This was me 25 years ago. If you grew up with limited means it really does go to your head, particularly if you're in a relationship with someone who wants it to go to your head and is a real "climber/ass-kisser." Where "more" is never enough, and life is all a zero-sum game.

About 20 years ago I suffered my first and (fortunately) only huge professional setback, and had to build my company up again. It was humbling, but that humbling was really good for me. Also my new (at the time) girlfriend who is now my wife was the opposite of Wife v1.0 regarding being a "climber/ass-kisser."

Never again have I forgotten where I came from, nor how quickly it can change. Even after regaining that level of income, I see everyone through the lens of, "there but for the grace of God go I." That includes Ukrainian sanitation workers and Russian street sweepers.

At the end of the day, the vast majority of the people of every country under that $120k threshhold are the same. They want a fair chance to better themselves and a fair chance to make a better life for their kids.

The problem is the greedy folk at the top, and those desparate to join those greedy folk at the top. That includes the Bidens, Zelensky and Putin. For me the most ironic point about this war is that a brutal dictator like Putin, who may have come to power riding on a false-flag on his own people, is the least sociopathic of those three.