You aren't half a pessimist, are you? I'll call you "practical" or "realist" if you'd prefer your ego stroked. It's been almost 2 years and we've only sustained growth so far. Good luck to you, too. Try coming across as less pretentious though.
You do realize that I'm only self-sufficient because I made a business to sustain myself. I wouldn't be self-sufficient if I didn't make that business. Everybody has a lot to learn.
It's a very complex issue hidden under a very basic mask. It's targeted at the readers. If you're reading a medium post, chances are you can at the very least afford internet. If you can afford internet, the opportunity is there and it's just not being taken. Maybe you don't like working on the internet and you'd prefer to have a job because that makes you happier. That's fine, too. Also, you're assuming that everybody who doesn't have money "truly" wants it. I disagree.
It's the author here. There's a lot of feedback and I appreciate it all. A few things to note:
1) I'm not rich and I'm not yet successful (not by my own definition anyway). I am pretty much self-sufficient.
2) To the people who are complaining about poor people not having the same opportunity... My target audience are people who have access to the internet. If you can access the internet, you have access to wealth. That's my opinion, anyway.
3) Work hard, play hard. It's good, as long as it's not you working hard and somebody else playing harder because of it.
4) I haven't come from a rich background, I'm not university educated. You can't complain about me coming across as generalizing and then assume I'm a privileged white male.
5) There's plenty of tone in the article that suggests generalization. I appreciate the feedback and I apologise if it seems way too over-generalised but opinions in this area are quite hard to condense into a few words.
6) I still stand by the "if you truly want to have money, you will". If you're reading this, you're on the internet. If you're on the internet then you have access to free education and skills for you to build your own success.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself and create your own projects. If they're getting a better salary than you, they either value themselves higher than you do or they're genuinely better than you at programming.
If you are bad at getting a job, make your own. Moving to the bay area is a terrible idea. It's a bad place. It's expensive but I guess on the plus side, you wouldn't feel out of place going homeless.
Improve your confidence, improve your skills. Also, "achieving something great in life" is different for everyone.