unions

Pretty much. It’s the “kids have it so easy these days” resentment. The “I suffered, so they should too” mentality. People tell themselves that their suffering made them stronger because it helps them cope with the fact that their life fucking sucked for a while. Or they tell themselves that they were able to come out on top through sheer willpower, (even if there was a lot of luck/nepotism/etc involved too,) so anyone else should be able to as well.