Quoting Gandhi as a pseudo religious or sociological reference is equal to quoting Ayn Rand. Both had some good ideas, and some really bad ideas. If you read closely, you'll notice he said "at some point" which implied (IMHO, accurately) that situations vary. And I've seen enough cases were it is true. You can only help folks so much before you give up. It's a bit different if they have a chronic illness, beyond their control. But it definitely applies to anyone that can but won't.

"Less energy released into atmosphere". Hurricanes' source of energy is water vapor which is evaporated from the ocean surface. If you said "less global warming means less hurricanes", you'd be on firmer ground. I actually do environmentalism that makes sense, because I spent time in former Soviet countries and saw what communism did to the land over there. Most Westerns have virtually no idea what real pollution is. Not trying to pick on you specifically, but people that take a pseudo religious approach to "making stuff better" make me twitch. One is not going to make Gaia happy by offering her symbolic green sacrifices. I do most of those for economic reasons. Not to appease Gaia. Normally I'm a salad guy, but today, I'll find the biggest juiciest burger with cheddar and bacon.

I keep a car starter battery in my trunk. Bit more expensive, but that'll charge a cell phone for several weeks.

Er. Not every emergency is doomsday. An emergency could be a very nasty water leak in your apartment. Or a winter storm knocking out power in your neighborhood. Or an idiot with a backhoe.

Life doesn't have to be either/or. Nothing wrong with being mildly prepared, or moderately. I'm not really a "prepper". I hike/camp. I carry slightly more medical equipment than most, partly because I have a background in it. Mostly just because I feel like doing so. It has come in handy.

Those external batteries are fairly awesome. On longer hikes, I strap a small solar panel to the top of my ruck, and charge a battery as I go. I use my phone for music, camera, GPS/mapping, etc. I keep have a compass handy, which seems to qualify me as a lunatic survivalist these days.

About even. Not every urban dweller is living the dream. For every Bel Air, you have an Oakland. For every ueber expensive neighborhood in northern Virginia, you have Detroit, Flint, Camden, St Louis or Baltimore. It really just is more people shoved into a smaller space.

Lower average pay often (not always) balances against lower cost of living.

Sorry, bit too obvious, couldn't pass it up. There's a lot of hotels and resorts on the planet, something for everyone. Hope their business makes it.

Politician wants rules to apply to everyone except himself or herself, and his/her cronies. Shocking. ;)

Depends legally on the place and time. Some slave societies had rules on treatment of slaves, some didn't.

Our company hires a lot of interns for exactly this reason. Not sure on the pay, but they're treated as normal (if part time) employees. Time working counts towards things like ESOP, retirement, etc.

Not sure they're all gushing at how wonderful we are, but I'm quite sure none will be telling horror stories and I hope they realize how very decent this company actually is. A lot of them probably lack experience working truly horrific jobs to properly gush. I did after I started here, compared to my last place. My former boss asked me to ensure my best friend's funeral didn't interfere with a project he had scheduled on a Sunday. That was a definite "It is time to go" sign.

How dare you point out the glaring obvious! This is the Internet, we have our pet belief structure to push here!

Money isn't everything, but I'm constantly amazed by folks who don't really consider employment for the rest of their lives. If your degree is not related to your career, you may want to consider more economic alternatives.

Other thing is to at least ponder your preferred career. Do you want a house and kids? Do you want to travel? Do you want (insert various life choices or experiences)? Can your career realistically pay for that, even if things are not perfect? Are you willing to give up higher pay for a particular reason? If so, can you economically change your mind later?

Flexibility is always a good thing.

Think folks won't be able to quickly and easily swap out a fuse? Oh, not personally. But take it to a semi dodgy electronics shop to be "fixed" ?

Is there really any difference between quantum entanglement and magic?

I've noticed that as well. Around here, the Amish don't usually do that. Sucker born every minute, I suppose. But it'd be nice for truth in advertising.

Eh, it's not that hard. A good bit of practice helps. I wouldn't personally be comfy with trying to put in a killing shot into the neck of something larger than myself... But hitting a person sized object at 20m isn't that bad. Ideally, you'd want to volley launch said spears. Much like archery.