A social phenomenon in which individuals or groups who have successfully advanced in status, wealth, or opportunity then act to block others from accessing the same path upward.
Key Features:
Motivated by fear of competition, scarcity mindset, or desire to protect hard-won status.
Can manifest in politics (e.g., immigrants opposing immigration), economics (e.g., professionals gatekeeping their fields), or class mobility (e.g., elites dismantling welfare or education programs they once benefited from).
Example (fictional): Raymond Leon in the movie "In Time" rises out of poverty to become a Timekeeper but enforces the very system that traps others where he once was.
Example (real): An immigrant who gained citizenship but campaigns to restrict immigration for others.
Key Features:
Motivated by fear of competition, scarcity mindset, or desire to protect hard-won status.
Can manifest in politics (e.g., immigrants opposing immigration), economics (e.g., professionals gatekeeping their fields), or class mobility (e.g., elites dismantling welfare or education programs they once benefited from).
Example (fictional): Raymond Leon in the movie "In Time" rises out of poverty to become a Timekeeper but enforces the very system that traps others where he once was.
Example (real): An immigrant who gained citizenship but campaigns to restrict immigration for others.
1. After becoming wealthy through public education, the politician now opposes funding for schools, effectively pulling up the ladder behind him.
2. Some immigrants, once they gain citizenship, support restrictive immigration policies — a classic case of pulling up the ladder.
2. Some immigrants, once they gain citizenship, support restrictive immigration policies — a classic case of pulling up the ladder.
by Social Climber September 16, 2025
Get the Pulling Up the Ladder mug.The act of spending hours meal prepping your lunch for the week, then eating it before the morning meeting. Leaving yourself without a lunch at lunchtime.
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Get the Pull an AlQaeda mug.1. Experiencing a massive, painful bowel movement that leaves you regretting every meal choice you've ever made.
2. Slipping spectacularly on the ground, resulting in the unfortunate loss of teeth and a solid story for the ages.
2. Slipping spectacularly on the ground, resulting in the unfortunate loss of teeth and a solid story for the ages.
After last night's chili, I totally pulled a Sara in the bathroom.
Did you see her wipe out on the ice? She pulled a Sara and lost a front tooth!
Careful on that wet floor—you don’t want to pull a Sara
Did you see her wipe out on the ice? She pulled a Sara and lost a front tooth!
Careful on that wet floor—you don’t want to pull a Sara
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