I AM the "self-made" man

From many men; some very nice and close to heart and some the irritating snobbish kinds; I have heard the statement “I am a self made man”. It makes me a wonder…what is “self-made”. Ofcorse I know they mean either the career advancement they have achieved or the money they have made or the life style they maintain.

But then…come to think of it who is not a self made man or a woman for that matter? If the comparison is between how much help I have taken from my relatives compared to people who have equal or more “success”. Then isn’t that just utilization of available resources to the best. Someone used the relatives; someone used the friends.

Then the argument comes I educated myself….my parents spent money for all my siblings education…or I educated the rest of my siblings; all that is fine and is acknowledged too. So your living situation was unique for you. Moreover if your parents felt like spending more on your sibling than on you(unless change in living circumstances was the reason) then you should be wondering the differential treatment cant be just because of some attitude problem from one side. But that does not mean that the achievement of a sibling whose tuition fee someone else paid is any less. Is that achievement is any less or any more self-made? Oh he/she even went for extra tuitions……SO? Again his/her living situation was different from yours…that is all. Where is the self made or un-self made factor involved in that?

Say you are from a very poor family…you run off to a big city; make pocket money out of cleaning hotel tables and educate yourself(the usual self-made man movie story line)…there you go..I am self made. But then; If you become a thief or don after running to this big city (usual good guy doing bad thing because of the situation kind of movie)…then? Then do you call that also “self-made” …I guess not. Then it becomes outcome of the situation…..

Like said earlier...not that the achivements of the self mades are not acknowledged or respected....but it just makes me feel...that the statement is not logical if seen rationaly.....what I hear every time when someone tells me "I am a slef-made man" is that : I may have these achivements; but am not happy with what was there in my past; I have a whole lot of opinions about how my past should have been...happiness of today's achivement is a little less compared to the unhappiness from past; hence am just compensating by boosting up my ego a bit.