AKA "Crab mentality"A friend of mine is an successful psychologist with a track record of 40+ years of involvement in some incredible things. He related to me that what you are describing is subconscious self-sabotage that is perpetrated by those with low self-worth (a financial term) so much so that they are willing to drag others down because in some twisted way of thinking they feel better as a result. He simply refers to it as the "ghetto mentality" and though the word ghetto historically refers to a place where some are forced to live, in this case the subjects forces themselves to stay in such a position because they refuse to do anything which would free themselves from this mentality.
Crab mentality - Wikipedia
I grew up in a community like those described in this thread.
As a child of immigrant parents who worked hard, I was always disheartened when we had something nice and it was vandalized by the neighborhood kids (cars, lawn ornaments etc.).
As an adult, I feel very grateful to be living in a rental apartment building which has extensive security cameras and screening of new tenants (no children allowed).
As a result, most are professional 35+ year olds who live alone and retired folk.
There isn't a day that goes by where I don't appreciate not being in that environment.
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