The Shawshank Trap (Self-Domestication Trap)

长期 poverty breeds “learned helplessness,” causing people to become accustomed to and accept their circumstances, fear change, and cling to their comfort zone.

At the same time, institutional barriers such as hukou and educational credentials can lead marginalized groups to mistakenly believe that “effort is futile,” thereby rationalizing the intergenerational transmission of poverty.

Trapped in long-restricted environments, people limit themselves, losing both the courage and ability to change. Even when opportunities for change arise, they may abandon them out of fear, keeping them perpetually trapped in poverty.

To stop being ordinary, you must stop acting ordinary.