I mean, you can make your own instance with blackjack and hookers, unlike reddit. Maybe look for another place to hang your hat?

I consider anything with a reoccurring payment as a subscription, even if it’s technically just upkeep for a provider you use (domain renewal might be another example).

I haven’t tried fastmail, although I haven’t heard anything bad about it. How does it compare to proton?

VPN and a private email provider like Protonmail?

It’s largely dependent from state to state and area to area, but here’s a glimpse of my observations of Silicon Valley in California (where I live, grew up, and study in):

Everything is oriented around money and how many connections you have with family or trusted friends. With connections you can rise up the social ladder, but without people in the right places stagnation is the best you can hope for. But in regards to money…

• If your family has <$1 million in total assets, you are expendable items on someone else’s balance sheet.
• If your family has >$1 million in total assets, you are marketed to and are the key demographic advocated for in local politics and incentives. You are also asked to participate in the “better jobs” of the area and are given favorable circumstances in higher education.
• If your family brings $1 million or more in collective income each year, you have a seat at the table where the real decisions are made: district zoning and business investments. The “expendables” fates are at your will.
• If you personally make more than a million dollars in collective income, you’re at the head of the table. You can do what you like with the first two categories, and most of the time there will be no resistance. You are secure from crisis, with no real need to maintain social connections. If you want something to happen in town, so be it.