I think it's common for young men to attach their self image and overall worth to how much better they're doing vs. other young men their age. They're basically Pirsig's "ego climbers" and would certainly do well for themselves to get the hell out of the valley at least until such time as they could return as selfless climbers.

They could of course stick around and perhaps achieve a positive self image by out competing or out maneuvering their peers. Obviously a huge amount of them do.