I think its stupid. Retirement is boring, youll end working anyway just to have something to do. Id rather have an enjoyable job and lots of sparetime now that im young rather than slave away my youth so that I can retire early.
I do get your point about slaving away the youth though.
However, FIRE as some kind of end-goal to be achieved by all means necessary is unlikely to make many people happy. Reading the financial independence subreddit, many people think of FIRE as some holy grail - like they will finally be happy once have saved up enough money that they can quit a job they hate. I dont think its healthy to obsess over some kind of medium-distant goal and put all your energy towards it thinking "I will be happy when I'm financially independent".
The old cliche "life is a journey, not a goal" really applies here. Some (though not many) even argue that you shouldn't have kids because they cost so much and will delay your FIRE.
I'd never work if I didn't have to pay bills. Spending my limited time on earth doing something for someone else's benefit on someone else's schedule makes me miserable. No such thing as an "enjoyable job". If there was, there would be someone willing to do it for free.
I've had a year of NEET life during college, and it was the best time of my life by far.
It's stupid to think my country will be able to pay me pension - I'm skeptic about the current system will survive another 40-50 year and pay me back what I need to live comfortably.
So FIRE is just a sane provision for the future. The "early" part is different for everybody. If I can retire at 50 instead of 65 its early enough for me.
Hobbies, dude. Tons of interesting hobbies, available for the doing, many requiring little to no financial outlay.
And with some fields like programming, you can even do the same work post-retirement, just for fun or to teach others.
> now that im young
How would you know? You seem to have a warped view of retirement in the first place. FIRE is more so to get out of the rat race, not to stop doing anything and everything you're interested it once you stop working.
Well, a bit flippant, but still that is the other side of the coin.