Was I wrong for responding harshly to inlaws mocking me for not going to college & military service?

[Just_Ken]

Updates

1 mo

AITA after being mocked for not going to college &serving in the army by inlaws that I pointed out that they are both brokies making minimum wage?

Updates

1 mo

Driving two beat up cars, struggling to make rent, in debt and their degrees majoring in woke bullshit qualify them for jobs as baristas.

Was a family get together last week. Was the wife's sister and husband. All hell broke out over it. My soft hearted wife though thinks I was too harsh but supports what i said. My father in law loved it, he's still laughing his balls off.

[OneViewpoint]

Higher education is becoming less and less of a guaranteed solution for economic security for US people looking for a career. The economics of $250K for an undergrad degree while an entry level job pays $65K make no economic sense. And delusional job descriptions now routinely ask for at least a Masters degree for mundane jobs a high school kid can do.

As for military service, I come from a family with an unbroken line of military service going back to the founding of this country. My great grandfathers, my grandfathers, uncles, and myself have all served. I went to a private military university. I served 15 years as a US Army officer at an elite level. But my family is an extreme anomaly. Approximately 0.4% of the total U. S. population is on active duty (roughly 1.3 million service members). Veterans represent about 6% of the country's adult population. A military career is a weird little path that most people have zero exposure to. And it's not for everyone. You won't get rich on military pay. You'll live a life apart from the rest of the population inside a culture all its own. And lots of other jobs need to get done in society. I'm not gonna blame 94% of the population for not choosing the military as a career path.

So yeah, tell your in-laws to pound sand since they haven't exactly lit the world on fire with their success.

[Just_Ken]

Years ago there was zero minimum academic requirement to go to college. Now its akk you need is a student loan. Theyve also watered down college degrees. So unless youve a degree in engineering, stem or medical etc its worthless.
When i was in the army I took everything I could get from training to bd an electrician, to licences for heavy machinery, engineering, bricklaying, carpentry and STEM qualifications.
Im actually better educated than they are. Even by just my A levels and B techs.
I once worked as a long distance lorry driver for two months in the US not because I had to but because I wanted to. Coast to Coast with my wife. Was brilliant.

[molonski2]

I have 2 degrees , but I got them later via who I was already working for and they paid , plus they wanted me to get.

But honestly 90 % of it is bs , although any education is okey , I didn't mind , but best thing they also sent me to was like a " finishing school." that stuff I used all. the time.

Take Thailand where I stay now , virtually everyone has a degree and for same reason it's useless , I know PHDs here who can hardly string together a sentence.

You were right to Give it to them , utter morons.. my daughter has 2 degrees also , doesn't use either , my other daughter has none but is better at making money.

You work to make $$$$ that's the important thing not degrees , unless it helps you get something you otherwise would not have achieved.

[Screenwriter]

The only thing at issue would be causing a ruckus at a family gathering... They sound like they are bitter people who were looking to pick a fight with you. I wouldn't have pointed out anything about their lives. You've made different choices and it's worked well for you. To ridicule someone who's successful is a pathetic move.

Remember to ignore them in the future. No win to fight cripples.

[Anonymous]

That's how you should respond. People let people walk all over them too much, especially where they have no business doing so.

[Billlewis]

No, not at all. I went through a similar situation in my own life. After graduating high school, I was a musician, and when I moved out, they were rooting so hard for me to fall flat on my face, come crawling back to them and enroll in college, in which case, they'd let me come back home.

[Phunk_Fenomenon]

of course you were not, not only does going to college or joining the military not make anyone morally superior but is your life and they dont get to judge what you been through.

[Just_Ken]

Exactly right. They are projecting their own insecurities

[Phunk_Fenomenon]

I mean I feel your pain.

I tried going to college myself after I got out of high school but for some odd reason my state university rejected me and told me that in order to enroll I must go to community college fist and get "credits."

I tried that but community college kept moving the goal post on me. ended up getting desperate and made the biggest mistake of my life after dropping out and joining tech school.

now almost 2 decades later some of my family members still ridicule me and call me "lazy" for never finishing like it was my fault that I was fucked over.

[Billlewis]

Yeah, that sucks. Unfortunately, a college degree is a much, much bigger deal for women than it is for men, due in no small part to the fact that college is much more suitable to a woman's personality (groupthink, fear of not belonging to the herd, etc) than a guy's personality. This is why when your relatives belittle you for not going to, or finishing college, the vast majority of the time, the people hammering you the hardest will usually be the women in your family.

[Phunk_Fenomenon]

@Billlewis I agree, though ironically one of my family members who has constantly belittled me is a guy but he does think a woman.

he also believes that everyone in the world is living the same life as him and its a law of attraction cultist since his perception on other people's failures are a result of them "being negative" when in reality he never had to face any tragedies or major obstacles in his life.

[LiamJHayden]

No. And I get it. I dropped out of college after freshman year because my business was doing so well. At 31 I still get that nonsense, usually from people who earn 20% or less of what I earn.

[Just_Ken]

I hear you. And you could probably teach a class on buisness at this stage. I had a buisness degree cousin in college trying to educate me about buisness, he didn't seem to get the bit where a buisness needs to make money.

[Shiprex]

They're just dumb. Probably jealous too.

Your life choices are for to and critics can take a long walk on a short pier.

[Anonymous]

No. Trump loves the uneducated and has no respect for the military.

[Just_Ken]

Half of those going to college now can barely read or write. 4 years of going to college to get a degree you can do over the internet without being thousands in debt.
The British Army by the time I left had given me all kinds of skills and qualifications that allowed me to be reasonably successful. A real education if you will.

[Cidknee]

No, not in my opinion.

[Just_Ken]

AITA after being mocked for not going to college &serving in the army by inlaws that I pointed out that they are both brokies making minimum wage?

Driving two beat up cars, struggling to make rent, in debt and their degrees majoring in woke bullshit qualify them for jobs as baristas.

Was a family get together last week. Was the wife's sister and husband. All hell broke out over it. My soft hearted wife though thinks I was too harsh but supports what i said. My father in law loved it, he's still laughing his balls off.

Orginial question. GAG said it was offensive lol

[Cidknee]

Father-in-law is reaping much good vibes from it. You're good!

[Just_Ken]

He is. He hates his son law lol

[Cidknee]

💃🤣

[LazerBean]

Not at all