I saw this share in my friend circle and couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy. It is the most accurate portrayal of the current situation. This generation, adhering to the rules, seems powerless to escape this cage, ultimately becoming passive bearers of the systemic risks of the era!

Many people, when they collapse in middle age, are forced to repeatedly reflect on a question: "Did I do something wrong?"

The harsher truth is: they did nothing wrong; they simply executed an already outdated worldview too seriously.

Every time I see such scenarios, I can only express sympathy, but feel powerless. To break free, one cannot follow the "standard success template" throughout their life, cannot live in the shadow of others, and cannot bind themselves to traditional values and rules.

Respecting the laws, respecting the heart, respecting wealth—achieving this is very difficult!

Because their underlying code has already been set in stone. To break through, one must first overcome the foundational beliefs they once held dear.

I happened to see what @zutaoMin said: the biggest misconception of student thinking is believing that the world is linear, predictable, and fair: that effort will always yield rewards, hard work will be recognized, and as long as the rules are followed, one can climb upwards; that the evaluation system is singular: grades, performance, positions, forming a clean upward line.

But the real world never operates this way.

The reality is a multidimensional game: "being needed" is always more important than "being excellent." Ability is merely a tool, and the chips you hold—resources, information, position, relationships, scarcity—determine whether you qualify to stay at the table. Those without chips, no matter how disciplined, responsible, or non-speculative, often become more vulnerable.

Ironically:

Children from ordinary families are taught to follow rules, endure, and delay gratification; while children from resource-rich families learn to understand the rules, exploit them, and even rewrite them.

This early information gap is masked during periods of rapid growth, but once the cycle reverses, it will lead to concentrated liquidation, resulting in the middle-aged individuals depicted in the image below. It is no longer their choice, but rather the most rule-abiding individuals who are the first to be discarded by the system.

Thus, their downfall is not due to a lack of ability, not a moral failure, and certainly not "deserved." It is the result of a linear effort-maker being devoured by the era in a nonlinear world.

Specifically, this is not an individual problem; it is structural pressure. It is not that their life has collapsed, but that the rules have changed, and they did not have time to retreat.

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