r/askanything • u/SignificantCrow • 5h ago

Political Question Are Republicans inherently selfish?

Not referring to every individual obviously but as a whole, compared to democrats/independents they seem to really only care about themselves or their immediate family and pretty much have a “f**k em” attitude towards literally everyone else. Does anyone else feel this way?

This would explain why so many are against social policies but have no issue dumping much more money into the military instead, for example.

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 4h ago

I believe in character and merit. If you work hard and make the right choices then you will earn what you deserve. High paying jobs require education, hard skills, and soft skills that not everyone wants to work for. The people who complain about people earning more than them have never worked in these stressful positions.

Using myself as an example. I am in my low 30s, have 2 undergraduate degrees, and a masters degree. I work remotely in tech leadership (director level) from a LCOL/MCOL area earning ~$260k. I consistently accept opportunities to network and present at various conferences. I put in the work academically, grew my hard skills to move up IC positions, grew my soft skills to move up leadership positions, and continually build a network to rely on for future opportunities. This all takes tremendous effort that many are not willing to put in but then complain about people like myself earning too much money.

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u/No-Carrot4267 4h ago

Did you grow up poor?

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 4h ago

I can see where this is question is going and I don't believe it's relevant to my comment. I laid out all of the work I've done to get to where I am today, and this question undermines that work as simply "well you weren't poor so I'll disregard".

That said, my background is middle class. My undergraduate degrees were funded by academic scholarships and myself. My graduate degree was funded by my company at the time.

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u/No-Carrot4267 4h ago

I'm not diminishing your merits. I'm diminishing the fact that you seem to think you know the difficulties of a low income childhood vs a middle class one.

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 4h ago

This is the response I was expecting by answering that leading question.

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u/No-Carrot4267 4h ago

It's relevant because not everybody has the same opportunities of a good childhood foundation.

You were provided a better space to foster soft skills like charisma from nurture and environment. A safety net to continue your early education. Etc

I'm not saying every poor person hasn't reached success. It's that the hoop they have to jump through is a lot smaller

If effort is all it takes then a single mom working two jobs would be fine. The reality is they're not

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 4h ago

This misses where I mentioned "making the right choices". The single mother working 2 jobs example clearly didn't make those right choices of selecting a good partner, not getting pregnant, getting an education for a higher paying job, etc. Just as someone who grew up wealthy can make the choice to get into drugs and overdose. Life is full of choices.

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u/No-Carrot4267 3h ago

The choices do not have the same weight. A wealthy individual has a safety net if they make bad choices. Celebrities go into rehab all the time, rich people can afford therapy and medicine to repair their bodies to continue grinding towards success

If half of Americans are one paycheck away from homelessness then it's not a choice of when they get sick or something that stops them from working.

Bad partnership is not the only reason single mothers happen. Husbands can die, people can change their mind suddenly overnight.

An education is not a guaranteed to success.

If you keep dismissing hardship as laziness then someone can easily dismiss your success as luck

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 3h ago

I can understand your points, sure. I'll still agree to disagree on various examples because "life is full of choices". Appreciate the conversation with different viewpoints.

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u/Aspectdude09 3h ago

Im staring to think that you’re all nepo.

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u/Yesbothsides 34m ago

I changed careers in my 30s and have been extremely successful since…all of it due to hard work…seeing you getting attacked in this sub shows how out of touch these people are

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 12m ago

Thank you and congratulations! Love hearing about others doing well when Reddit seems all doom and gloom.

It's sad that people want to find any reason to disregard or attack someone's success. It's a crabs in a bucket mentality that I'll never understand.

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u/ibugppl 4h ago

It's not so much that you earn too much it's important jobs that keep society moving don't earn enough to even survive.

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 4h ago

I agree with this point. Not where I was trying to go with my comment, but there are certainly important positions in society that do not earn what they're worth.

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u/lovingkindness301 3h ago

You treat effort as a sufficient explanation for success. Privilege and effort can exist but I feel like you prob miss a lot like all of my old r friends. Ignoring whether opportunities are comparable. Can’t exactly say you’re selfish off of this but good for you 👍

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 3h ago

I want everyone to make money, be successful, and be happy. I tell this to everyone on my team. Success is a broad term that means different things to different people, but it shouldn't be kept behind a gate.

