Americans Lose Faith That Hard Work Leads to Economic Gains, WSJ-NORC Poll Finds

When I was in Kolkata two and a half years ago, I saw a young man wearing a jacket with a slogan on the back.

In large letters, it said "The more you LEARN, the more you EARN."

That would be so out of place in midwest USA, where cynicism is rampant and young people believe they have no control over their own outcomes.

I wish I had taken a picture of that jacket.

Midwest is particularly rough especially rust belt cities. I could already see the writing on the wall when I got out decades ago. Now the coasts feel like the Midwest did back then. A sense of "who cares?"

> That would be so out of place in midwest USA, where cynicism is rampant

Well yeah, the Midwest USA is full of drastically under-employed individuals holding advanced degrees who still can't find any decent work, and yet still have to pay $2,000/month rental costs, while also paying back $100k to $200k+ student loans for all that "more learning" they did.

I think much of HN still thinks of "college grads" as entering a market similar to how they had it back in 2002 - 2010. But it's 2025, the market is far far less forgiving on the low end than it used to be.