[Excelsior]

(12-11-2016 10:50 PM)Delta Wrote:  

I don't understand why anyone here believes it takes elite private schools and connections to make it in this world. That's a leftist rationalization for why economic mobility tends to be low, and it's a myth. Sure, you can probably find some study purporting a correlation between schools' pricetags and their students' life outcomes, but correlation does not imply causation. Only high-IQ elites can afford to send their kids to swanky private schools, and children tend to turn out like their parents. Nothing remotely groundbreaking. The surest path to success in life is as follows:

Step 1: Do reasonably well in high school.
Step 2: If you did well enough to earn a scholarship at a 4 year college, go there and enjoy some well-earned fun making friends and chasing pussy. Otherwise, start out at community college which is fairly inexpensive.
Step 3: Study a practical field that isn't oversaturated with aspirants, and maintain a decent GPA.
Step 4: Apply for jobs until you get one.
Step 5: Don't blow massive amounts of money on bullshit you don't need.

I think the rationale has its roots in what people are trying to get to.

What you've outlined is a pretty reasonable, rational, practical path to a comfortable middle class lifestyle.

What folks are looking for is a path to the 1%. That path, more often than not, goes through elite private secondary and post-secondary (as well as graduate) schools - these are the places where the bulk of the future elite financiers, corporate lawyers, and other high level white collar professionals will be trained. For most, getting on this path is the only viable way to go from middling to 1% in a generation - the game is strongly rigged against those who aren't on this path.

That goal/expectation (1% or bust) may or may not be rational, but I do believe it is relevant here. People's expectations are that their kids surpass them and get to the top of the pyramid (or closer to it), and it has become increasingly expensive to ensure that your kid gets on the most feasible path to that level.