Yes, this "from my perspective, you are elite, so it is okay to abuse you for a while" will quickly backfire on people lower on the social ladder.
It is okay to wake up McKinsey employees at 2AM, because hey, they make more money than most of us.
It is okay to make software developers work 60 hours a week, because hey, they make more money than most of us (from the perspective of someone outside the Hacker News audience).
It is okay to... mistreat people in some sweatshop, because hey, they make slightly more money than... people working in some other sweatshop.
How about instead adopting the rule "40 hours a week, not a second more, full stop, no exception". Yeah, some rich kids would benefit from that, too. But you wouldn't have to worry that the lack of empathy will trickle down to you, so maybe it's a smarter strategy in long term. (Especially for the Hacker News readers, who are often not that far from the top.)
It's not about money. It's about aristocracy. Aristocrats aren't necessarily richer than the middle or working class in monetary terms. Class is more about status and power than about money.
If it were up to me, I would abolish the aristocracy and dissolve aristocratic institutions such as McKinsey that don't appear to contribute anything to society.
But if we're going to have an elite, let's at least hope they have the decency to shut the fuck up about how hard it is being a member of the hereditary upper class.
It is okay to wake up McKinsey employees at 2AM, because hey, they make more money than most of us.
It is okay to make software developers work 60 hours a week, because hey, they make more money than most of us (from the perspective of someone outside the Hacker News audience).
It is okay to... mistreat people in some sweatshop, because hey, they make slightly more money than... people working in some other sweatshop.
How about instead adopting the rule "40 hours a week, not a second more, full stop, no exception". Yeah, some rich kids would benefit from that, too. But you wouldn't have to worry that the lack of empathy will trickle down to you, so maybe it's a smarter strategy in long term. (Especially for the Hacker News readers, who are often not that far from the top.)