The internet is a great place to put your privilege in check. For example, when Ananya Pandey exclaimed that she had struggled a lot or when one girl recently bought a Mercedes and said she had “struggled in a taxi”, people online came forward to give them a reality check.
One such incident happened a few days ago on Twitter. One guy took to the micro-blogging site to narrate how he resented his parents as they gave him 100,000 USD (74 lakhs INR approx) for his birthday, paid for his expensive college education, and basically made his life easy.
a few days ago i took a medium dose of acid and wrote for several hours straight and admitted some things to myself, mostly about money
let's start here: last august my mom gave me $100,000 for my birthday. i resented her for this and also suppressed the resentment
— Magnificent Adult Baby (@QiaochuYuan) July 15, 2021
He said that if he ran out of money, his parents would provide him with more because they love him.
he told me “you’ve been feeling social pressure to pretend like you have a ‘financial health’ that is entirely about your savings and your income and it’s just not true at all. the truth is that if you ran out of money your parents would send you more because they love you”
— Magnificent Adult Baby (@QiaochuYuan) July 15, 2021
“the truth is that your finances aren’t separate from your parents’ finances and they never have been. you resent your mom for sending you $100,000 because she forcefully reminded you of this fact”
— Magnificent Adult Baby (@QiaochuYuan) July 15, 2021
“but that’s just not true. you actually do not need to earn the right to exist and you never have. the reason you’re alive right now and not starving to death on the street even though you haven’t had a job in 3 years is because your parents send you money because they love you”
— Magnificent Adult Baby (@QiaochuYuan) July 15, 2021
He added that his money was basically his parents’ money, which he earns by not ‘pissing’ them off.
“the truth is that for you money is a game you play with your parents. the most important thing you do to get money is to not piss off your parents so much that they cut you off”
— Magnificent Adult Baby (@QiaochuYuan) July 15, 2021
my parents paid something like $175,000 of tuition to MIT out of pocket because they wanted me to have a good education and a good life. they were paying for all of my living expenses in both college and grad school. i never talked about this with anyone, really
— Magnificent Adult Baby (@QiaochuYuan) July 15, 2021
He revealed that he never knew what “money problems” were, because he never had any.
i had friends in college who would complain about money problems and i didn’t know what they meant and was too embarrassed to ask. when they said they couldn’t afford X i didn’t know if they meant “that’s not in my budget” or “i don’t have the dollars in my bank account”
— Magnificent Adult Baby (@QiaochuYuan) July 15, 2021
i recognize that i’m speaking from a position of extreme privilege here but this wasn’t all upside. my parents took care of me materially at the expense of taking care of me emotionally. it took me until this trip to even kinda experience the money they spent as an act of care
— Magnificent Adult Baby (@QiaochuYuan) July 15, 2021
Lastly, he said that besides giving him money, his parents never made him do chores and made sure he lived an extremely sheltered life – something he was mad about as it wasn’t “good” for him.
and like i kinda get why they did that but it led to me being incredibly sheltered in a bunch of ways. they never even made me do chores. i was very spoiled and in retrospect it wasn’t good for me
— Magnificent Adult Baby (@QiaochuYuan) July 15, 2021
People online, who had seen real struggle, came forward and schooled him. Some said that he could have invested the money, searched for a job, help someone else in need, or at least be thankful that his parents did so much for him when millions of other people are drowning in debt and poverty.
This was a really hard read. 100k is what my income would add up to after almost a *decade*. My parents had to skip meals to feed me when I was growing up. This thread might have been better to share with a therapist, not twitter.
— caz! loki stan account! (@hijinkery_) July 16, 2021
This is so unreal to read. I have like 20 grand in debt and I can’t escape the nightly thoughts about how it’s ruining my life and future. Thanks for sharing honestly. I hope you understand why I don’t think we should live in a world where this is possible.
— TexMech (@hexmex6) July 16, 2021
This was a really hard read. 100k is what my income would add up to after almost a *decade*. My parents had to skip meals to feed me when I was growing up. This thread might have been better to share with a therapist, not twitter.
— caz! loki stan account! (@hijinkery_) July 16, 2021
Rich people are very interesting. Youve been feeling guilty about hold your parents back and less than because you don’t earn your own living, yet you needed acid to tell you to get a job? Is that even the conclusion you came to? I wonder what life is like for some1 mad Abt 100k
— Frick me. (@MsSunny_Muffins) July 18, 2021
I’m poor and broke and also I need of money. May I have some of ur money so u can alleviate your guilt???
— Luka Koka (@koka_luka) July 17, 2021
How the fuck do you procrastinate with $100,000… my parents are absolutely awesome and I come from lots privilege and backup. If I ran out of money, my parents would make sure I’m not homeless. However, they’ve never just handed me shit. Grow up and invest?? $100K????
— Avery (@zealorandon) July 17, 2021
What do you think of the guy’s rant? Tell us.