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u/lovingkindness301 3h ago

I hear you. But success isn’t just character driven. Know that.

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 3h ago

I never said otherwise. There are many other factors I listed. Many come down to making the right choices and putting in the required work.

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u/lovingkindness301 1h ago

You didn’t list many other factors. If you didn’t notice by now you miss on starting point, how work gets rewarded, constraints and again access to opportunities. Just ignorant.

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 1h ago

Thank you for your opinion. Calling names due to a dissenting opinion says a lot about your character.

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u/AndrewAdler17 2h ago

And many require being given the space and support to make those right choices. You obviously were, that’s great, so was I. Don’t judge others who weren’t given what we were.

Eventually, you’ll be on the other side of things and be desperate for some grace. Whether it’s health, a bankruptcy, divorce, kids drug addiction, etc, you’ll be the one expecting grace. Those who don’t give it rarely receive it.

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 2h ago

Where is this strawman coming from?

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u/AndrewAdler17 2h ago

This is a bot.

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 2h ago

Got me... "Anyone who has a different opinion then me is a bot."

I think you're a bot.

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u/AndrewAdler17 2h ago

Would you like a picture of my butt?

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u/High-Nomad 1h ago

And being born in a situation that allows you to focus on those things

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 49m ago

Have whatever opinion you'd like

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u/High-Nomad 27m ago

It’s a fact. What if you had to drop out of school to help put food on the table?

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 22m ago

Why would I choose to drop out of school? That's certainly a choice.

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u/Practical-Cellist647 2h ago

That's not how the world works.  You must be a Republican. 

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u/Chopped_Liver228 2h ago

Not really. In our form of late stage capitalism, the only valid value and motive is greed. There is NO room in American capitalism for other human values and motivations, such as love, compassion, equality, art, and many others. That is why Trump wants to do away with student loans for vocations that are undertaken for reasons other than money.

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u/Holy_Frijole1881 2h ago

So, a teacher who needs two degrees to have his/ her job doesn’t deserve to make as much as say a hedge fund manager? They don’t work hard? They aren’t good at their job?

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 2h ago

I replied to another comment already that "there are certainly important positions in society that do not earn what they're worth." Teachers being 1 of those positions.

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u/Awkward_Agency9405 2h ago

Or maybe most just aren't privileged as you to be able to afford 2 undergrad and a master's degree.

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 2h ago

This has already been answered. Undergraduate degrees were paid for via scholarships and myself. The graduate degree was paid for by my company at the time.

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u/Chopped_Liver228 2h ago

I call BS on the whole meritocracy crap. I know plenty of people who did everything right, yet never got ahead. Then there are also lots and lots of people who are quite well off in spite of floating through life. I include myself in that category. Then you have lots of folks who inherited their wealth and did nothing to deserve it. These same folks make tons more money through investments. It is so much easier to become even richer if you are already rich. Elon Musk is an excellent example.

Then you have grifters, like most of the members of the Trump administration.

The problem is elitist sociopaths like you.

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 2h ago

Thank you for your opinion. What you typed says a lot about your character.

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u/Chopped_Liver228 35m ago

Greed is not a good character trait.

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 23m ago

Neither is having a loser mentality. Beyond tired of these crabs in a bucket comments.

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u/Practical-Cellist647 3h ago

Well goody for you 🙄 LMAO

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 2h ago

Thank you for the insightful comments in this discussion

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u/High-Nomad 1h ago

Weird way to say yes we’re more selfish

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 49m ago

If that's what you took out of that, then sure. Have whatever opinion you'd like.

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u/High-Nomad 41m ago

This whole thread is you being unable to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and see that hard work isn’t the only reason you’re in the position you’re in. You honestly think you’re working harder than someone picking strawberries for 12 hours a day? You think it’s more stressful than a cna with 10 patients?

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u/TheRandomestPerson33 25m ago

You're welcome to whatever opinion you'd like. I'm also welcome to laugh at all of these crabs in a bucket comments that hate seeing someone else succeed.