I don't agree with your last paragraph, as I have different values, but as far as your first one: this is the essence of 'hypercompetition', and it's bound up

I don't agree with your last paragraph, as I have different values, but as far as your first one: this is the essence of 'hypercompetition', and it's bound up with our winner-take-all system / superstar effect. Anyone who hasn't read "Twilight of the Elites" and "Average is Over" should do so. Winner-take-all society: http://prospect.org/article/talent-and-winner-take-all-society http://prospect.org/article/talent-and-winner-take-all-socie... The superstar effect: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/business/26excerpt.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/business/26excerpt.html?_r... Non-stop retraining: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/22/business/to-stay-relevant-in-a-career-workers-train-nonstop.html http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/22/business/to-stay-relevant-... My personal preference would be to accept this as the new reality and give better societal supports to allow people to compete (as Twilight of the Elites makes clear, you need more equality of outcome to enable equality of opportunity vis a vis education, tutors, etc.) like debt-free college and retraining programs, GBI, a more comprehensive unemployment system, etc. Rather than trying to roll the clock back, we should instead embrace it and allow people who want to be part of the race to have the tools to compete, while allowing those who would rather not to step away without starving and becoming homeless.