1) How do I get out of the mindset where I am starting to internally believe this nonsense? I don't know how to even describe it. I logically know that their bullshit isn't true... but there is part of me doubting that and it is affecting my self confidence. I am starting to feel guilty for being successful professionally.

Whenever you start believing their nonsense, remember the modern function of college -- it's self-funded employment education in order to acquire a better position in the workplace. You chose the traditional/ old fashioned method -- the method used for centuries prior to this era -- of earning your way to a better position through hard work and creative problem solving.

You remind me of my husband. He's a high school grad who, through 15 years of hard work and applying himself at a company that promotes from within, has been able to provide a comfortable life for our family.

A few years ago, a (now former) friend of mine was bragging about his new job to me. This friend had graduated high school and gone directly to college, where he earned a math degree. Three years after he graduated, he found a position with a local company, and we all went out to celebrate.

He shared his starting salary (about 2k/ year less than my husband's (retail employee) income at the time), and I was congratulatory. Then he said, "Now just think! If Mr. Mephistia had gone to college, he could be making as much as me!"

So of course, I pointed out that Mr. Mephistia was doing just fine, thank you. And the friend got really upset as the conversation continued and he discovered that Mr. Mephistia earned higher wages, paid out less for better health/ dental/ vision benefits, and had employer-matching for his 401k. In every respect, my husband's retail position was showing up better than the friend's starting position -- and husband wasn't even close to topped out in pay for an hourly employee at that point -- and since the company promotes from within, supervisory and management positions are open to all employees, regardless of education level.

Furious, my friend finally shouted at me, "It's not fair! I did everything right! He cheated!"

And that pretty much sums it up. People who get angry at successful no-college high school grads are people who feel like they've cheated the system. They've been sold a bill of goods -- that college is the only path to success -- and when someone with "only" a high school diploma manages to do well, it feels like a slap in the face.

Now, in my family, my dad always said our education was our job. So when I went to college, the mindset was that I was working my way up to a better position. On the flip side, it means that my husband just chose an alternate path -- he worked his way up to a better position through a more traditional method; a method that I personally think is more valuable.

2) How do I get April and I on the same page? We have had some rocky times in our marriage, but we have worked through them. But I almost feel guilty now for trying to be the best I can be professionally, because I know it just makes her feel like shit. Maybe I am defending her a little too much by laying the blame with her family.. I don't know. When she said she couldn't be happy for me that I got a new job that would put us into a comfort of living outside of our friends and both of our families... it crushed me.

This one's a bit harder for me, because I adjusted to my husband's lack of education + success pretty damn quickly.

My dad's a lawyer, and my mom had a poly sci degree. She was worker for her state Senator's office when she met my dad. Like any good mormon woman, she stopped working and became a stay at home parent to their 5 kids. We were always scraping to get by -- even moreso after my dad retired from his JAG position when I was 13 and went into private practice. Today my dad is an aging, 70+ unemployed lawyer looking for work in a field that's glutted. He lives on his JAG retirement and his SS stipend. Like most lawyers, he's always just barely gotten by. The lawyers who make bank are few and far between, statistically speaking.

My maternal grandpa, on the other hand, was a successful businessman with no college degrees. He built a network of local gas stations across the state, as well as a small trucking company. Sold them when he was in his 50's for a tidy profit, invested the remainder, and then he and his wife lived comfortably for another 30 years. My mom passed away before him, so when he died her 1/3 of the inheritance (she had two sisters) was split between her 5 kids. We each got $79k -- 1/5 of 1/3. It was an eye-opening moment where I realized where that odd tension between my grandpa and dad always came from -- I thought it was because grandpa was self-conscious at not having a degree, but it was really that my dad was self-conscious about not being able to provide for his family at the level his father-in-law expected.

I obviously don't have to look far to know that a college education is not a guarantee of success, and that with determination and luck, a high school graduate can be just as if not more successful. No point in being high-and-mighty about an empty degree and a load of debt.

I think maybe your wife would be less judgey of your success if she wasn't so miserable at work. I don't know that being a sahm is the solution (mind-numbingly dull), but maybe she could try brainstorming some other applications to her degree/ experience. What about tutoring?

3) How do I handle her family? I am not very confrontational and I feel bad about how I reacted to the underhanded comment her Dad made the other day. I told April I didn't want an apology- I just want her family to be clear that they wouldn't be welcome over at my house if they weren't going to be respectful of either of us. And I felt that them acting like they have towards me is being disrespectful to not only me, but to her as well.

You handle her family by getting her to see your perspective first. Once you two are batting for the same team, it's pretty simple: Your house, your rules. One of those rules is not to talk classist shit about the guy paying the mortgage and providing the meals.

Also, you're right in that they're being disrespectful to both of you. Respecting you is respecting her decisions. Disrespecting you is showing a lack of confidence and trust in her life choices.

Also, what's with the comparison to Trump and the 1%? Can't they math? Trump was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has proceeded to significantly reduce the value of it over the years. Also, didn't he go to college? Yeah, I just wikipedia'd it. He went to the Wharton School of Business through the University of Pennsylvania and earned a BA in Economics. He's a college grad. The comparison to you fails on every level. You're, like, the opposite of Trump: No college and still successful in business.

And the 1% makes, like $350k+/year. Sander's tax plan is to start taxing higher at the 5% income bracket, which is like $250k/year. At your most recent raise, you're barely in the top 10% of earners. Maybe your in-laws should return to college and brush up on their education.