Well first, in my experience children seven to eighteen rarely take anything that "people of authority" say seriously. In fact if you want a teenager to do something your best bet is to tell them to do the opposite.

But more to the point this it is not "theoretical." It's very much real. In every generation there are millions of people that don't follow tired and worn out advice and choose something else, alternative paths. And those people have had all the same exposure to society, education, encouragements, and bad advice as everyone else. The very existence of these people debunks this idea.

Time and time again you have people exposed to the same society but vastly different outcomes. Plus society is littered with success stories of people didn't follow these traditional paths. Bill Gates dropped out of college and Warren Buffet has repeatedly said the he doesn't think college is for everyone. From artists to athletes to actors to tik-tok stars there are a staggering number that have not followed traditional paths, and these are the people are the most visible in our society. So I don't buy this argument.

Do you know what the real difference is? The individual and their community, their family, friends and immediate community around them that is the difference.

It's not the government or societies responsibility to ensure people choose careers that will make them happy and successful. And if you grow up in a community that only has one prescribed route of success, be that college or crime, you are kind of screwed. Conformity is always the easy choice, the lazy choice. But if that choice leads to later regret, the blame lies with you, your community, and your family, not society.

Remember being a sheeple is itself a choice, no-one gets a free pass for their own choices, and no-one gets to foist the responsibility for their own happiness off on to others.