From ‘Mr. 187 IQ’ Scott Greer, “‘F–k You, I Got Mine’ Understanding a core sentiment of American life.”
Another great article. I can draw parallels with my 2016 article “Wealth Creation as the New American Religion“. The pursuit and preservation of personal wealth has led to an era of atomization. This can be societally, but also within families. Boomers want to preserve their wealth for the afterlife, much like the Egyptians, but with McMansions instead of lavish tombs. This is shown by the below tweet, which went viral, of the apparent covetousness and stinginess of boomers who refuse to help their children and want to die with as much wealth as possible, when instead such wealth could be put to better use while alive:
The narcissism of so many Boomers is continuously astounding
They resent their children for wanting children
They resent their children for wanting them to be grandparents
They are disgusted by the idea of passing on wealth or helping them at all https://t.co/kyCuqUOaMT
— AJAC (@AJA_Cortes) October 14, 2025
I can relate to this. My parents also never helped me with any of my business endeavors, let alone a home. It was not a matter of affordability or the demands being unreasonable (it was never much money, probably $1000 at most); it’s just that the notion of such generosity was anathema.
He writes:
This idea made more sense in antebellum America where the citizen was largely self-sufficient. The frontier homestead couldn’t count on police, a fire department, sanitation services, or even properly maintained roads. It was all up to the individual to provide for himself and his family. The few public services, such as the local militia, would be something the citizen was directly involved in. In this world of rugged individualism, it made sense to tell the world off. Everything the yeoman had was his own and he largely provided for himself. He didn’t depend on any public services.
People were much more dependent on each other during the 19th and early 20th centuries compared to today, even if, on the surface, they appeared more self-sufficient or rugged. Families were large to divide chores and other work, and due to high mortality rates. People seldom moved far from their birthplace. Or families moved together, like on the frontier. By comparison, today, although Americans are not self-sufficient in so far as they depend on utilities and grocery stores instead of producing their own food, they are much more atomized and individualistic.
The 21th century of modernity and unprecedented personal wealth–on an inflation adjusted basis and especially post-Covid–has allowed people to curate their own social circles and lifestyles, instead of being as dependent on others or having any connection with the community they reside in. People pay a hefty premium, whether it’s vacation homes, private air travel, private schools, or stadium box seating, to voluntarily isolate from the masses. ‘Making it’ in America means leaving one’s hometown and being able to craft such a lifestyle of one’s own choosing.
Continuing:
This rugged individualism isn’t dependent on actual self-sufficiency. In fact, one of the pillars of “fuck you, I got mine” thinking is how our population adamantly opposes any entitlement reforms. Many of the same people who want their property taxes eliminated also want their social security and Medicare fully preserved and possibly expanded. They still want everyone else to pay for their benefits. They don’t care if the way we structure entitlements is bound to jeopardize America’s future. “Fuck you, I got mine.”
I also see a similar pattern among the neoliberal/center-left, which I observed back in 2021. It’s not just about hypocrisy and ‘luxury beliefs’, but also neoliberal types who don’t want to pay their share to fund the very social programs they advocate. It’s like, “We want a European-style healthcare system, a generous social safety net, aggressive enforcement of antitrust and other regulations, and workers’ rights–but don’t want our taxes raised to pay for it.”
From my 2021 post “The contradictions of pragmatism“:
For example, some liberals will argue that the US government should do everything in its power to ensure equality of opportunity by eliminating all possible barriers to employment, education, housing, etc. , including even forcing businesses and landlords to have to make accommodations for every imaginable disability, but at the same time want lower taxes and or don’t want to in any way have pay extra for this big, expansive government that will enforce all these rules.
These services and regulations will somehow magically exist independent of any personal inconvenience or imposition to help pay for them. At least neocons understand that such services come at a cost, or other tradeoffs.
I also don’t think property taxes is the crux of the issue. Rather it’s unprecedented personal wealth. Raising property taxes would not change this much. It instead would require a total reset or reordering of society, possibly brought upon by a new Great Depression, a World War or other crisis. Which is unlikely, and I also don’t see any scenario that will lead to this reset or outcome. Despite more political violence, as seen in 2025 with the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the 2024 attempt on Trump’s life, society still more or less remain intact. Viral videos of people ‘chimping out’ in public does not change this much.
Although America always seems at the cusp of a new civil war, it falls short of ever happening , which I think most can agree is a good thing. Nor is there any assurance that this would lead to less atomization. For example, the Reconstruction following the Civil War only lead to more division, between the North and South, that still runs deep today.