Why Most ‘Rags-To-Riches’ Stories Are Fake By Bizna Brand Analyst
Celebrities and successful people enjoy telling ‘rags to riches’ stories. Their rise from the lower leagues to the precipice of the top flight bear all the makings of a cinema blockbuster. But are our leading men and women really the heroes they have been portrayed as? Some are genuine but most of the things we hear are just fictional stories. Most of the ‘bottom to top’ tales are lies.
They are just moves to portray an image of hard work and create appeal among members of the public who desire the same level of success. Those who have gotten millions through the easy way out find it necessary to spin this tale so as to look a bit more credible and inspiring. But it’s all just a façade.
These are the common phrases they use
“My Upbringing Was So Rough!” or “I Haven’t Had Any Help!”
These days, it’s trendy for famous, successful people to talk about how terrible their life was before they made it big. This is especially popular in the showbiz industry. If you’re a famous musician who was unfortunate enough not to come from a poor or underprivileged background, don’t worry: You can exaggerate wildly, or just plain make things up. You can emphasize how said parent was a struggling single mother, to the point of allegedly lying about never knowing your father.
But we can’t really blame these people. We, the general public, like to maintain the belief that there is no real system of class or inherited or easy wealth in this country, and part of this belief is a demand for rags-to-riches stories. Public figures know that their successful careers will appeal to us much more if they hint that they spent their childhood hunting and killing beetles for food rather than going to Makini School. Despite how widespread it is, there’s no word that describes this exaggeration of a successful person person’s former indigence. So I’ll call it “exaggermania,” because I like my made-up words to sound as crazy as possible.
As a nation, we need to take the focus off of the rags-to-riches myth. Instead of chasing the shilling, we should focus on making sure that everyone has a place at the table, and everyone gets a share of the pie. There is no reason that a CEO should be making350 timesthe average worker. Pay the CEO less, raise the wages of those actually doing the work. We not only need a raise to the minimum wage, we also need a maximum wage. We need to ensure that every Kenyan can have a comfortable retirement—at an age when a person can actually enjoy life after a lifetime of work.
