Ever get that nagging, itchy feeling that someone else is getting a "free pass" on something you had to struggle through? It's human. It's also kinda petty. That specific, prickly brand of resentment is exactly what the I suffered why shouldn't they meme captures so perfectly. It’s the digital embodiment of "crabs in a bucket" syndrome, where instead of helping the next person up, we try to pull them back down into the mud with us.
Memes usually die in a week. This one didn't.
It stuck around because it touches on a raw nerve in our collective psychology. We see it in student debt debates, workplace "hazing," and even how parents talk to their kids about chores. It’s everywhere.
Where Did This Mean-Spirited Image Actually Come From?
The visual root of the "I suffered, why shouldn't they?" meme is actually a comic strip by the artist Gudim. If you’ve spent any time on Instagram or X (formerly Twitter), you know his style. It’s minimalist, usually wordless, and deeply cynical. The original comic features a man dragging a heavy cube, sweating and straining. He eventually reaches a point where he can shave the corners off his cube to make it a sphere, allowing him to roll it easily.
But then he sees someone else with a sphere.
Instead of being happy for them or sharing the "hack," the character looks miserable and demands the other person suffer too. It’s a gut punch. It illustrates a very specific type of moral failure: the belief that pain is a prerequisite for entry.
The internet, being the chaotic engine that it is, took this visual and slapped text over it. It became a shorthand for institutional gatekeeping. While Gudim's original art was about the internal struggle of labor, the meme evolved into a commentary on social policy and generational warfare.
The Psychology of Generational Spite
Why do we do this? Honestly, it’s a defense mechanism. If I spent ten years paying off a loan, and then the government wipes away your loan in a day, my brain tries to tell me that my ten years were "wasted." To protect my ego, I have to insist that your debt shouldn't be canceled. Otherwise, my sacrifice feels meaningless.
Psychologists call this "effort justification." We value things more when we suffer for them. But the dark side of that is we begin to fetishize the suffering itself. We start to think the suffering is the value. You see this constantly in medical residencies or high-finance internships. Older doctors will say, "I worked 100-hour weeks and survived on vending machine coffee, so these new residents should too."
They aren't arguing that 100-hour weeks make better doctors. They’re arguing that because they survived the fire, everyone else needs to get burned too. It’s a logical fallacy that stalls progress.
Student Loans and the Meme's Viral Peak
The I suffered why shouldn't they meme really exploded during the height of the U.S. student loan forgiveness debates. This was the "final boss" of the meme's relevance.
On one side, you had people pointing out that the cost of tuition has outpaced inflation by insane margins since the 1970s. On the other side, you had a vocal group of people—often those who had already paid their loans—using the logic of the meme. They felt that forgiveness was an insult to their hard work.
The meme became a weapon used by younger generations to mock this stance. It pointed out the absurdity of wanting the world to stay bad just because it was bad for you.
- "I had to walk to school uphill both ways."
- "I stayed in a toxic marriage for the kids."
- "I worked for $2.15 an hour in 1980."
All of these are used as "badges of honor" to dismiss the struggles of people today. The meme cuts through the noise and shows the core of the argument: it's not about economics; it's about a lack of empathy.
It’s Not Just Policy—It’s Gaming and Fandom Too
You see this in the gaming world all the time. Think about "Soulslike" games or difficult MMO raids. When a developer introduces a "Quality of Life" update that makes a notoriously difficult boss easier to navigate, the "hardcore" players lose their minds.
They’ll post the I suffered why shouldn't they meme (or a variation of it) because they feel their achievement has been devalued. To them, the "suffering" of the old, clunky mechanics was a rite of passage. If a new player gets the same loot without the 50 hours of grinding, the veteran feels robbed.
It’s the same in fandoms. "You aren't a real fan unless you hunted down bootleg VHS tapes in the 90s."
Basically, any community with a high barrier to entry is susceptible to this mindset. It creates a toxic environment where "new blood" is treated with suspicion instead of being welcomed. It's a weird way of gatekeeping joy.
How to Break the Cycle (Actionable Steps)
Recognizing the "I suffered" mindset in yourself is the first step to not being that person. It’s a natural impulse, but it’s one we can override with a bit of logic.
Audit your resentment. Next time you feel annoyed that someone has it easier than you did, ask: "Does their ease actually hurt me, or does it just bruise my ego?" Usually, it's the latter. If a coworker gets a remote work setup that you never had, they aren't "lazy." They're just living in a different reality.
Separate the goal from the grind. If the goal is "becoming a licensed plumber," the grind is the apprenticeship. If the apprenticeship can be made safer or more efficient, that's a win for the industry. The goal is the license, not the number of times you got yelled at by a supervisor.
Advocate for the "Sphere." In the original comic, the guy with the cube could have asked the guy with the sphere how he did it. Instead of demanding others suffer, we should be asking how to make the sphere accessible to everyone.
Practice "Compersion." This is a fancy word often used in social psychology to describe the opposite of jealousy. it's the feeling of joy you get when someone else succeeds or has a good experience. It takes practice. Start small. If someone finds a shortcut, try saying "Nice find!" instead of "That's cheating."
The I suffered why shouldn't they meme serves as a mirror. It shows us a part of ourselves that isn't particularly pretty, but it's a part we need to acknowledge if we want to actually make things better for the people coming after us. Progress, by definition, means the next generation should have it easier. If they don't, we've failed.
Moving forward, the best way to "kill" the spirit of this meme is to actively cheer for the shortcuts. When you see someone avoiding a struggle you went through, realize that you paved the way for that ease. Your struggle wasn't pointless; it was the foundation for their progress. That’s a much more empowering way to look at your own history.
Stop dragging the cube. Let the spheres roll.