Of course i realize how privileged it is. It seemed like useful information to the discussion, so i added it. I don't particularly care if people know how much or how little i made.

The vast majority of HN in the US is almost certainly within the top 1% of earners in the US (the cutoff is ~660k for households, ~450k for individuals), and the rest is probably within the top 10% (the cutoff is ~260k for households, ~150k for individuals). So overall it's a fairly privileged place, even if it likes to often pretend it's not.

In my life i've been both very poor and very rich. I'm now happy, and that matters a lot more than either.

I also happen to think it's fairly naive to believe that making lots of money makes it trivial to leave a place.

It's like believing having loved someone for 20 years makes it easier to get divorced.