"Upward" and "downward" are concepts existing in your head. I don't have a million bucks, but i've written a book. Nobody is successful by all and every definition of success. What I, personally, wish for my child is: happiness first, enlightenment second, intellectual capability and actualisation third.
It is harder to be happy if you need to work 12 hours a day just to pay basic bills and your kid if your kid breaks hand, you will be in large debt forever. Likewise, it is easier to be happy if your job provides a bit of autonomy and pleasant environment - and those are more likely to be available with right education and background.
Well, it's not that you're not right, but rather that you're going on a tangent and to extremes. It's also hard to be happy if you have a drug problem (alcoholism for example) or live in a place where making a living is hard or are unable to learn marketable skills. But please keep in mind that not all well paying jobs require a PhD - at least I hope that in the US you can be a carpenter without a degree and a crippling debt; but I, like you, digress...