Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even the legit examples are bullshit, I hate the term self-made (b|m)illionaire because almost all of them came from some kind of privilege that enabled it, and lucky circumstances that precipitate their rise. Take these Atlassian blokes who like to tell the story of starting a company on $20k of credit card debt and a dream to make a living wage without working for someone else. That story doesn't mention they came…
This sort of attitude is really nonsensical. It's the sort of extremism that seems to say: you're only self-made if you grew up in a cave, made your own clothes from animals that you yourself hunted, taught yourself language and built your business while working 80 hours a week as a [worst-job-here]. In other words: a dangerous level of holier-than-thou self-righteousness. The reality is that wealth and "privilege" a…
Even then someone would say that it was still done from a position of privilege because you had a place to sleep, animals to hunt, and how dare you say you are self made - you at least had a job unlike many people in this fine country!
To me, "self-made" means being able to take the opportunities within the environment that you live in and make the best out of them. Yes, that usually means that you get some opportunities that other people don't get - but equally, there are opportunities that you don't get either. You can be a "self-made" white son of a billionaire. Or a "self-made" immigrant of colour. Alternatively, we can stop using the term "self-made" entirely and pretend that it doesn't exist. That's also a solution.