Taking an educated guess: I am likely better qualified to make statements about "climate change" and I would always refrain from such statements due to the complexity of the subject. But I could agree on using the "precautionary principle" and try to limit CO2 emissions. The current hysteria is not helpful but helpful would be building Thorium and 4th generation nuclear reactors. Both may lead to another kind of hysteria, at least in Europe.
"You can start getting very good automatics for $3k or so."
For 3k you are either looking for something extremely fancy or you are already paying for 2k for the brand. Below a few brands, some very old, all of them use swiss made mechanical automatic movement. I don't remember having been in an airport and not having seen Rolex advertisement. But someone is paying for this advertisement. And again, if you buy from a dealer he may have something like a 100% mark up.
Here is an estimate of Rolex cost vs price and it is close what I suspected. " by gathering publicly available prices for similar products, we can estimate that the production cost of an average stainless steel Rolex watch retailing at USD 5,000 is less than USD 1,000. Maybe even less than USD 750."
I don't say don't buy one. But understand that you pay 80% of the cost for the brand. If you need the brand, buy it. If you just like the mechanics you can get a very good watch for a tiny fraction of the price.
I treasure my Submariner. It's the one article of fashion I have that goes perfectly with every outfit; it looks great with a tuxedo and it looks just as good with shorts and a t-shirt. It's incredibly well-made: I wear mine every day and after nine years together, it still looks better than the year-old iPhone in my pocket. It's also understated--at least, my stainless steel, black-bezeled Sub Date is--and it doesn't scream "expensive" or "showy" like many watches on both ends of the price spectrum often do.
"There are a few advantages to owning a Rolex that may not be so obvious: For starters, it's quickly exchangeable for a high percentage of its value in cash in virtually any major city in the world."
Please define "high". I have seen a Rolex sold for less than its value in gold (gold rolex).
They have sales tax (20% in Europe). The shop has likely something like a 100% mark up on a watch. Most of the costs of the Rolex are for advertisement. You can get a same quality watch for a tiny fraction of the price.
"Because you're always wearing it, that's $8,000+ in cash that you can have in short order if you needed it badly"
If it is not made out of gold, I suspect you would get 1 or 2 grand for it. On a good day.