Struggle is Closer Than You Think

By Anonymous / Winter 2021

Dear 10 year old A,

By the time you’re reading this, your future self (me) would have already become a great, big, and successful figure in society based off the projections you once made in Kindergarten. Your schooling has brought you to encounter countless opportunities for a wealthy career in the medical field. Along with a successful, high- earning job, all of the allowance you saved up finally amounted to enough money to buy that Ferrari you’ve always dreamt of giving your dad and that mansion you’ve wanted to buy for your mom. Your life would be going so amazing had all of this success not been a daydream and all of your allowance actually only amounted to paying off student loans over the span of several months. Let me clear some things up for you.

I may be exaggerating when I illustrate how much (or lack thereof) money you actually have right now but it definitely is not what you were expecting 21 year old Angela to be worth. You’re in fourth grade probably learning about how westward expansion allowed settlers to buy acres of land and build homes for a lot less than they’re worth now. Let me be one of the many to let you in on a little secret- buying a house is a lot more than handing over a single bill and owning that land for life.

Wealth inequality, in other words how money is given to different people in society, here in America is a lot more skewed, aka uneven, than you think. You probably think that the 20 dollars bill grandma and grandpa gave you for Christmas is enough to afford the newest version of the IPod shuffle... it’s not. Think of it like this: dad makes a whole lot of money per hour while working at his job. Well, there’s these men named Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk who make, in your terms “a gajillion”, much more money than dad per hour for running their businesses. Yet, on the other hand, there are people living on the streets living on supplies they receive from other people and providing for themselves with a few dollars a day. Wealth inequality is like a scale where you think most of the rich people weigh down one side just ​slightly​ a bit more than if you added all of the “middle class” and “low income” people together. However, in reality, the rich people's side is ​a lot​ heavier than the rest of the population. Now, you may be wondering why the lower income people cannot just work harder and earn more money to catch up to the rich people. This is where the concept of general social inequality comes in, rather than just economically speaking in terms of money and “richness”.

Social inequality is a concept that is basically determined and driven by money, status, and overall economics but illustrates some deeper themes and underlying factors that you may not think about at first. Take, for example, dad and grandpa. Grandpa is a lot older than dad, right? He had to grow up differently and in his world back then, money was worth a lot more and opportunities were very limited for Grandpa to find work and earn money. He grew up amongst his siblings with not a lot of money and went to school at a public campus in the Philippines. In the Philippines, education and working is a bit more different than it is here in the United States. He was able to work very hard up to the position where he is right now, living in a nice house with Grandma. Dad, on the other hand, still had to work very hard to get to where he is now but he grew up in the United States already. Due to the fact that dad was able to grow up in newer times, more opportunities were open to him and he was able to get a very good education from a more prestigious university. My point here is: dad and Grandpa are both very successful figures who worked hard to earn their lifestyles right now, but Grandpa had to climb over a few more boundaries than dad. That is generally how society works now. Those who start with less things have to work about twice as hard as those people who already have a head start.

You have it so good, Angela. Do not underestimate how unfair the world is. I am not saying that the world is unfair in a terrible way (even though it is definitely not the most ideal), but what I am saying is to not take for granted the situation you are in right now. Learn to appreciate what you have and work hard for what you do not. Recognize that billions of people in this world are struggling a whole lot more than you think and that the richest people in the world make up a large amount of everyone’s money. Start thinking about other people outside of the community you were raised in under the privileges that you were born with. There are so many uncontrollable factors that are taking place in everyone’s lives that affect their outcomes and their overall lifestyles. It is not just your little bubble that you are expected to live in. There is an entire world out there struggling to live day by day and it could be a lot closer and prominent than you may think.

Love, In Debt, Still Trying to Figure Life Out 21 Year-Old Angela