>The absolute worst case scenario is that the culinary world becomes like the visual arts or fashion worlds; the materials and general skills are broadly availa

>The absolute worst case scenario is that the culinary world becomes like the visual arts or fashion worlds; the materials and general skills are broadly available, but there shall ever be an upper end of the art from which to sneer down at the plebians, even if it only in style and fashions, and by that I mean raw styles and fashions. The clothing fashion world shows this most clearly, in that creating knockoffs of today's fashions isn't even that technically challenging, and yet there is still a "high class" fashion world for those who care to participate in. huh. That seems like a pretty good scenario to me. I mean, the current state of clothing is... well, it's pretty great for the poor, and for people who don't want to spend a lot on clothing. And people who want to spend a lot of money on clothing seem to be happy, and people who want to pretend like they are spending a lot of money on clothing also seem to be happy, High-quality clothing that is in good repair but that is used and out of style is nearly free. so I really don't see the problem. My problem is that from what I've seen? when eating out, there's a very dramatic difference between what I get for $5 and what I get for $50. (or, more realistically, $20) Personally? I'm generally pretty pleased with pants that cost less than a nice meal. I mean, the difference between a pair of "Kirkland Signature" jeans and a pair of Diesel jeans is 10x in price, and as far as I can tell, functionally, the Kirkland jeans are just fine. In many ways better than the diesel jeans. Of course, I'm wearing jeans I bought at Costco, and that says things socially, but I'm pretty okay with that. They are good jeans. In fact, I've worn my costco jeans while eating $50 dinners. If I could walk into a McDonalds (or costco) and buy a $5 meal that was functionally equivalent (minus the social cache) to a $50 meal? I would be extremely happy, and I'd be happy to let the guy paying $50 for the same thing with nicer lighting feel superior to me.