@BowsacNoodle @EmmaFaber one question might be

how 'more comfortable' should someone be after 4 years of work, or the better part of 8 years, to do so?

Generally people advance, as they grow older, into more settled places in their society - they develop skills, raise families, sort out problems, move to better places - is it *that* surprising that even in america, with all of its problems, that someone could do so?
( and misattribute their doing so to the federal government, however populated? ). Even in a declining society, with declining standards of living, this would be true for a substantial proportion of its people. At least to a point - if the decline is steep enough this proportion could be vanishingly small, even at the population of 400M level. But is it that steep?

4 years is enough to finish an undergraduate degree. To conceive, birth and raise a 3 year old. To get through 3 unprofitable years as a small business and finally reach the breakeven point of a 4 year plan.