Reply to Does anyone hate how competitive the world has become?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]People who lament about this are usually competitive themselves and mad that their kids aren’t top of the pile.[/quote]

That may be true for some but I also think mostly the people talking about this are okay with their kids not being the very best. The fear is that increased competition for resources like education and jobs will mean that being simply okay (as opposed to exceptional) will mean a hard and difficult life.

Given the cost of higher education and the cost of housing these fears may not be unfounded. Look at the conversation on this thread that "grad school is the new college degree." The argument is that it doesn't matter where you go to college because grad school is what matters. That's fine for upper middle class and wealthy families who can support kids through grad school and help them avoid loans or pay them off quickly. It's terrible news for middle class kids who are already struggling to pay for undergrad and now face pressure to get graduate degrees. And the whole proposition is risky because if you borrow money for grad school on the premise that you will get a better paying job what happens if that job doesn't materialize.

I think this anxiety is especially pronounced in places like the DC area where it is genuinely hard to be middle class -- cost of living is very high and resources like quality schools and good extra-curricular opportunities for kids are also expensive. There are programs to help people afford housing and opportunities for kids but they are mostly not available to middle class families -- you need to have an HHI of 80k or less to get access to most of those programs unless you have a lot of kids.

This really is generally not about sour grapes from privileged parents who are mad their kids aren't winning all the accolades. There may be some of that but I think this is mostly just class anxiety and that it is pretty valid.[/quote]

+1.  [/quote]

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