To think the system’s set up so the rich get richer and the poor get screwed?

[ThatGreenBear]

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how society is structured, and it feels like no matter how hard some people work, they’re always struggling, while others just seem to get wealthier with minimal effort. Whether it’s the tax system, housing market, or even access to education and opportunities, everything seems stacked in favor of those who already have money and power.

AIBU to think that the system is rigged to keep the wealthy at the top while making it incredibly hard for the rest of us to get ahead? Or is this just how life works and we should all just accept it? I’d love to hear others’ thoughts on whether the playing field is as unfair as it seems, or if it’s possible for anyone to get ahead with enough hard work.

Here's some things I've noticed about inequality in young people applying to uni, based on their parents income.

• no bedroom so when YP moves to uni, it is given to a younger sibling so YP has to move out permanently after uni. This means they don't have the luxury of being able to do grad schemes or unpaid internships and have to find something straightaway to support themselves (usually retail/ catering).
• no one at home to support with UCAS applications, job applications, therefore getting incorrect advice from the internet and it costing them opportunities.
• parents who don't know anything about British higher education and so can't help with halls of residence paperwork, loans, grants, and can't support financially so children tend to go to shittier universities near by in order to stay living at home.
• I can't say this loud enough, not enough representation of black and brown students in universities meaning YP stay in London or other big cities that they know. Why would I move from the safety of Birmingham to Exeter when I don't see one person who looks like me there?
• as soon as YP is earning, family can start asking for loans or help or young person wants to help out and send money. The amount of young people supporting their families financially is staggering.
• cultural pressure to stay living at home. If I'm a Somali woman, am I going to get the support of my parents to live with strangers?
• feeling that the whole university experience is not for people like you. Use of alcohol in freshers week, weird middle class British traditions etc, imposter syndrome, missing not just home but familiarity. This is a factor for white working class, black British or British Asian communities.
• this is just an observation but WC students seem to be in long term, serious relationships earlier than MC students. This has an impact, if you're a young woman and you're being sabotaged by the 28 year old man child you live with to not bother, he'll support you, let's have a kid, you don't want to be an old mum do you? Etc etc.
• more demands on your time, younger siblings, mum or dad with poor MH or physical health, more likely to have fucked yo friends who need you or need loans, partners children, working more hours, not having access to a car so public transport being time consuming etc
• racism
• classism
• ableism

Not a level playing field.

Exactly right.

It now takes two people, working full time, to achieve for their children what past generations did with one working.

People can create money and value, that is clear.

But become rich?

That is extremely hard nowadays, especially in certain parts of the country.

But , you know, the younger ones coming up may well sort it out for themselves.

I just fear the amount of debt they have to carry. There is a lot of greed built into the system. Too much is funneled up.

Lumping the ‘rich’ together is an interesting one. For every rich family that has some kind of generational wealth, there are rich families who have worked their socks off and taken chances… or risks…along the way.

What is NOT a risk is getting a good (free to at least 18) education and continuing that into adulthood if possible. There is so much information out there.

@IcanthinkformyselfthanksI suppose we should define "wealth" and "rich" so we all know what we are discussisng.

It’s positively wicked to tell people it can’t be done when it absolutely can.

Where did you get that from? Of course I do not tell people they cannot get rich! But my observations stand, and they are that the people that I personally know who are rich, not comfortable or well off, but rich, were born into it.

Of course it is. Rich kids are handed their parents networks, taught how to invest (not save), and given a lump sum to start getting on with it (be it for investment in housing, stocks). And of course they’re taught by their
parents and their schools to target high paying careers or to start business, as opposed to being applauded for pursuing “rewarding” careers that pay a pittance.

Yes… it leads to wars

People who are older & talking about their youth are missing the point because things have changed somewhat…

I don’t get why people expect a level playing field whilst not wanting to do the work.

The point is people do put in the work but still can’t catch up..

@yesmen , what is your definition of ‘rich’ please?

I’m a Londoner & a millennial & don’t know anyone who bought here without some form of help.

