Men, especially if you are one of the outcasts, you should laugh at this. You don’t need any of the things promised by the path that has failed you. The correct move is to reject them before they reject you. Their world is crumbling, and yours is the Phoenix from their ashes. Doing things their way is giving up your one chance to live your life as the gift that was given to you. I don’t know what that is, but you’ll find it. I have seen that happen so many times, it’s certainty is only eclipsed by the ironclad guarantee of quiet despair that comes with living your life according to other people’s expectations. Even your judges are bored. Mostly I mean women, because you are biologically programmed to seek their approval, young and old alike. It doesn’t work. Live your life. Define your own values. Follow whatever interests you, and for no other reason. Really, seriously, it works. Of the people I grew up with, the only men of note today are the ones that dropped out, failed out, or otherwise lost their way and had to follow their own random path. And then, something miraculous happens, like a hobby website turns into an empire, or a car racing club turns into SpaceX, or an email list turns into a cryptocurrency, or even simpler, you like working outside with your buddies and you end up with a landscaping business. And you probably won’t know what that spark is yet, and that’s okay; you have a lot of time, as long as you don’t spend it on someone else. But if you do, wow, those years will disappear in your memory like you never even existed. I know only because I’ve done it both ways, probably poorly on all accounts, always trying to prove myself and shoulder way more responsibility for others than I could possibly bear. The opportunities I’ve passed up in exchange for self-imposed limitations were astonishing, like 11-digit market cap, and the guys that took them up were so casual and effortless about it, often not especially bright, sometimes remarkably not-so-bright, and certainly not disciplined, just unconcerned with anything else that might be considered a problem. It works, really. The neurotic achiever types that would be worried about all of those things in the article: unmarried staff engineers at some big company. I really wish that I could put names to the characters in this screed so that you would see exactly what I mean, maybe even get a little bit angry at the pressures you’ve succumbed to rather than pursuing self-actualization. One more thing. You don’t need any of the luxuries and conveniences that come with the elusive middle class lifestyle, and neither does a family, if you all practice extreme resourcefulness and overwhelming gratitude. The only thing you need is the right partner, maybe the most import decision of your life, especially in the avoidance of certain attitudes. You should have sympathy for the billionaire that lives in a toxic relationship, which is likely because they attract the worst. Imagine being one of the richest people on the planet, everybody wants to be you, but the person closest to you hates you, manipulates you, uses everything you have against you, and sometimes you think you’d rather be dead, but a lot of people depend on you to pretend that everything is great. Money only makes things worse. Practice gratitude also for the things you don’t have. Okay, enough of my soapbox. Thanks for reading.