I agree that hard work and talent don't seem to add up in today's economy when stacked against privilege and the right pieces of paper from this or that school, but I don't think they ever have.
I often think I've done some hard work (not ENORMOUS AMOUNTS of hard work, mind you) and by luck have a brain in my head, so I am hanging in there.
But then there are days when I realize, in the grand scheme, I *am* fairly privileged with *ok* pieces of paper...huh.
(I have just run into enough serious problems by my own ignorance of 'how things work' to keep me from thinking that others should DO WHAT I DID to get where I am!
Please, good heavens, hope nobody follows the meandering path I took!
......
I am also reminded of a conversation I heard in an IT office a few years back where one woman, in her 40's, no kids, recently married, was congratulating herself for paying for her new car with cash, and another like minded individual, in his late 50's was agreeing with that...she said, 'we're a dying breed!'.
My snarky thoughts on this exchange will remain untyped.
