Why is the bar set at becoming independently wealthy? As far as I know, that term means wealthy enough to not require further earning of income. It's an incredibly high bar.
Agreed. I go into work day in and day out and the best I can reasonably hope for is that I will continue to do so for several more decades. For better or worse, most people have to work many hours a week for many weeks per year for many years in a continual process in order to make a living. Also, lots of "products" (as in the results of work) that I'd consider very worthwhile such as music, visual art, educated students, clean streets, well-prepared food, and general public health often require a lot of work for relatively little pay. In terms of ideals I might find this unfortunate but in terms of reality, economics will often have the last word.
Presumably because he's looking for cases at the far end of the bell curve. If the biggest standout successes you can find are merely "comfortable", it stands to reason that most everyone else isn't.
