
Seth Walsh
The man in the mirror is my only threat
Contributor
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2020
- Posts
- 8,366
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1. WEALTH ISN’T MONEY. IT’S A FORCEFIELD.
You think wealth is about Rolexes and McMansions? Wrong. It’s about generational continuity. The rich don’t "earn"—they inherit. Trust funds. Stock portfolios. Tax lawyers. Private tutors. A kid born into the top 10% isn’t just handed cash—they’re given time. Time to fail. Time to pivot. Time to "find themselves" in Bali while you’re grinding Uber shifts to pay rent. Meanwhile, your family’s "wealth" evaporates the moment someone gets sick, laid off, or dies. Poverty isn’t a lack of money—it’s a permanent state of desperation.
2. ENVIRONMENT IS FATE.
You grow up in a trailer park with meth-head neighbors and a school where teachers quit by October? You’re already dead. The air you breathe is toxic. The water is poisoned. The streets are war zones. Your "role models" are felons and TikTok influencers. Compare that to the kid in a gated suburb: organic meals, SAT tutors, piano lessons, internships at Dad’s law firm. Their environment is a curated ladder to power. Yours is a meat grinder.
3. "OPPORTUNITY" IS A LIE TOLD TO KEEP YOU DOCILE.
They say "education is the great equalizer." Bullshit. Harvard’s freshman class has more students from the top 1% than the bottom 50%. Legacy admissions. Donor bribes. "Holistic" criteria that punish your Appalachian accent or your single mom’s job at Walmart. Even if you claw your way into a degree, you’ll drown in debt while rich kids graduate debt-free, their paths greased by alumni networks you’ll never access. Meritocracy? Your grades don’t matter when your competition’s dad is a senator.
4. NETWORKS ARE THE INVISIBLE CASTE SYSTEM.
You apply for jobs online. They don’t. Their uncle’s golf buddy fast-tracks their resume. Their college roommate funds their startup. Their mom’s sorority sister gets them into med school. You? You’re begging LinkedIn strangers for referrals. The rich don’t "network"—they leverage bloodlines. Your resume dies in an algorithm; theirs is a handshake in a yacht club.
5. THE MIDDLE CLASS IS A TEMPORARY HALLUCINATION.
You think you’re "safe" because you’ve got a 401(k) and a Subaru? Wake up. One layoff. One cancer diagnosis. One housing crash. That’s all it takes to plunge you back into the underclass. The middle class is a laboratory experiment—a buffer zone to keep the poor from revolting. But the rich? They’re fireproof. Their wealth is offshore, diversified, wrapped in LLCs. They don’t fear recessions—they profit from them.
6. CULTURE IS CLASS WARFARE.
The rich don’t just own property—they own norms. They preach "thrift" while hoarding art. They fetishize "grit" while their kids ski in Gstaad. They moralize about "laziness" while their trust-fund babies "work" at Hedge Fund's and NGOs. You’re told to avoid avocado toast to buy a house. They buy neighborhoods. You’re shamed for wanting welfare; they lobby for corporate bailouts. Their greed is reframed as "ambition." Your survival is "entitlement."
7. THE CEILING IS ARMORED.
Social mobility is a bedtime story. 92% of the rich die rich. 79% of the poor die poor. You think you’ll "climb"? Let’s see:
8. CLASS ISN’T ABOUT WHAT YOU EARN. IT’S ABOUT WHAT YOU OWN.
You earn wages. They own assets. You trade time for money. Their money makes money while they sleep. You’re a serf with an iPhone. Your "career" is a pyramid scheme where you peak at 55, exhausted, praying your knees hold up for 10 more years of cubicle hell. They’re 25, retired, living off dividend checks from the carbon emissions killing your hometown.
9. THE UPPER CLASS DOESN’T CARE ABOUT YOU. THEY DON’T EVEN SEE YOU.
You’re a line item. A tax deduction. A demographic to exploit. They’ll gentrify your block, price you out, then hire you to walk their dogs. They’ll fund politicians who cut your food stamps to lower their capital gains tax. They’ll lecture you about "climate change" from their private jets. You’re not a person—you’re a renewable resource.
10. THE ONLY WAY OUT IS COLLECTIVE ANGER. BUT YOU’LL NEVER UNITE.
They’ve got you fighting over race, gender, and pronouns while they rob us all. You’ll blame immigrants, "wokeness," or the minimum-wage cashier instead of the oligarchs. The rich laugh, pour champagne, and buy another congressman. You lose. They win. Forever.
Final Pill:
Social class isn’t a gap. It’s a minefield. You’re born on one side, and unless you’re willing to burn everything—ethically, physically, spiritually—you’ll die on it. But you won’t. You’ll keep voting for their puppets. You’ll keep idolizing their "hustle." You’ll keep believing the lie that you’re "temporarily embarrassed millionaires."
Welcome to the plantation. The chains are digital now.
