[Arete314159]

I'm pretty liberal. I also had an experience somewhat similar to the person in this article, although not as extreme. I grew up in a very dysfunctional and unstable home, which was very unhealthy, and even so I got into a top prep school and then Harvard...

...but I dropped out of Harvard, in part because of health problems that were delayed consequences of extreme neglect and an unhealthy home life.

My take on things is this. When you are the "exception," people talk a lot about how you should Just Get a Good Education, and then you can escape all this. You may get a scholarship to a good school, but that's it. Abuse in the home? That's your problem to deal with. Parents poor and overwhelmed? Screw those parents, we're abandoning those parents, we only care about their kids, and only if they're such prodigies that they can succeed in spite of the other numerous obstacles.

Here's the thing. I've known several prodigies from challenging backgrounds who got into great schools. Many of them had a lot of problems because of physical and mental health issues caused by their upbringing and environments. Some of these problems interrupted or curtailed their educations.

By contrast, I've also known people who had safe, stable homes, and long-term affordable housing. These folks were always able to further their education. But smart, educated folks with chaotic and abusive home lives were not always able to make it to happiness and stability.

Saying education will fix all woes is a cop-out. It's a way of uplifting a few show ponies and leaving everyone else in misery. Speaking as a former show pony. If you replace "two parent household" with "safe, stable, healthy home" I agree with what he's saying. I would also add healthcare. My knowledge of calculus did not help me as a young person when I was injured and had no money for physical therapy. Only socialized medicine would have helped me. Education is great, but it's not a substitute for a functioning society with a safety net.

[em-bee]

replace "two parent household" with "safe, stable, healthy home" I would also add healthcare.

this is a key point. in fact my own experience was that i didn't get a safe and stable home until my parents divorced, so it is not automatic that a two parent household would be better, but we grew up in a country where the social security provided adequate support for us to get that stable home.

myself living in a country now without that support, i would not be able to provide a stable home without a partner. if i were to loose my partner i would have to leave this place (but at least i would have the option to do that).

the locals here don't have that option. and since social security in the USA is lacking, the focus on a two parent families is easy to understand, because it is more likely to lead to more stability. but in the end, stability is what matters, not the number of parents,