Re:Play the game (Score 1)

Eventually, it does not matter how long it takes, a hard working, smart-as-hell, self-trained individual will get stepped over due to a lack of a proper degree.

This is a defeatist mentality. Einstien couldn't get an academic position because was "stepped over" by elitest professors. Thus, he was working as a patent clerk when he conceived special relitivity. And who could forget that the wealthiest man in the world dropped out of Harvard? The fact of the matter is that the truely talented cannot be stopped. They need no certification or permission to succeed, they just do by virtue of thier own talents. Remember Theodore Hertzl: "If you will it, it is no dream."