Too much money chasing too few real educational opportunities.
The excess of money comes from some wrong-headed belief that “education”, in and of itself, is an unmixed blessing. First of all, what is going on in our colleges and universities is more indoctrination than any kind of useful education that prepares the individual with the tools to meet and overcome the challenges that arise in life which nobody could predict.
But more than that, the excess of money available encourages persons who cannot absorb the basics of higher thinking to enroll anyway, only to drop out, now hopelessly in debt and still unable to earn a meaningful wage. The burgeoning student loan debt threatens to become even more vexing than mortgage loan debt, and for much the same reason, the acquired values have dropped far below the cost of acquisition.
So today’s youth (and presumedly the generations to follow) are placed in harm’s way, without means to avert the certain disaster that shall overtake them. Destined to be forever destitute and hopeless, their response will be to become the new proletariat, sullen and secretly fuming at what fate has handed them.
Some, of course, will beat all the odds and actually acquire a real education, and have the capability to parlay that fund of ability and native inquiry into a decent, even excellent, living for themselves.
At which point this newly minted and certified clever few become the object of the wrath of the many now disenfranchised cohorts, who strike with a righteous rage and absolutely no coherent reasoning power whatsoever, pulling down whatever feeble gains made against the widening chaos at every hand.
The John Galts disappear into their redoubts and keeps, until the storm has passed. Even then, it may not be safe to venture forth, as the age of unreason shall die only with the last of the proletariat.
The proletariat are still among us.
True, but not for the reasons usually attributed.
They exist insofar as they will not act on opportunities, will not do the work necessary to reap greater rewards. The only ones holding them down are themselves. Per this discussion, they are the ones who sign up for classes (usually incurring enormous debt) then simply will not do the assigned work needed to demonstrate basic, even minimal, mastery of the material taught. The proletariat in our culture are those who think showing up is enough; they have little/no wealth because they will not create/earn it.