You think wealth is about Rolexes and McMansions? Wrong. It’s about generational continuity. The rich don’t "earn"—they inherit. Trust funds. Stock portfolios. Tax lawyers. Private tutors. A kid born into the top 10% isn’t just handed cash—they’re given time. Time to fail. Time to pivot. Time to "find themselves" in Bali while you’re grinding Uber shifts to pay rent. Meanwhile, your family’s "wealth" evaporates the moment someone gets sick, laid off, or dies. Poverty isn’t a lack of money—it’s a permanent state of desperation.
2. ENVIRONMENT IS FATE.
You grow up in a trailer park with meth-head neighbors and a school where teachers quit by October? You’re already dead. The air you breathe is toxic. The water is poisoned. The streets are war zones. Your "role models" are felons and TikTok influencers. Compare that to the kid in a gated suburb: organic meals, SAT tutors, piano lessons, internships at Dad’s law firm. Their environment is a curated ladder to power. Yours is a meat grinder.
3. "OPPORTUNITY" IS A LIE TOLD TO KEEP YOU DOCILE.
They say "education is the great equalizer." Bullshit. Harvard’s freshman class has more students from the top 1% than the bottom 50%. Legacy admissions. Donor bribes. "Holistic" criteria that punish your Appalachian accent or your single mom’s job at Walmart. Even if you claw your way into a degree, you’ll drown in debt while rich kids graduate debt-free, their paths greased by alumni networks you’ll never access. Meritocracy? Your grades don’t matter when your competition’s dad is a senator.
4. NETWORKS ARE THE INVISIBLE CASTE SYSTEM.
You apply for jobs online. They don’t. Their uncle’s golf buddy fast-tracks their resume. Their college roommate funds their startup. Their mom’s sorority sister gets them into med school. You? You’re begging LinkedIn strangers for referrals. The rich don’t "network"—they leverage bloodlines. Your resume dies in an algorithm; theirs is a handshake in a yacht club.
5. THE MIDDLE CLASS IS A TEMPORARY HALLUCINATION.
You think you’re "safe" because you’ve got a 401(k) and a Subaru? Wake up. One layoff. One cancer diagnosis. One housing crash. That’s all it takes to plunge you back into the underclass. The middle class is a laboratory experiment—a buffer zone to keep the poor from revolting. But the rich? They’re fireproof. Their wealth is offshore, diversified, wrapped in LLCs. They don’t fear recessions—they profit from them.
6. CULTURE IS CLASS WARFARE.
The rich don’t just own property—they own norms. They preach "thrift" while hoarding art. They fetishize "grit" while their kids ski in Gstaad. They moralize about "laziness" while their trust-fund babies "work" at Hedge Fund's and NGOs. You’re told to avoid avocado toast to buy a house. They buy neighborhoods. You’re shamed for wanting welfare; they lobby for corporate bailouts. Their greed is reframed as "ambition." Your survival is "entitlement."
7. THE CEILING IS ARMORED.
Social mobility is a bedtime story. 92% of the rich die rich. 79% of the poor die poor. You think you’ll "climb"? Let’s see:
- Your boss notices your hustle? No—he promotes his nephew.
- You invent something? A VC steals it, patents it, and crushes you.
- You save for decades? Inflation eats it, and BlackRock buys your suburb.
8. CLASS ISN’T ABOUT WHAT YOU EARN. IT’S ABOUT WHAT YOU OWN.
You earn wages. They own assets. You trade time for money. Their money makes money while they sleep. You’re a serf with an iPhone. Your "career" is a pyramid scheme where you peak at 55, exhausted, praying your knees hold up for 10 more years of cubicle hell. They’re 25, retired, living off dividend checks from the carbon emissions killing your hometown.
9. THE UPPER CLASS DOESN’T CARE ABOUT YOU. THEY DON’T EVEN SEE YOU.
You’re a line item. A tax deduction. A demographic to exploit. They’ll gentrify your block, price you out, then hire you to walk their dogs. They’ll fund politicians who cut your food stamps to lower their capital gains tax. They’ll lecture you about "climate change" from their private jets. You’re not a person—you’re a renewable resource.
10. THE ONLY WAY OUT IS COLLECTIVE ANGER. BUT YOU’LL NEVER UNITE.
They’ve got you fighting over race, gender, and pronouns while they rob us all. You’ll blame immigrants, "wokeness," or the minimum-wage cashier instead of the oligarchs. The rich laugh, pour champagne, and buy another congressman. You lose. They win. Forever.
Final Pill:
Social class isn’t a gap. It’s a minefield. You’re born on one side, and unless you’re willing to burn everything—ethically, physically, spiritually—you’ll die on it. But you won’t. You’ll keep voting for their puppets. You’ll keep idolizing their "hustle." You’ll keep believing the lie that you’re "temporarily embarrassed millionaires."
Welcome to the plantation. The chains are digital now.