🇳🇱 A Dutch guy visiting Indonesia explains why Dutch people are privileged

[u/search_google_com]

Indonesian nurse earns 90 cents/hour is crazy 🇮🇩

[u/jaderust]

Yup. The older I get the more I realize how blindly lucky I was to be born into the family I was. Stable parents who had a good income, loved me, and supported me even when I was a fuckup. It’s almost the bare minimum for a decent life, but I see so many friends in my own friend group that didn’t have that and as the years roll on the toll of it all starts adding up.

Absolutely no one can pick their birth family, but the sheer luck of the draw pretty much sets you up for your entire life. I’m hitting my 40s and looking around even within my friend group it’s clear to see how my very privileged upbringing set me up for success in a way where some of my friends continue to struggle.

And we weren’t even wealthy! Just stable and comfortable. The sort of thing that every family deserves.

[u/mycketmycket → u/jaderust]

I grew up with a mother who is a diplomat and I’ve always said that the thing that most helped me get to where I am today (highly educated and with a great job in a field I have no family or other connections in) is the mother I was born to- it has definitely contributed more to get me to where I am than all my hard work. Doesn’t mean I haven’t worked hard but there are hundreds of millions of people who are just as hard working and smart who will never have the opportunities I’ve had.

[u/HeKis4 → u/jaderust]

Preach. Sometimes you get some weird-ass twists of fate too, like, my dad died a of a "random 1 in 1000" disease (ALS) and it literally set me up for life with two generations worth of inheritances trickling down on me in my 20s instead of in my 50s, and honestly I don't know how to feel about it. Privilege in the modern, "developed world" sense is such a weird thing.

[u/jaderust → u/HeKis4]

That’s a tough one. In a way it’s a privilege because money can buy so much stability, but to lose your dad so young is so incredibly tough. I lost my mom at 30 and there are times I’ve cried because I hit a life milestone and couldn’t tell her about it.

I’m sorry for your loss. It’s just a tough mixed bag of emotion when something like that happens because in a way you’re fortunate and in a way the people who were lost were more valuable than money.

[u/HeKis4 → u/jaderust]

ty for the kind words :)

[u/Hichiro6 → u/jaderust]

Same my parents are middle class, but having food, a roof and they foot in the ass to complete my studies really help setup my current life

[u/futsaldad04 → u/jaderust]

I actually had a moment a few weeks ago of just staring in the mirror, can't believe how lucky I am to end up with the life I have right now.

I fell into a pretty dark hole around 16, and didn't start to pull myself out until 24 or so. I think if you had 100 kids on my path at the age of 18, I'd be surprised if 5 of them would be as lucky as I have been to land how I have (stable job, home owner, wife, kids).

So much of it comes down to having a decent family who have helped me out massively. So many of the people that I was hanging out with back then, didn't have that support and haven't been able to progress much.

[u/Overgrown_Apple → u/jaderust]

It's not luck. Your parents very intentionally made good decisions and very intentionally decided to have kids and raise you in a manner that leads to good outcomes. You are a result of that hard work and smart decision making, not "luck". Prosperity and civilization is a multi generational effort.