Spent the last week at MIT with my classmates, and you have done a brilliant job of saying exactly what I have been unable to articulate effectively. Thank you. I’ll be sharing this, and hope to start a discussion about what we can all do differently and better.
I used to think it'd be irresponsible and reckless to leave my high-paying tech job and start over from scratch to do something more impactful. I think about it differently now: I have the network and skillset to effect change, and the financial cushion to take on risk. If I have all that going for me and I'm still too scared to take the leap, who exactly am I expecting to do it instead?
I think there's one more consideration for ladder climbers: if you've spent your whole adult life at elite institutions and prestigious corporate jobs, that can become a part of how you define yourself and your self-worth. It's hard to leave that behind for a non-profit or startup that doesn't give you the same validation. It feels like there's not nearly as much scope to have an "impressive" job while doing something meaningful.
For what it's worth- I work on carbon capture now, make a fraction of what I used to, and often wonder if I've made the right choice. This genuinely helped me remember why I'm doing it, so thank you!
Love to hear it! glad you're feeling good about where you are now. It's always great to hear success stories like yours. It's as you said, if not you, then who? You're showing lots of other people who are on the fence that it's possible.
I am not an elite because I became disillusioned with the prospects of the path before amassing enough wealth.
I took my savings and decided to try to build my own financial freedom with the goal of owning my time and being able to use my capabilities without optimizing for profit.
But I haven’t made it yet. Savings run out. I don’t have the material security of the elites. And despite feeling a burning desire to use my capabilities for the betterment of the world, I’m trapped in the need to “make it” first.
I wonder every day if I should have waited and compromised until becoming elite. I wonder if I should re-enter the ladder and try again later on.
“And despite feeling a burning desire to use my capabilities for the betterment of the world, I’m trapped in the need to “make it” first.
I wonder every day if I should have waited and compromised until becoming elite.” - This exactly how I feel too. Just wanted to say it was super resonating.
But you are so brave that you took a leap without having financial security of the ‘Elites’. I honestly don’t know the answer to this dilemma except to owning my decision despite the result. Yet I find myself circling back to the default path. I don’t think I am an Elite maybe on the cusp of being the disaffected youth if anything, but still this essay helps articulate my years of inner battle. Hopefully we find more clarity as we go and find meaning or maybe peace in at least trying!
That is the question. I think the answer already exists within each person. You just have to ask yourself, what opportunities did I wish I would have had, or which ones did I have that others did not, and what would it look like if I could provide that for them? Your journey already tells you exactly what you should do.
I have no words to express how imp this is especially in today’s times.
I think the disillusioned youth group can be extended to include those mid-career, who feels alone and that 1+ people can’t change these systemic issues, so probably for now continue optimizing for the desire (which feels like need) for better <fill in the blank> in the hope to amass enough power/money/influence to make a difference. I keep thinking about how to break out of this paralysis.
Personally - I’ve been staring at Rutger Bregman’s organization, Moral Ambition (https://www.moralambition.org), for months and wondering if this might be the way to start but haven’t taken a step yet
Thanks for sharing! What do you think you need to get you over the hump? Or is it just unclear what next steps are? This is a problem I’m thinking about actively.
I’m not sure yet but it is surely around next steps and building a new mental model of success and ROI. Societal/human endeavors tend to have longer cycles and for the already disillusioned, it’s very early to fall into the trap of your mind saying, “see I knew, this wouldn’t work” or that the impact is too small to matter. Re the moral ambition org, they currently seem to be focused on fellowships for youth so I’m trying to figure out what I can offer
It raises a question I keep coming back to: is becoming an institutional elite a prerequisite for large-scale change?
Or to put it another way—does starting with established capital and networks create such leverage that even a late-career pivot toward impact outpaces a lifetime of bottom-up work?
Great article. Really enjoyed reading it as a (semi? somewhat?) elite.
I think one of the things preventing people from exiting is the milieu. I moved to Minneapolis from SF a few years ago, post startup burnout, and I found that taking the cost of living pressure off was huge. I also had a social group that did not care about what I was doing or how much I was making.
This space led to me joining a local arts non-profit as board chair, where I used the skills I gained working in product and applied them to fixing the group's finances. That experience was so inspiring that I'm in the process of navigating a bigger career shift out of venture backed tech.
