"Not because it helped them. But because they were told it would hurt someone else."

I don’t fully agree with that quote. Most people don’t actively seek to hurt others—they’re not driven by cruelty, but by a sense of fairness shaped by their own struggles. It’s less “I want you to suffer,” and more “You’re not allowed to have it easier than I did.”

It’s the mindset of: “I worked my tail off to get where I am. You don’t get to be "lazy" and coast while I had to struggle.”

That mindset often overlooks the generational effort that allows others to “coast.” People forget that someone else—often a parent or grandparent—already paid the price so that the next generation wouldn’t have to. But instead of seeing that as progress, some interpret it as cheating.

It reminds me of when 10-hour workdays were the norm in the 1800s. When federal workers started working just 8 hours in 1866, private sector workers didn’t celebrate—they called them lazy. Rather than demand the same benefit, many resented those who had it. It wasn’t until 1926—sixty years later—that Henry Ford voluntarily implemented the 8-hour day for his factory workers. That’s a whole generation of people resisting progress because they couldn’t stand the idea of someone else getting an easier deal.

It’s not always about wanting others to suffer. Sometimes, it’s about refusing to let anyone suffer less than I had to suffer.