Hold onto your bootstraps, because today we’re gonna talk about getting rich and the American dream.
The idea of a wondrous success that’s available to anyone is sort of woven into the very fabric of our culture. But isn’t reality a lot more complicated? Take the “started in a garage” trope. We’ve been told the tale of so many wildly profitable companies “starting in a garage” that it’s practically a cliche. The implication seems to be that humble beginnings are all that’s necessary to thrive.
On this day in 1994: Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos in his garage. pic.twitter.com/vtlu570KeX
— Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) July 5, 2020
While this is inspiring, and while there are many who no doubt have worked their way up from famine to plenty, some argue that emphasizing the rags-to-riches narrative while ignoring other factors is actively harmful.
Aiden Smith on Twitter certainly seems to think so. Here’s how he briefly breaks down the not-so-humble starts of some of our most prominent public figures.
1. Jeff Bezos
Net worth at time of writing: $190 Billion
Cute propaganda. In reality Bezos's mommy and daddy gave him $245,573 to stop Amazon from failing in 1995, but you'd never know it from listening to our right-wing mainstream media that blames poverty on personal failure and attributes wealth to personal virtue. https://t.co/vM15SKIcWs
— Aidan Smith ⧖ (@aidan_smx) July 6, 2020
2. Bill Gates
Net worth at time of writing: $114 Billion
You can find this in the backstory of almost every billionaire. The story of Bill Gates is told as if he was a normal guy who dropped out of college to pursue his dream when in reality his mom Mary Gates, the president of United Way, convinced IBM to hire Microsoft to build an OS pic.twitter.com/OOX1ELjMLb
— Aidan Smith ⧖彡 (@AidanSmith2020) July 6, 2020
But wait… there’s more…
Gates is a talented individual but his career break wouldn’t have happened if he wasn’t the child of wealthy, well-connected parents who were able to convince IBM to hire the-then obscure Microsoft to build an OS. He likely wouldn’t be a billionaire if he was born working-class.
— Aidan Smith ⧖彡 (@AidanSmith2020) July 6, 2020
3. Warren Buffet
Net worth at time of writing: $79 Billion
The tale of Warren Buffett is told as if he was a scrappy upstart living in a lower-middle class suburban home in Omaha who had a knack for investing. In reality his dad was a congressman (and Bob Taft’s campaign manager!) and, uh… pic.twitter.com/GmjyMCKYlU
— Aidan Smith ⧖彡 (@AidanSmith2020) July 6, 2020
Talk about a leg up!
4. Mark Zuckerberg
Net worth at time of writing: $99 Billion
…and got software developer David Newman to give him private tutoring in computer science before he even entered college. Zuckerberg, is, like others mentioned, an intelligent individual in his own right, but if he was born into a working-class family he simply…
— Aidan Smith ⧖ (@aidan_smx) July 6, 2020
Who gets software developers to tutor their children?
Rich people. Very rich people.
a computing prodigy, which, again, couldn’t have happened if his parents didn’t hire a software developer to tutor him. The benefits of having wealthy parents, even if they don’t give you a 1/4 million as Bezos’s did, can’t be underestimated. There is no fair playing field.
— Aidan Smith ⧖ (@aidan_smx) July 6, 2020
5. Dynasties
The Walton family (owners of Walmart) have a combined net worth of nearly $200 Billion at time of writing.
Do I even need to mention the Walton’s? Do I even need to mention the Koch’s? It really can’t be stressed enough how privileged the background of most uber-rich people, all of whom claim their legitimacy from supposedly “starting from nothing”, truly are.
— Aidan Smith ⧖彡 (@AidanSmith2020) July 6, 2020
6. Kylie Jenner
At time of writing, Kylie Jenner is just shy of a billionaire at $900 million.
People laugh when Kylie Jenner is described as a “self-made billionaire” as if she doesn’t come from one of the wealthiest/best-known families on Earth, but really, it’s no more absurd then describing Gates’/Bezos’ wealth as being a “self-made” product of meritocracy.
— Aidan Smith ⧖彡 (@AidanSmith2020) July 6, 2020
So, what’s the harm in these inspiring tales of the uber rich coming up from nothing?
The harm is that it can create a false narrative that wealth and poverty are merely a matter of trying hard enough. When you ignore factors like privilege, luck, educational opportunity, circumstances of birth, and even genetics (we can’t all be born tech savants, after all), you place undue shame on poor people who are trying their best, and elevate the rich to a sort of demigod level they really don’t deserve.
But that’s just my hot take. What’s yours?
Hash it out in the comments.
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