I don't think the answer is "Everyone should move to the Midwest!". Arguably, I've found my way because I've failed at parts of the elite path you're highlighting. But I think finding ways to increase exposure to other ways of life is crucial, as well as building a society that doesn't require such a high burn to live.
That’s inspiring. I agree, SF innovation is cool, SF tech culture has become (mostly) uncool. Kudos to you for applying your skills and realizing where you can make a big impact. Many people never get there.
Great piece. So much of it stuck out to me, even as someone who has already made the leap off from the endless ladder & into something more personally meaningful. I earned a PhD from Harvard, then went into public service. I worked for 6 years as a senior government scientist job. Then, last year, after saving as much money as I could, I quit to sail around the world. It feels like my jump is something very meaningful – & not just to me. People tell me that it inspires them to rethink their dreams. I've had a few examples of helping people build the courage to make their own radical transitions, both directly (via coaching) or indirectly (via my writing). But I still think I'm falling short.
It's funny because at the end of your essay, it sounds like you're letting me off the hook ("To the people already in it... this essay isn't about you") & yet, this essay feels VERY MUCH about me. And I'm not letting myself off the hook.
You end with the question: "Is it possible that the life you’re living is smaller than what you’re capable of?" And my answer – even as someone who quit his job 9 months ago with a dream to sail, taught himself from scratch how to sail, built an impactful business while at anchor, and sailed 4,000 miles so far one a small & simple sailboat – is YES.
Because I DO feel more of an obligation (or rather, desire) to have a bigger impact. I see the problems in the world & escaping them on a sailboat doesn't make them go away. Your essay made me think, "Damn, I not only need to do something focused on that stuff that matters more, but I CAN."
Am I using my credentials to their fullest? On a personal level, yes. They are still very much serving me. But on a societal level, not yet.
I'm not going to be hard on myself, especially since I'm still building & I have something sustainable going on here. My expenses are suuuuper low on the sailboat & I'm proven I can make an income when I need it. I just need a slightly different compass. So, thanks for that.
Edan, I love this piece of writing so much. I am far from an elite, but these insights are still relevant to me. How do I know that? The first time I read this, I was overcome with one of the most uncomfortable sensation in the pit of my stomach, like my insides were turning upside down….yes, it made feel guilt, desperation, sadness all in one go. That says a lot! For someone who has been blessed with so much of the good in life (not an elite though), I have done very little for the greater good beyond myself and my family. I mean doing something useful to combat whatever screw ups in the world, community, etc etc. So thank you, I am glad to have found this when I am just about to start figuring out how I can be more useful!!!
This was an amazing piece! As I was reading it, I kept having moments of "oh, but he's gonna miss this piece of the puzzle," and then "but he didn't miss that piece of the puzzle."
The part in particular about how a few thousand activated elites actually would create enough impact to dramatically change the world particularly hit me because that is an imminently reachable goal.
The one piece of constructive criticism I would have is around the moral framework that you're applying. One of the root causes for this situation that we currently see is, as you diagnose, the application of the moral framework, that I just need to be a non-harmful person in my local environment, and that is enough.
Your response to it is applying a moral framework that applies responsibility proportional to capacity. I feel that this doesn't go nearly deep enough.
I believe we have a moral responsibility to serve to the fullest extent possible. Our moral responsibility is not just to be locally non-harmful but to genuinely create good in the world - independent of our capacity. This is a stronger claim than the one you're making, but I think ultimately more defensible, and more impactful.
This traces back to the fundamental problem of value decay in the modern world. The Founding Fathers, even those that weren't particularly tied to organized religion, were very clear that a grounding in real, deep morality was necessary for a healthy society.
Grounding in morality started to disappear in the 20th century as Christianity was "exposed" inside the intellectual establishment, starting with Nietzsche and working its way on through the onset of scientific materialism. This value decay led to the values black hole that you describe and an incoherent moral framework ungrounded in any real reality.
Flourishing will require a return to a deeper moral foundation in which we view the world's problems as our own problems and view our responsibility as one to create good in the world.
