Absolutely! I originally added a comment about this. The US is arguably a caste system. Race is merely a pawn, going back to Bacon’s Revolt.

“Bootstraps” is such a strong testament to the power of storytelling needed for ingroups to concentrate and sustain power. It even scams outgroups into undermining themselves. And as a US territory, its influence spread to Puerto Rico. I lived in Spain as a child. It’s collectivist with a far greater social net than the US, so “sink or swim” doesn’t exist culturally.

Interesting Spanish finance tidbit: employees NEVER negotiate salary and moving up the corporate ladder is a lot slower. Definitely a lot of room for being underpaid and losing out on earnings.

Glad to have inspired your writing. I’ll add your book suggestion to the list.