You're most likely right. I grew up in eastern europe where essentially up until around my birth/shortly after the fall of communism there was nothing to buy ou

You're most likely right. I grew up in eastern europe where essentially up until around my birth/shortly after the fall of communism there was nothing to buy outside of necessities anyway so "vote with your wallet" wasn't a topic really. You even needed connections to get basic construction materials like sand, wood and cement. The lesson for my generation was "Study so you don't (have to) work.".