From Late Bloomers by Rich Karlgaard: It’s not our fault. It’s not our fault that we failed to earn straight As, make perfect college board scores and get into our first choice of college. Or that we were distracted by life at age 21 and missed our first on-ramp to an enchanted career that matched perfectly our talents and passions. It’s not our fault that we failed to earn millions of dollars by 22 and billions by 30 – thus getting ourselves on the cover of Forbes – or to end malaria, solve tensions in the Middle East, advise a president or win our third Academy Award by 35. It’s not our fault, and we’re not a failure in any sense just because our star didn’t glow white hot from the start. And yet early 21st-century society has conspired to make us feel shame for exactly that, for not blooming early. By using the word “conspired ” here, I’m not suggesting a conspiracy of shady characters who’ve decided in a secret room to rig the economy and its financial and social rewards for ear...
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