They’re not as harmless as you think. Yes, those social media posts of nepo babies showing their lavish lifestyles are more harmful than you think.
I’ve heard the arguments. It’s your right to share whatever you want on social media. I don’t disagree. But with rights come responsibilities. And no right is ever absolute.
You earned the money honestly. You can flaunt it. Well, that’s open to debate where your money comes from. But granting that they are the fruits of your honest labors, you should still take the prudent path in displaying wealth.
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
You’re flaunting your wealth for good reason. You flaunt to inspire others. Seriously?
It’s tawdry and tasteless to show off a garage-full of luxury cars or a closet-full of designer bags. When you show off material possessions, it’s not to inspire, it’s to tell everyone you’re better off than all of us because you have what we don’t.
When you show us that you drive a P30M sports car with a job that pays only P70,000 a month, you don’t inspire us to work hard. You inspire us to steal. Because we know that working hard will not get you there that fast.
You don’t inspire others by showing off what your money can buy. You inspire others by telling us how you got there. What did you have to go through to get to where you are now? How many times did you fail? What made you never give up?
Now, that’s a story that inspires.
But that’s going to be a long story, one you cannot tell till your hair grows white. And from your point of view, that’s going to be a lame story no one wants to hear because people no longer believe in working harder, only working smarter.
Well, sometimes, you win. And sometimes, you lose your soul to the Devil.
So, let’s cut the crap. Those stepping off the helicopter shots are not posts meant to inspire. They’re posts meant to make others envious. And thus, it is no surprise when these seemingly harmless posts result in not just spats among neighbors but in some very tragic circumstances.
Protesting Gen Z demonstrators in Nepal torched government buildings, homes of politicians and caused its prime minister to resign after his wife was burned alive by protestors who set fire to their home.
To date, the violent protests in Nepal by young people between the ages of 13 and 28 have resulted in a death toll of 51 and an injury count of 1,600.
What started it? Anger over corruption, unemployment and social inequality, exacerbated by nepo kids who displayed lavish lifestyles on social media and fueled by a short-lived social media ban interpreted by the Gen Z generation as an attempt to control criticism of social inequalities and restrict free speech.
It was a perfect storm.
Years of resentment over the free-spending habits of nepo kids, children of the political elite, amidst the backdrop of the struggling Nepali, one in four who live below the national poverty line. Nepal has been ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in Asia by Transparency International.
Wealth, self-made or generational, worse, the fruits of thievery, should never be flaunted. We should be grateful for privilege not drunk in it. No one should be proud of a life borne out of cronyism, corruption and thievery.
Those social media posts of nepo babies? They’re not as harmless as you think. Their posts sow envy, trigger hate, bring ire. Their posts don’t inspire. They shove into the faces of the struggling majority, the cruelty of social inequality that can sometimes erupt into tragedy as it did in Nepal.
Be forewarned.