ydat

> Their wealth is more contingent on our consumption than employment status.

Is it? Or is it dependent on the consumption of someone much greater than you.

For example: I was reading something the other day about dining experiences in Las Vegas. Really though, the video was about how recently Vegas has abandoned the traditional middle class patrons in favor of providing experiences to a smaller, but much wealthier clientele. This seems to be a trend across many industries. In some cases your consumption is even a cost center to be eliminated in favor of a more successful customer base.

Meanwhile as a young man the financial aid system told me I was a dependent solely because I was under 24 (I paid my own bills, rent, worked and filed my taxes, and relied not at all on my parents, but hey) and that any aid would be calculated against the wealth of both myself and my family. My father isn’t exactly a wealthy man, but combining the wealth of late career man would have certainly made it seem like I was in some great economic position I was not.

> You’re going to have to figure out new things to care about, but you can do it, because you found it the first time!

I have found many interesting things to care about. The problem is they all lack a single quality that allowed me to succeed in the realm of computers and technology: accessibility.

One negative thing I’ve heard about Boise and some other smaller western cities is that they have awful air quality due to the geography settling all the exhausts and particles in a sort of bowl. Not sure how bad this is in practice though.