Essentially, it boils down to how effective I can be with my time. I can be far more productive today, using modern information tools, than I ever could have in the mid-nineties. It&#x27;s not just a function of experience, in 1995 I&#x27;d already had like 8 years of exposure to computers and programming. The main barriers I had to success were in knowing what to do and how to do it.<p>Now, there are practically no informational barriers at all. I&#x27;ve shifted from looking for options to take to sifting through all the available, great ones. The quality of what you can find on the Internet these days is just mind-bogglingly better.<p>What this means is that time spent 20 years ago is worth less than time spent now. And since time is far more valuable than money, there isn&#x27;t an amount of money you could throw at me to make me yearn for those old days.<p>I use the similar logic to come to the conclusion that I&#x27;d rather be a lower-class American than a Chinese billionaire. I&#x27;d actually rather be a middle class Chinese than a Chinese billionaire, if only because that means I could move to the States. Everything I&#x27;ve read about these people indicate myopic, ugly personalities. The social fluidity of the US is worth more money than I could ever imagine, as increasing the value of time spent is worth more than any amount of money.