Reply to Ever leave the DMV and see successful people who aren't this T20 college obsessed and wonder?

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Reply to "Ever leave the DMV and see successful people who aren't this T20 college obsessed and wonder?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]This. No other city has the same credential-based economy as DC. None. Yes, you can find pockets in NYC (finance, dramatic arts, etc) but there is so much more career diversity in other cities. Here, at least within DC and the very close-in suburbs, it is pretty much journalism, then law, lobbying, policy, whether for FedGov or private. That is all so credential-driven. So DC is a self-selecting universe of very smart people who all achieved quite a bit (educationally), so of course they will think that is the way to go. Head out to Ashburn, or up to Gaithersburg, and you see way more entrepreneurs who didn't "achieve" at the tippy top schools, but they're buulding businesses and creating, and taking risks. Or head to another state and talk to friends there - and see how they live...very very different from the rat race here. Only downside to the DC crowd is that they are motiviated to...achieve. but not to build or create. They have no real appetite for risk (not sure they've ever had to take a real risk), very few have actualy created something meaningful and sustainabvle, from scratch, and are absolutely terrified of failing or being percieved to be wrong about something.[/quote]

I left D.C. several years ago, and this thread is fascinating. In my experience, outside of the D.C. Metro, where you went to school is simply not as much of an emphasis. Sure, it's interesting when people studied at Stanford or Cal, but there are plenty of "builders/creators" that went to less heralded schools. I view D.C. as an economy of "takers." The wealth and innovation in America is largely created elsewhere, D.C. is where the tax bounties and wealth created by those companies goes to be spent. How it's spent is up for great debate, but when you consider that D.C is a company town and is not lacking in affluence, maybe that spending and the various industries it supports need to be a bit more closely examined. Put differently, who is getting rich off of our tax dollars? Maybe these T20 folks are onto something. :lol: [/quote]

DC is an economy of takers?  Really?  Tell that to all us Feds who chose a career in service.  Managers of wealth, deciders, maybe, but takers?  No.[/quote]

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