People have expectations set by parents and society. Things like owning a house are socially expected and difficult in SV. It’s fairly natural to feel “sorry for yourself” when making good money if that good money either isn’t leading to a mortgage and a home or if that good money results in substantial challenges with said home and said mortgage.
Just because someone is more well off doesn’t mean they don’t have problems. It’s not enough to fix affordable housing and say job done if the housing market is completely broken solving the problem requires fixing housing for everyone including the well off.
The house trance in SV is very disturbing to me. I saw a lot- and I mean a lot of people move in with their families from the midwest to work at FAAMG, and then bought a house in sunnyvale which they absolutely HATE. From the high prices to the schools filled with grinds, they just want to move back to the midwest and live near the rest of their families in a place where land is cheap and people don't try to compete so hard in high school. Perpetual misery.
> From the high prices to the schools filled with grinds
Interesting to see the word "grind" word making a comeback. It's first manifestation was "greasy grind", used as a pejorative for academically hard working immigrant kids - usually Jewish - before WW2.
Before we start applying labels like that to people again, perhaps it would be better to look at the incentive structures that cause people to be so driven academically, even if to a fault.
For example, many of those people might not have a place like the Midwest to move back to, or even if they did, it would be even more hyper competitive (like much of Asia).
> they just want to move back to the midwest and live near the rest of their families in a place where land is cheap and people don't try to compete so hard in high school.
I sympathize with this as I think the SV style academic rat race damages kids' curiosity in the name of status, but the Midwest didn't sit still this whole time.
You will find such hyper competitive academic systems these days in many parts of the Midwest too, especially in the "nice" suburbs that people want to move to with cheaper land, big houses, "good" schools, and probably a short driving distance from a Whole Foods (or similarly posh supermarket).
Just because someone is more well off doesn’t mean they don’t have problems. It’s not enough to fix affordable housing and say job done if the housing market is completely broken solving the problem requires fixing housing for everyone including the well off.