> the risk you take working for other things (ideals, status, etc) is that, if you become disillusioned, you're left with nothing. > This has happened to friend

> the risk you take working for other things (ideals, status, etc) is that, if you become disillusioned, you're left with nothing. > This has happened to friends of mine in social work. Yes. Worse, after that many years working (e.g. in social work) for ideals|status|etc., whatever other employable skills (e.g. coding) that you may have had has now atrophied. Even if you kept up your skills in your own time, you still have this long employment "gap" to get over in your job hunt / resume / interviewing. So if you become disillusioned, you're left with nothing, and might now be stuck continuing to work in that disillusionment (to put food on the table).