I don't read this as resenting anyone except the clueless. I grew up rich, but I don't feel this is aimed at me, because I acknowledge that I had it easier in various respects, and that my academic ability was not purely a matter of hard work (I did work incredibly hard, but it wasn't just hard work), but also a matter of going to a good school because I lived in a rich neighborhood, having good school supplies because my parents bought them for me, not having to do much beyond focusing on my schoolwork during childhood, etc.
The issue is people who pretend that their success is purely due to their own amazing efforts, when ignoring the fact that they were born helpless and in need of support, and that what sort of care you get and what sort of education you get makes a huge difference that hard work cannot fully balance. After all, I worked hard ~and~ had advantages. I'd certainly have had it much rougher if I had only worked hard. And the issue is those who don't want to balance that out.
One of the small but powerful examples for me was in the maths and sciences. In high school I did math up through AP Calculus AB and I took biology, chemistry, AP chem, and physics. One day I forgot my calculator for a chem test, so I just did my best to do the test manually. But the test was designed to fit the amount of time a student who reasonably knew the material would need with a calculator, so I did very badly. My teacher asked me about that, as my grade was an anomaly, and he told me that I should have said something (it'd been my own fault, so I hadn't). Then I found out that my partner went through chem and calc and such in high school too - except nobody bought him a calculator. He did all of it manually and with log tables. I failed at managing one test, and he did all his courses that way. There's no way that I can say that my success is purely hard work or that that is fair. And he'd likely have gone much further if he'd had the advantages I had.
no subject
The issue is people who pretend that their success is purely due to their own amazing efforts, when ignoring the fact that they were born helpless and in need of support, and that what sort of care you get and what sort of education you get makes a huge difference that hard work cannot fully balance. After all, I worked hard ~and~ had advantages. I'd certainly have had it much rougher if I had only worked hard. And the issue is those who don't want to balance that out.
One of the small but powerful examples for me was in the maths and sciences. In high school I did math up through AP Calculus AB and I took biology, chemistry, AP chem, and physics. One day I forgot my calculator for a chem test, so I just did my best to do the test manually. But the test was designed to fit the amount of time a student who reasonably knew the material would need with a calculator, so I did very badly. My teacher asked me about that, as my grade was an anomaly, and he told me that I should have said something (it'd been my own fault, so I hadn't). Then I found out that my partner went through chem and calc and such in high school too - except nobody bought him a calculator. He did all of it manually and with log tables. I failed at managing one test, and he did all his courses that way. There's no way that I can say that my success is purely hard work or that that is fair. And he'd likely have gone much further if he'd had the advantages I had.