Reply to Growing up in the DC Wealth Bubble

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I realize that I grew up in a very privileged life in the DC area. Everyone I know when to the local privates or the highly ranked publics. Everyone went to college at least or has multiple degrees. Everyone has at least 400k in savings and a 200k job by the time they're thirty. Everyone has a lavish wedding. Everyone buys property in desirable zip codes. Everyone is a parent by early thirties. Everyone takes at least 2-3 international trips every year. Everyone has a parent or two who are wealthy and successful.

It is only recently that I realized this isn't...normal and its hard to grasp. How can someone who grew up like this realize what life is like for others who aren't like them?[/quote]

Your post which started this thread reveals awareness and a desire to learn. My impression is that you are a very nice, considerate individual.

During college, I met a lot of wealthy kids from Boston area, Greenwich/Stamford, Conn. area as well as from the wealthiest areas of Long Island, New York. They were unable to relate to others who did not enjoy the same privileged upbringing. Even worse, they did not want to relate to, or to understand, others from a different background. Decades later, the ones with whom I still have some contact, have remained the same other than for being even more entrenched in an upper class lifestyle.

What you claim "isn't normal", actually is normal to some. And they like it and don't want to expand their horizons to experience or understand the discomfort and difficulties of others.

I do not think that you can ever fully understand and appreciate what life is like for others who grew up with severe financial, family, and social issues. Being raised in a difficult environment often leaves emotional scars that never heal and are fundamental elements of one's mental framework.

Reality means different things to different people. You can have compassion for others--and your post suggests that you do--but I doubt that you can ever really understand.[/quote]

This.  I am amazed at people who grew up privileged or semi-privileged and claim, with a straight face, that they really understand "how the other half lives"; we got a bunch of those in this thread.  That, to me, is being way more clueless than OP.[/quote]

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