There's a big difference in values between the financial independence retire early crowd, and the conspicuous consumption techbro crowd. FIRE is a trauma-inform

There's a big difference in values between the financial independence retire early crowd, and the conspicuous consumption techbro crowd. FIRE is a trauma-informed strategy, and what your friends are doing is meeting what they see as their own needs for personal safety, and to be honest, they might be right. Make hay while the sun shines, etc. Even if both groups might be seen as hoarding wealth, the value sets, and therefore the behaviors are very different, and the stories they tell themselves are different. The conspicuous consumption self narrative is "I deserve to have nicer things than the people around me." They need the external validation of others, and they need to be seen as better than their peers. The difference is that I suspect a FIRE person is going to be more likely to give to charity, more likely to check on their neighbors to make sure they're okay, and more likely to figure out ways they can be useful in their community. I say that because that strategy frames wealth as a solution to a problem, and not a measure of one's worth.