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Pulling Up the Ladder

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.
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.
by Social Climber September 16, 2025
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Pull It Up Jamie

Reference from the JRE podcast whenever Joe Rogan wants Jamie to pull up any video/website/document/etc. So when you want your friend to pull something up on the internet, you tell them "Pull it up Jamie"
Bro #1: Have you seen the video of the squirrel skydiving? Bro #2: Actually, I haven't, pull it up Jamie
by JPR16967 April 3, 2025
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Pull up

1. The moment in each story where the protagonist begins the final clash of powers or where the antagonists recieve what they deserve.

2. Whenever somebody does something that makes them look like the main character.
1. Puss in Boots is about to pull up against Death, resulting in the final epic clash

2. “Damien Lillard pulls up with a epic buzzer beat that sent the Thunder home.”
by NotjustforEnglish April 11, 2023
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