Do trust fund artists deserve our respect?

Childhood homes for most of us looked like trailers, apartments and modest homes where we fought our siblings over not using up all the hot water. But for people like Bella Hadid and Gigi Hadid, whose childhood home was an $85 million mansion, disparity doesn't begin to describe the gap between us. 

While the wealthy like to say cute things like “money doesn't buy happiness” and “I’m literally just like you,” the rest of us, with calluses and bunions from working minimum wage jobs since we were 15, don’t take it so well. 

But there is just so much we can be bitter about — after all, it’s not their fault their parents are rich. But what is undeniably upsetting is the college admissions scandal, Kylie Jenner getting that “self-made” title on Forbes and Gigi Hadid being one of the highest-paid models, despite her model walk being unremarkable at best.

It’s inevitable for the “have-nots” to feel a certain type of way about the “haves” who seem to live in a world much simpler and easier than the one we live in. We’re not saying their job is easy or that they don’t work hard, we just wish they would acknowledge that their rise to the top was much less arduous than those without such means. 

The rest of us have been doing risk assessment since we were in elementary school and working hard to make ends meet or make our dreams come true. It’s a different type of work — minimum wage jobs, networking with people we grew up feeling inferior to and/or being the first in our family to graduate or have the chance to chase a dream.

Naturally, it's easy to dismiss successful rich kids as undeserving of their success, but are these thoughts valid and are they the same beliefs that might just keep us from reaching our full potential? 

There’s a long roster of celebrities, like Summer Walker, who quite literally went from rags to riches. Walker, just two years ago, was running an Instagram account for a cleaning service business that she started. Today, her album "Over It,” which was released just last month, is getting major buzz from people across the internet, and it's safe to say that she is gaining more momentum, recognition and, consequently, money. 

A few other of our favorite rags to riches stories are those of Jay-Z, who grew up in the Marcy Houses, Jim Carrey, who once lived out of a van with his family, and Sarah Jessica Parker, who grew up poor in Ohio. 

No one ever tries to invalidate their rise to the top, and rightfully so. “If they can make it, so can I,” we think — it makes us feel hopeful. 

Still, is this double standard wrong? Well, like many things, it’s not so black and white. Also, when rich people stop cheating the system, I’ll consider dropping the double standard. 

There’s no denying that Ariana Grande is talented and can sing, but we can also acknowledge her coming from money allowed her certain opportunities and exposure, lower-income kids just don’t have. 

Additionally, there’s no denying Jenner’s massive makeup empire, but would she have even been able to start the company and shoot to the top without millions of dollars and an already huge following backing her? 

There are some trust fund kids who are genuinely stealing opportunities from underprivileged kids, like Olivia Jade Giannulli, and others who are genuinely gifted and talented, like Jonah Hill. 

We have to approach each case with a fresh set of eyes, and what we can agree on is that it’s not necessarily fair, but it’s life. “Play your cards,” my mom would always tell me. I guess rich kids have experience playing their cards, and we have to play ours.