Are rich people only humble if they've known what it's like to be middle or lower class?

december 11th 2025.

midnight thoughts and personal experience with humility lacking someones

To be honest, I have been asking myself for a while now: How do rich or wealthy people think about those financially below them — the middle class, lower middle class, and lower class? Do they even think about these people… about us?

Quite bluntly, I don’t think a lot of them — objectively speaking and in general — realise how privileged they actually are. And I don’t mean “you’re privileged because you have hot meals, a home, and running water.” I mean privileged as in “I just bought two different pairs of Timberlands because I couldn’t decide,” or “I don’t even know, I’ve never had to worry about money.”

The kind of privilege that lives in silent habits and upbringing, and makes you wonder how such small details can affect lives so brutally. The moment I step out of my personal perception and into a more objective observation, it feels like looking at two canvases. Both show an ocean, perhaps even the same one. But the sky in the second picture is just a tiny bit cloudier than the sky in the first, and the illustration shifts from peaceful to slightly stormy. One little detail, and the outcome is entirely different.

I could use a friend of mine as an example. When I was younger, I saw her as basically perfect — great family, good income (so no worries about money), naturally smart, naturally pretty. Which is awesome; I wish a life like that for everyone on this planet. But as I grew older, I also realised she’s one of those people with little to no developed personality. She follows whatever is trending on social media, has no actual interests, and was a blank page when I was brainstorming with other friends for a meaningful birthday gift — and I assumed they knew her better.

Then there are two guys I know, both in an even better financial situation than her. Number one is the laziest and most disloyal person I have ever encountered. He’s not stupid — just a charmer who talks a lot, knows no boundaries, and eventually pisses everyone off. Number two is his friend, very nice when you talk to him alone but just as unbearable as number one when they’re together. It kind of makes them ugly in my eyes, even if they’d be considered attractive. 

One last example: a girl I’ve met and dislike for various reasons. In a nutshell, she has basically developed no critical thinking skills and no independence at all. You’d have to tell her how to cut apples.

Of course, these characteristics can be found in anyone — literally anyone. What pisses me off about all of them is that they take everything for granted. Vacation three times a year for two weeks? Normal. “Less than two weeks isn’t a vacation.” “Some people actually don’t get cars gifted? I’ll get the Tesla from my sister because she wants a different car.”

I wonder what they’d do or think once they fall into a hole and there’s no money to save them. How they’d react when they’re in a situation where personality matters most and suddenly they stand almost alone and unsure of themselves.

There are moments where I almost feel sorry that, for whatever reasons, they developed no character or a pretty shitty one (Shitty personalities aren’t exclusive to financially better people). But I know it can look the opposite as well. Someone who has a dear place in my heart, and is also quite financially free, is the exact opposite: probably one of the most iconic, nice, and confidently-herself people I know. Being around her is comfortable and relaxing. She’s real and unapologetically herself.

Speaking openly, perhaps these words are also fuelled a little by jealousy, because I still have to work for things they were born with. But I won’t beat myself up over it — I know jealousy is a normal feeling and fine as long as I don’t let it consume me. On the other hand, this is solely based on my personal experience, which is obviously narrowed down to a handful of people. Therefore, I can’t really bring myself to form a conclusion — yet the closer these people were to those who struggled (or actively do struggle) financially, the more humble and down-to-earth they seemed to be, I feel like.

Sometimes I feel grateful that I’ve grown up (so far) knowing what it’s like to worry about money, knowing that many people struggle heavily and pray for their lives not to fall apart simply because they weren’t born into better circumstances. Sometimes I feel like this takes some naivety from me, because I’m aware that technically anyone can end up there, and that it’s a common struggle that needs to be understood rather than overlooked.