This was a really good read, thanks for posting. A lot of this I can relate to, especially the silver spoon bit. I think what really felt similar to my experience though was the second paragraph:

I complain and criticize more often than I’d like, but I’m a little disappointed by this caricature of myself, even if some people find it endearing. It’s not that it is unfounded; I know that I’ve made plenty of disparaging remarks about fireworks and popular television shows and things that I don’t like, using stronger language than I actually feel. Maybe I do it to make my point more direct, or to play devil’s advocate, or to try to be funny, or have my opinion heard. These are all true to some degree. Sometimes I feel like it’s a façade and sometimes I feel like it’s just part of who I am.

I think I started doing it in high school, showing over-the-top hate/dislike for something thinking it was cool or funny. It continued on through college too - my roommate always thought my rants were hilarious and I thought hers were too. However in the end I think all it's done is encouraged me to be a much more negative person than I want to be. So now I'm trying to actively be more positive about situations and trends, even if I think my gut reaction to it is "That's dumb" or something.