Things we could do without moving into the new year: people born into wealth telling us to work hard. Jared Kushner joins the list of “born rich” people who have espoused their “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” sentiment. Honestly, we are so over it.
Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, received criticism on Sunday after Trump tweeted a video taken from a podcast appearance by Kushner. Speaking to podcaster Lex Fridmen, the clip sees Kushner talk about his work philosophy, though many have pointed out that it’s easy to be optimistic and “go-getting” when you are born into a family that can financially support anything your heart desires.
Speaking to Fridman, Kushner says, “I just think it’s just something where, if you want to accomplish something, you know, a lot of people, I hear, complain about what other people do or why it’s hard, or why it’s impossible.” A rich person does not understand how, for many people, some things are next to impossible … a revelation.
To give him a modicum of credit, he seems to have a little self-awareness as he goes on to state, “And again, I say this as somebody who has been so blessed with so many things in life,” but then ruins it with, “but when I’ve had challenges or things I’ve wanted to achieve, I just focus and say, ‘What can I do?'”
Ohhhh, that’s what we were missing? Focus and saying “What can I do?” Gosh, now I’m all sorted to become a success! I’m not saying don’t work hard or that having a defeatist attitude will help you, but when this kind of generic advice is coming from someone born into wealth, it just makes you want to hit your head against a brick wall. He goes on to say exactly what it is he can do:
“I’ll read everything I can get my hands on. If I fail at one thing, if the door closes, I’ll try the window. If the window closes, I’ll try the chimney. If the chimney closes, I’ll try to dig a tunnel. It’s just, if you want to accomplish something, you just have to go at it.”
For many people, there isn’t even a door, let alone a window or chimney. These kinds of generic and shallow metaphors for how to be successful don’t help anyone; they aren’t informative, and they simply appear to judge anyone for not “working hard enough”—this coming from the man whose fumbling of PPE during the pandemic resulted in needless deaths.
This may only be a small section of the podcast, but it’s the section Ivanka chose to highlight and share with the world, and people have thoughts.
Money can buy many things, and this person believes it can also buy optimism.
Let’s not forget, the Kushners and the Trumps hardly made their fortune in an ethical way.
Many pointed out the recent $2 billion investment that Kushner received into his Affinity Partner Fund from a Saudi sovereign wealth fund led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in in 2022, a result of the ass-kissing and murder-excusing he did as Senior Advisor to President Donald Trump.
This “advice” from Kushner only serves to prove how out of touch he is with the rest of the world sitting in his privileged tower built from money earned in a less-than-ethical manner. Honestly, by now, he should have learned to keep his opinions to himself.
(featured image: NBC)
