Thank you for sharing your thoughts Chris. The answer is that you don't have to. Indeed, many people just bow out. The question is, however, are you OK with losing the game by default, with all the implications of that (e.g., lower standard of living). I'm not saying you have to do it in any particular way. I, for example, never tried climbing the corporate ladder. I did try to advance in academia, but when that didn't pan out, I changed things up and (after a short stint at a company where I developed valuable skills and connections) opened my own one-person consulting practice.