There are ways of improving equality in society, without resorting to Communism. Mechanisms such as the Equality Act try to address the unfairness in life, but they are a blunt tool that aren't effective in all cases,

I was making an observation that "opportunity for all" isn't as simple as that and is a platitude to many who don't enjoy opportunity,

Im baffled as to why you think I am a Communist, because I recognise that if someone is in a minority group, have a disability, are Neurodivergent etc, then you aren't going to feel like you're getting the same opportunity. Yes it's the card you're dealt in life, the quirk of your birth, but there's something very Boris Johnson, Rees-Mogg and Rishi Sunak about sellung people the dream that there's "opportunity for all" when that isn't true. They would say that wouldn't they!

i say this as someone who has had good fortune in my life and career but it hasn't been plain sailing at all, it hasn't come easy but many of my life struggles and set-backs Ive used to push myself to a better place each time.

sometimes on MN people are really black-and-white about things, there's no space for nuance. If you say something it makes you a Communist or a Fascist or a Capitalist. Well I'm none of those, I occupy a very middle ground where many things can be true all the same time (gasp heaven forfend).

I’m from a nice middle class family and went to a decent enough (but fairly typical) state school. But not one person at home, at school or at university ever sat down with me for a serious in depth 1-1 heads up/conversation about my best career path, money and how to invest. I think that would be extremely uncommon for kids of the top 5%.

Basic sociology tells you that poverty affects all life outcomes- anecdotal evidence that some do escape poverty does not make it the norm

I agree with this- particularly the last paragraph. I’m old enough to have seen previous Labour policies in action. Every bit of me says I should still vote Labour but my brain says no - it also says no to conservatives too. So politically I don’t know what the answer is.
I think you can still get on with hard work and some luck. I think of the saying “the harder I work the luckier I get”.

Absolutely and worse now than ever.
The opportunities for working class people to really improve their lives have decreased.
My dad in his 70s, the son of a docker went to a comp, he became an engineer, his contemporaries dentists, doctors, solicitors. Not all obviously but I just don't see those life chances being available now for many children from ordinary backgrounds.
The top jobs are filled with public school / oxbridge graduates and nepotism is rife.

It rather depends on how hard someone works and at what. Plenty of opportunities in the professional world for good salaries and bonuses. Set up a business and get it right and the world is your oyster, but its hard work for years and can be risky.

Leave school and do a low paid job with no ambition, then yes, you will struggle.

It's different now with the Internet, there's also a much broader focus on potential careers in schools.

I think it's more a case if the ambitious get rewarded, rather than the rich get richer.

You can work your arse off as a window washer and stay a window washer, but everyone I know who has actually worked to better themselves, and not settled onto something 'simple' has succeeded.

Completely agree, a very fair comment. We can look to extreme example of rags to riches, but the norm and the reality is that if you're bringing up a family on a minimum wage job, either with or without a stable relationship, then it's never going to be possible to change the situation.

But there isn't a political system that will ever change that reality in this country of 67M population. There will always be the haves and have-nots, and those in power have no vested interest in changing their comfortable and secure status quo or the rules surrounding how wealth is formed and maintained. Why would they? It's "I'm alright Jacques". Just off to check if we won the Euromillions last night, then I'll change the world

Why aren't they available to people now? Sure you have to take a student loan and work alongside studying, but what's stopping people? The stats are clear than entry to degrees such as medicine are not dominated by private school pupils any longer.

Set up a business and get it right and the world is your oyster, but its hard work for years and can be risky.

Much easier to do this with a safety net though.

I think there’s always an opportunity for someone with that kind of drive.

A family member had some work done on her garden and I was a bit surprised when it took place at the weekend. It turned out that the man who did it worked for a landscaping company in the week but also did his own jobs at the weekend. As long as he was doing everything by the books, I think his work ethic was pretty admirable.

I think this is always possible, apart from In times of huge economic strife such as hyperinflation. Even in Covid we saw some people start up new enterprises while furloughed or alongside their main job, using the additional time created by working from home. It wasn’t possible for everyone, but lots of things are a choice. Do you turn on Netflix in that spare half hour before bed, or do you work on your side project?

@Singinginthespring nothing wrong with English Lit as a degree, its a "pure" subject and far better than social studies or some other nonsense.

The point of a degree is how it makes you think and assess things, which can be translated into any job. A decent degree is usually a pre-empt to a good pro qualification and English Lit is fine.

@Starlightstarbright3 exactly, and it only applies to the WC, funnily enough. So if little Hector doesn't get into Oxbridge, that's not his fault, it's because those universities are biased against private school children! It's because he has anxiety! It's because they didn't get the right tutor! But if Shane didn't some how overcome trauma, accent bias and the fact that no one he has ever known who lived on his estate has been to university, it's because he isn't bright enough. Why doesn't he work harder?

More dc from poorer backgrounds are deciding against university.