Thank you for sharing these reflections. Thank you for what you are doing. My journey in search of meaning after several years on the money making path led me to a two-year commitment to supporting education in Haiti. It turned into decades there. I’m working on a book about what I’ve learned. I just posted one of my chapters here on Substack last week and plan to continue to post them each Wednesday. Working title, Our Moment is Now: Hershey to Haiti, life, legacy, and leadership in a world at a crossroads.
Yes. But I'm not sure we should frame this in terms of an elite *obligation*. Life is better for you (the elite) if you work on what's important. But there are economic and (deeper) barriers - *that's* what we have to try to overcome.
The elite fears dropping (economically, influentially) slightly below the elite. Yes, you could move to a less expensive city, but are you going to meet your elite life partner there ? If your kids grow up there, are they going to have the opportunity to be as elite as you want them to be ? That's one big factor. In high trust societies, this is mitigated.
The other's more insidious. Assuming you can identify it, if you focus your life on the work you really really want to get done, the thing you really believe in in your heart - what if you fail ? What will you do then ? So (especially when we're young) we put up barriers to that. I'll do this other thing first to get experience, or to get a financial cushion, or, or, or.
The secret is that if you spend your life trying to make progress on the thing you believe in your heart, you can't fail. You'll either get there (which is probably not the point from a life satisfaction pov) or you'll have spent your life doing what you love.
Incredible read. Sometimes you read something and realize immediately that you’ll never forget reading it: this is that.
I want to double-click on the part about needing more visibility / sharing of examples of how “elites” are trying to do better; I feel called out, but unsure of how or where to apply my skills & resources…
Regardless, I can tell this is going to sit with me for a very long time and I’m just hopeful I can DO something different and not just file this in the “interesting” folder!
Spent the last week at MIT with my classmates, and you have done a brilliant job of saying exactly what I have been unable to articulate effectively. Thank you. I’ll be sharing this, and hope to start a discussion about what we can all do differently and better.
This is the best thing I've read in a long time!
I used to think it'd be irresponsible and reckless to leave my high-paying tech job and start over from scratch to do something more impactful. I think about it differently now: I have the network and skillset to effect change, and the financial cushion to take on risk. If I have all that going for me and I'm still too scared to take the leap, who exactly am I expecting to do it instead?
I think there's one more consideration for ladder climbers: if you've spent your whole adult life at elite institutions and prestigious corporate jobs, that can become a part of how you define yourself and your self-worth. It's hard to leave that behind for a non-profit or startup that doesn't give you the same validation. It feels like there's not nearly as much scope to have an "impressive" job while doing something meaningful.
For what it's worth- I work on carbon capture now, make a fraction of what I used to, and often wonder if I've made the right choice. This genuinely helped me remember why I'm doing it, so thank you!
Love to hear it! glad you're feeling good about where you are now. It's always great to hear success stories like yours. It's as you said, if not you, then who? You're showing lots of other people who are on the fence that it's possible.
I am not an elite because I became disillusioned with the prospects of the path before amassing enough wealth.
I took my savings and decided to try to build my own financial freedom with the goal of owning my time and being able to use my capabilities without optimizing for profit.
But I haven’t made it yet. Savings run out. I don’t have the material security of the elites. And despite feeling a burning desire to use my capabilities for the betterment of the world, I’m trapped in the need to “make it” first.
I wonder every day if I should have waited and compromised until becoming elite. I wonder if I should re-enter the ladder and try again later on.
Great read. I hope it wakes up some.
“And despite feeling a burning desire to use my capabilities for the betterment of the world, I’m trapped in the need to “make it” first.
I wonder every day if I should have waited and compromised until becoming elite.” - This exactly how I feel too. Just wanted to say it was super resonating.
But you are so brave that you took a leap without having financial security of the ‘Elites’. I honestly don’t know the answer to this dilemma except to owning my decision despite the result. Yet I find myself circling back to the default path. I don’t think I am an Elite maybe on the cusp of being the disaffected youth if anything, but still this essay helps articulate my years of inner battle. Hopefully we find more clarity as we go and find meaning or maybe peace in at least trying!
I'm going to keep trying for sure!
Even if I wonder about going back, I can't really see myself doing it. At least for now, it's the last resort.
