Let’s say it plainly: people with the most power and money often have the worst attitudes about struggle. They talk about poverty like it is laziness, talk about survival like it is bad planning, and talk about hardship as if it is a character flaw. Meanwhile, the people carrying the heaviest burdens are usually the ones doing the most to hold their families together with the least amount of help.
That attitude is not hard to understand. Comfort can make people arrogant. When you have money, influence, and backup plans for every crisis, it becomes easy to confuse privilege with wisdom. People who never have to choose between rent and groceries start acting like everyone else is just making poor decisions. The truth is that wealth often shields people from reality, and the longer they stay shielded, the easier it becomes for them to judge people whose lives they do not understand.
The people with less do not get the luxury of being detached. They have to be resourceful, disciplined, and brave because failure has real consequences for them and for the people they love. They leave bad jobs, unsafe neighborhoods, broken systems, and sometimes entire countries just to give their families a chance. They stretch small paychecks, swallow their pride, and carry responsibilities that would break many of the people who look down on them.
Struggle does not magically make people virtuous, but it does teach lessons that comfort rarely does. It teaches you to notice need, to respond quickly, and to understand that survival is rarely a solo act. People who live close to the edge usually know exactly who is hungry, who is overwhelmed, and who needs help today, not next week. That kind of awareness is not weakness. It is moral clarity born from living in the real world.
No, this is not true of every wealthy person, and no, every struggling person is not automatically admirable. But the pattern is still hard to ignore. Too often, money inflates ego and power dulls empathy. Meanwhile, people who know what it means to go without are far more likely to understand sacrifice, mutual care, and responsibility. They are the ones keeping households afloat while being judged by people who have never had to live that way.
So maybe the truth is this: having more does not make someone wiser, kinder, or stronger. In many cases, it just gives them more distance from everybody else’s pain. The real strength is often found in the people doing the most with the least, the ones who keep leaving, rebuilding, sacrificing, and protecting their families without applause. If anyone deserves to be called powerful, it is them.
Minister A Francine Green I May 2026