Sorry to disagree but I believe in personal responsibility, not blaming others including parents, schools, friends, etc. for the failing of the individual. There are just too many opportunities available to blame others. There are kids who come from the worst families, poorest schools, crime-ridden neighborhoods and are subjected to intense negative peer pressure, who arise and decide to make something of themselves. Our military is full of well trained, disciplined and intelligent young persons, many of which came from the above conditions and who by many were written off as nincompoops.
Interesting that you cite the military as an opportunity because the military is one of the few organizations that still will take the majority of people who show up without a large number of requirements or preconditions. The entry minimums have risen but, partly as requirement for the optional re-institution of the draft, an eventuality that has to left open, there is still an underlying ethic that 'there are no bad privates'. As an exercise in institutional adaptability and 'can-do spirit', they take what comes and make the best of it.
Which makes the point very well. While it is useful to instill a sense of self-reliance and responsibility in individuals it is also necessary to demand the same from corporations, businesses, organizations.
Organization that use, but do not improve or train employees, and businesses that do not provide benefits, are strip-mining the population. They are extracting the best and brightest but then, once the person is used up, as soon as anything is required in return, they are dropped like toxic waste.
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