Just had a peek in your substack and LI! Seems like you’ve been product/startup path as well. Best of luck with your future endeavors! :)
Thank you! Rebuilding from scratch once again 💪
Uncle Ben taught us years ago, "with great power comes great responsibility." Question is, responsibility for what and to whom?
That is the question. I think the answer already exists within each person. You just have to ask yourself, what opportunities did I wish I would have had, or which ones did I have that others did not, and what would it look like if I could provide that for them? Your journey already tells you exactly what you should do.
I have no words to express how imp this is especially in today’s times.
I think the disillusioned youth group can be extended to include those mid-career, who feels alone and that 1+ people can’t change these systemic issues, so probably for now continue optimizing for the desire (which feels like need) for better <fill in the blank> in the hope to amass enough power/money/influence to make a difference. I keep thinking about how to break out of this paralysis.
Personally - I’ve been staring at Rutger Bregman’s organization, Moral Ambition (https://www.moralambition.org), for months and wondering if this might be the way to start but haven’t taken a step yet
Thanks for sharing! What do you think you need to get you over the hump? Or is it just unclear what next steps are? This is a problem I’m thinking about actively.
I’m not sure yet but it is surely around next steps and building a new mental model of success and ROI. Societal/human endeavors tend to have longer cycles and for the already disillusioned, it’s very early to fall into the trap of your mind saying, “see I knew, this wouldn’t work” or that the impact is too small to matter. Re the moral ambition org, they currently seem to be focused on fellowships for youth so I’m trying to figure out what I can offer
A really great read!
It raises a question I keep coming back to: is becoming an institutional elite a prerequisite for large-scale change?
Or to put it another way—does starting with established capital and networks create such leverage that even a late-career pivot toward impact outpaces a lifetime of bottom-up work?
I'm thinking of so many people right now who should read this
Great article. Really enjoyed reading it as a (semi? somewhat?) elite.
I think one of the things preventing people from exiting is the milieu. I moved to Minneapolis from SF a few years ago, post startup burnout, and I found that taking the cost of living pressure off was huge. I also had a social group that did not care about what I was doing or how much I was making.
This space led to me joining a local arts non-profit as board chair, where I used the skills I gained working in product and applied them to fixing the group's finances. That experience was so inspiring that I'm in the process of navigating a bigger career shift out of venture backed tech.
I don't think the answer is "Everyone should move to the Midwest!". Arguably, I've found my way because I've failed at parts of the elite path you're highlighting. But I think finding ways to increase exposure to other ways of life is crucial, as well as building a society that doesn't require such a high burn to live.
That’s inspiring. I agree, SF innovation is cool, SF tech culture has become (mostly) uncool. Kudos to you for applying your skills and realizing where you can make a big impact. Many people never get there.
This was the best thing I’ve read in a while. Clear-eyed without being cynical. Really appreciate you writing this.
thanks Marcus!
Great piece. So much of it stuck out to me, even as someone who has already made the leap off from the endless ladder & into something more personally meaningful. I earned a PhD from Harvard, then went into public service. I worked for 6 years as a senior government scientist job. Then, last year, after saving as much money as I could, I quit to sail around the world. It feels like my jump is something very meaningful – & not just to me. People tell me that it inspires them to rethink their dreams. I've had a few examples of helping people build the courage to make their own radical transitions, both directly (via coaching) or indirectly (via my writing). But I still think I'm falling short.
It's funny because at the end of your essay, it sounds like you're letting me off the hook ("To the people already in it... this essay isn't about you") & yet, this essay feels VERY MUCH about me. And I'm not letting myself off the hook.
You end with the question: "Is it possible that the life you’re living is smaller than what you’re capable of?" And my answer – even as someone who quit his job 9 months ago with a dream to sail, taught himself from scratch how to sail, built an impactful business while at anchor, and sailed 4,000 miles so far one a small & simple sailboat – is YES.
Because I DO feel more of an obligation (or rather, desire) to have a bigger impact. I see the problems in the world & escaping them on a sailboat doesn't make them go away. Your essay made me think, "Damn, I not only need to do something focused on that stuff that matters more, but I CAN."
Am I using my credentials to their fullest? On a personal level, yes. They are still very much serving me. But on a societal level, not yet.
