I still think you can win and get ahead working a 9-5, there are many people who have made it work

If one's profession is set for a high income career, yeah but this comes at an educational cost not many can afford. The highest fixed paying job in the Philippines is being an airplane pilot (not including entrepreneurs as they are a class of their own). If the concern is securing a the future generation, the current generation has to take on mortgages to acquire an asset. Of course this really depends on where you live, the middle class in the US can probably be an upper middle class here.