[3princip]

Perhaps not, but it does allow you to learn to grow your own food and fix your own car, and all manner of other things.

Most people use it for entertainment but we really are spoiled with the amount of information at our fingertips. The good will of professionals sharing their know-how online has helped my career grow and made me much more self-sufficient in other areas.

Tangentially regarding wage growth, sure growing some of my food or fixing my car is a net-loss in terms of potential earnings because of the invested time, it's well worth it in other respects. Also, developed countries have a pretty good standard of living already. Needless consumption is a greater problem IMO.

[petermcneeley]

"grow your own food" If you believe in commonly accepted economic thinking like efficiency of large scale production and comparative advantage and specialization, then you must conclude growing your own food does not make economic sense.