I'm not going to be hard on myself, especially since I'm still building & I have something sustainable going on here. My expenses are suuuuper low on the sailboat & I'm proven I can make an income when I need it. I just need a slightly different compass. So, thanks for that.
Thanks for sharing your story. Let me know what you come up with :)
Edan, I love this piece of writing so much. I am far from an elite, but these insights are still relevant to me. How do I know that? The first time I read this, I was overcome with one of the most uncomfortable sensation in the pit of my stomach, like my insides were turning upside down….yes, it made feel guilt, desperation, sadness all in one go. That says a lot! For someone who has been blessed with so much of the good in life (not an elite though), I have done very little for the greater good beyond myself and my family. I mean doing something useful to combat whatever screw ups in the world, community, etc etc. So thank you, I am glad to have found this when I am just about to start figuring out how I can be more useful!!!
Thanks so much for sharing that with me. I hope to learn alongside you!
This was an amazing piece! As I was reading it, I kept having moments of "oh, but he's gonna miss this piece of the puzzle," and then "but he didn't miss that piece of the puzzle."
The part in particular about how a few thousand activated elites actually would create enough impact to dramatically change the world particularly hit me because that is an imminently reachable goal.
The one piece of constructive criticism I would have is around the moral framework that you're applying. One of the root causes for this situation that we currently see is, as you diagnose, the application of the moral framework, that I just need to be a non-harmful person in my local environment, and that is enough.
Your response to it is applying a moral framework that applies responsibility proportional to capacity. I feel that this doesn't go nearly deep enough.
I believe we have a moral responsibility to serve to the fullest extent possible. Our moral responsibility is not just to be locally non-harmful but to genuinely create good in the world - independent of our capacity. This is a stronger claim than the one you're making, but I think ultimately more defensible, and more impactful.
This traces back to the fundamental problem of value decay in the modern world. The Founding Fathers, even those that weren't particularly tied to organized religion, were very clear that a grounding in real, deep morality was necessary for a healthy society.
Grounding in morality started to disappear in the 20th century as Christianity was "exposed" inside the intellectual establishment, starting with Nietzsche and working its way on through the onset of scientific materialism. This value decay led to the values black hole that you describe and an incoherent moral framework ungrounded in any real reality.
Flourishing will require a return to a deeper moral foundation in which we view the world's problems as our own problems and view our responsibility as one to create good in the world.
Thank you for sharing these reflections. Thank you for what you are doing. My journey in search of meaning after several years on the money making path led me to a two-year commitment to supporting education in Haiti. It turned into decades there. I’m working on a book about what I’ve learned. I just posted one of my chapters here on Substack last week and plan to continue to post them each Wednesday. Working title, Our Moment is Now: Hershey to Haiti, life, legacy, and leadership in a world at a crossroads.
Yes. But I'm not sure we should frame this in terms of an elite *obligation*. Life is better for you (the elite) if you work on what's important. But there are economic and (deeper) barriers - *that's* what we have to try to overcome.
The elite fears dropping (economically, influentially) slightly below the elite. Yes, you could move to a less expensive city, but are you going to meet your elite life partner there ? If your kids grow up there, are they going to have the opportunity to be as elite as you want them to be ? That's one big factor. In high trust societies, this is mitigated.
The other's more insidious. Assuming you can identify it, if you focus your life on the work you really really want to get done, the thing you really believe in in your heart - what if you fail ? What will you do then ? So (especially when we're young) we put up barriers to that. I'll do this other thing first to get experience, or to get a financial cushion, or, or, or.
The secret is that if you spend your life trying to make progress on the thing you believe in your heart, you can't fail. You'll either get there (which is probably not the point from a life satisfaction pov) or you'll have spent your life doing what you love.
Well said!
I'm always surprised why articles like this don't have more traction.
Thanks for writing!
Incredible read. Sometimes you read something and realize immediately that you’ll never forget reading it: this is that.
I want to double-click on the part about needing more visibility / sharing of examples of how “elites” are trying to do better; I feel called out, but unsure of how or where to apply my skills & resources…
Regardless, I can tell this is going to sit with me for a very long time and I’m just hopeful I can DO something different and not just file this in the “interesting” folder!