Lived in NY for a while (manhattan) and travelled to a lot of other states. The comparison rings true for me, NY has it’s own culture for sure.

Or you could read it as critical of capitalism.

“motivation, purpose, social skills, creativity” arguably all valued more under socialism/communism (admittedly there’s a lot of semantics going on under the hood here). Which is why so much tallent goes to waste as grist in the capitalist mill.

That doesn’t fit with anything I know about Weinersmith. You got any source?

Oh no we all think everest ascent is stupid too. Absolutely it’s in poor taste. Is this your first time on the Internet?

People died because of their hubristic and needlessly extravagant hobby: visiting the wreck of a vessel that famously killed people because of hubris and needless extravagance. Sure I’m not laughing out loud or celebrating their death, but you must admit there’s at least a wry irony here.