Growing up, I had a friend who was very privileged. Never had to do any chores, daddy always took care of things, paid for school, car, set him up with connections, etc….
However, now that he's a grown adult, he literally cannot do anything on his own. His problem solving skills essentially amount to…what can I do to throw money at this problem until it's fixed. His apartment is disgusting, he doesn't know how to fix or do anything, and he has no real skills of his own.
He's set for life tho, and he will likely spend the rest of his life being a degenerate living off of daddy's trust until he passes away.
At first I was envious of him because I grew up poor and had to work for everything, and I've had to struggle a lot because of it. However, I came to realize that even though he will never know the stress of having rent due, medical bills, car payments, and stretching a paycheck, he is also has never gained any experience, skills, or expertise in anything. He is a complete idiot, living in his own delusional world and unable to accomplish anything for himself. He passifies his lack of meaning by smoking weed and vaping all day long. In my more critical moments I see it as pathetic, and in my more empathetic moments I see it as depressing.
Now I know there are plenty of people who have had the privilege of wealth who grew up to be successful, well-adjusted individuals, with plenty of skills and experience to their name, and I think it's pretty obvious that wealth confers advantages that propels lives forward, however, I can't help but think that the individual who is disadvantaged and overcomes ends up being the more capable, reliable person. The adaptation to the struggle creates a persona that can only come through the experience of the struggle, and the individual who has never had the same set of challenges won't be the same capable, resilient individual.
On the flip side tho, the excess of the struggle can debilitate, cripple, and destroy lives as well. I do think one needs to be careful of fetishizing the struggle, for while it's true that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, for many people, the struggle does end up killing them, and that's not a good thing.
What do you think? How have you seen wealth, privilege, experiences, challenges, and the like shape individuals over your lifetime?