training at public health clinics. Go pick on someone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Rich people love to tell the less wealthy to be grateful that at least they're not totally destitute. It's a great deflection from their leading role in perpetuating inequality.

Only poor people have told me to be grateful. The wealthy just stay quiet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I are children of poor immigrants. Not only did they not help us financially, we support both because they had very little savings for retirement.

Not getting a down payment and college tuition paid for is not the end of the world.

Same here, I actually borrowed more student loans than I needed to help them with the mortgage payments. Fast forward 30 years and I fully paid for my kids' in-state 4 years degrees.