[scotty79]

> "tall poppy syndrome" ... "the nail which sticks out will be hammered down"

Awesome to know that. We have same thing in Poland. Not sure if there's any proverb or a saying. There was a joke that in hell you don't need to watch a boiling tar cauldron full of Poles. If any of them tries to get away others will hold him down.

I guess that's a human thing then. Funny that USA doesn't have that.

[Kluny]

Oh, they do. When someone manages to claw their way out of dirt poverty, they ended up cutting off contact with their poor relative and former friends so that they don't have to give all their newfound wealth away.

[scotty79]

That's bit different. What I'm saying is that in other places than USA you as a rich, self made, person, you would expect people to be distrustful of you, gossiping, trying their best to make your life harder. You wouldn't expect them to try to exploit you to the point of driving you away.

The only idea I can think of that expresses same sentiment in USA culture is keying someone's car. Not exploitation. Just general malice with only being better of as the reason for it.

[smarinov]

The same in Bulgaria and still few people realise that this exact saying about the boiling tar cauldron is pretty common in many nations across the world.