[WalterBlack]

(07-08-2014 05:35 AM)Feisbook Control Wrote:  

I think people overstate the concept of privileged backgrounds. A lot of parents don't spend any time with their kids. If they do, it's not focused on anything productive. For sure, there are people with loads of money who can pay for really good educations or resources for their kids, but the reality is that the average family can still produce a kid who is ahead of 95% of kids simply by applying a little effort. That's why Asian kids go to Australia and within a generation they're upper middle class. Every year, the kids with the highest scores at the end of high school are predominantly Asian. Why? Because their parents devote resources to their kids educations and have expectations. Old money WASP families also do this, but it's less and less a prerequisite to be old money WASP to succeed in life. Everyone else, on the other hand, wants to put in zero effort and then later harp on about how lucky or privileged others are/were. A little application, compounded across three generations or more can accomplish huge things.

I agree. A few examples:

Bangladeshis who grew up in housing projects in London, with parents who can’t even read or write, managed to get into investment banking in London. They lived walked distance from the banks and managed to get unpaid internships. They got hired full time and now work there permanently. That’s not the average though, most of them are doing pretty badly.

A guy (of Indian origin) who moved from Fiji to the US in the 1960s of Indian origin. He worked in a factory on the production line, and used his earnings to buy real estate. He’s worth millions of dollars now and he can barely read or write. He told me the most he ever made at the factory was $32,000 a year. He said a lot of his co-workers would get paid on Friday, go out and Friday and Saturday and blow most of their money. This guy saved like a motherfucker, and put it this way, neither he nor his kids will ever go hungry.

I know with most Indian families there’s 3 options that most parents will have their kids when they’re old enough to work: go for further study, start earning money, or get the fuck out the house. Unless you’re physically ill, no other options allowed.

I know people make fun of Indian cab drivers, motel owners, 7-11 etc. but those guys are not dumb. They’re making more money than most people and their kids are all going on to become doctors, lawyers etc. A lot of them are millionaires.

I think privileged backgrounds DO come in handy for networking. If you’re dad’s friends are all C-level executives at big firms, then you’re more likely to have people consider you for a role than if you don’t have any connections in that world.