> A child of a steelworker simply isn't becoming a doctor short of a very, very small number of paths (generally involving military service). This wasn’t true

> A child of a steelworker simply isn't becoming a doctor short of a very, very small number of paths (generally involving military service). This wasn’t true in Ireland in the 70s or 80s, a far poorer country than contemporary America. The US system of funding higher education has many, many problems but not allowing smart people to study more is not among them. If you can get admitted to medical school you will get a loan to cover the costs. > A child of a high-school teacher simply isn't becoming an Olympic figure skater. The monetary investment is far too titanic. Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian ever, is the child of a middle school principal and a police officer. Tiger Woods is the son of an infantry officer. Money is not the limiting factor on more people becoming elite level athletes. It’s some combination of talent and insane, deluded commitment. > Engineering used to be one of the few fields where you could transition from blue collar to white collar even if you were a child from a poor family. Sadly, that doesn't seem to be very true, anymore. The average US college graduate has $35,000 in debt. Engineering is one of the fields where your college matters least. More people attend college than at any time in US history.