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> But to say society is making success impossible is simply untrue - I see so much opportunity and so many upcoming people all the time.

It's not impossible. It's harder than it was 20-50 years ago. Real wage growth has stagnated since the 1970s. The cost of higher education has grown at a faster rate than wages can keep pace. Young people (those under say 35) can't afford to buy homes, with the rate of home ownership amongst this age group dropping by ~20% since 1993. The median age of a home owner is now 56 years old, the highest it's ever been.

It takes but a moment to look up these things and realize there are systemic issues at play, but no, continue to share anecdotes and hyperbole.

> It's harder than it was 20-50 years ago.

I think you and the person you're responding to are dealing in absolutes. In some ways it is harder, but in others it's easier. The world's knowledge is literally at people's fingertips now. Almost any creative skill someone has can be leveraged to make money. In many ways it's the easiest it's ever been to start a business or make money.

But, as you mention, homes are priced insanely high. The flight to the coasts has caused anything within 50-100 miles of the ocean to go crazy price wise. That is much harder on people.

Healthcare is a mess. One of the biggest small business unlocks the US gov. could do is pass universal healthcare. So many people are tied to companies for healthcare, and boom we would see if we could break that tie would be like the tech boom all over again, if not greater.

>But, as you mention, homes are priced insanely high

Homes in some areas are higher. Others they have increased with inflation and are more affordable due to lower interest rates.

The "life is so hard these days" crowd is living in a bubble. They live in a coastal city and have debt from their expensive school that they may be struggling to pay back. [Not coincidentally this describes lots of the media].

Reality is that the majority of people don't go to college. And the majority of those that do graduate with reasonable debt into jobs that pay well enough to pay it off. Simply put, it's easier to live today than virtually any other time in American history.

> So many people are tied to companies for healthcare...

If the US passed some sort of halfway decent universal healthcare bill, then I would walk of my job that same day.

> The world's knowledge is literally at people's fingertips now. Almost any creative skill someone has can be leveraged to make money.

There are two ways to read this sentence. One optimistic, people can monitize their skills! The other pessimistic, anyone with the same skills as me can easily compete with me. Thats why it seems that skills that are highly specialized are rewarded most these days. And the average joe doesn't have highly specialized skills, otherwise they wouldn't be average. And if prices are a race to the bottom through vigorous competition, you will find that the largest capital owners will be the biggest winners, since they already have a leg up.

> The moment someone gets successful there is some tendency to try and tear them down, find out why they were privileged, what connections they had, and worst case say they got lucky

> So after a few years she started sniffing out where the firefighters hung out, their bars, and went out there and spoke to them, told them her story, made connections. She did get accepted following that

You’re saying that people tear down successful people by saying they’re privileged or have connections (but implying that they’re not successful because of these things and rather because they took a risk), and then immediately say that if it weren’t for the connections, she wouldn’t be successful? Seems contradictory to me. There’s no recipe for success, so discounting the luck factor also seems disingenuous.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that your friends “made it” but I doubt that it’s solely their own doing without any “insider” help. It’s the same thing now, applying for companies - if you don’t have a referral, you’re not getting to the front of the line for callbacks.

Personally, I’m against glorifying hustle culture and this sort of risk taking, because it implies that everyone can do it and if you’re not successful then you aren’t taking enough risks.

> Especially among the highly educated in our western system, people desire guaranteed paths. “Check these boxes and get this, get this credential and get that.”

But that’s how it used to be - and it’s not so anymore. I think it’s a valid complaint.

> You’re saying that people tear down successful people by saying they’re privileged or have connections (but implying that they’re not successful because of these things and rather because they took a risk), and then immediately say that if it weren’t for the connections, she wouldn’t be successful?

When people say "oh, they're successful because of their connections," they generally don't mean because they went out did a bunch of customer acquisition work, they mean because they have a dad who's a bigwig at Amazon or something.

True, but my point is that merit only takes you so far. If you really want to “make it”, you need merit AND an underlying freedom to take risks.

If what you have is the only means of survival, your appetite for risk is strongly diminished. So when someone claims that “you would have made it if you took risks” is a little two-faced.

> All the successful people have a different story. And your definition of success can vary greatly. But to say society is making success impossible is simply untrue - I see so much opportunity and so many upcoming people all the time.

There is a difference between "anyone can" and "everyone can at the same time".

The economy grows only a few percent a year. That means the society as a whole is an almost-zero-sum game. In the long term, things will get better. But in the time scale relevant to individual success, they remain mostly the same. If you are successful, most of that success is at the expense of other people. The majority can't be successful at the same time.

I’m taking the (sadly) unpopular view that you are better being optimistic, hopeful, confident you can succeed, working towards your goals.

It is tough when the pessimism is there. But I look around me and see so much to be positive about and hopeful for.

And 3% of 23 trillion is a lot of new cash. But yes, it all goes to the rich, or whatever. Don’t bother being hopeful, don’t bother trying something new, you can’t overcome whatever etc. etc.

Can people choose to be optimistic, hopeful, and confident? Or are those traits something shaped by genetics and life experience?

Also, 3% of $23 trillion is not that much, if you divide it by 330 million. That's what success looks like if we are talking about success for everyone at the same time.

If I didn’t clown the digits, it’s a little over $2K extra per person each and stacking every year ($20K/yr/person extra after 10 years).

That feels like quite a lot to be honest.

> Especially among the highly educated in our western system, people desire guaranteed paths.

Yes, guaranteed healthcare and land.

Option 1) you can have a likelihood of being able to provide healthcare and decent home for your kids.

Option 2) high likelihood of not being able to provide either for your kids.

I am not referring to the 0.1% of people who have the option at tech startups paying generous pay and benefits.