> I have been a web developer since 1995
Something doesn't add up. I don't mean to be rude, but I think the economy might be the least of your issues.
3 weeks is 21 days, which is about half the time you'd need to die of starvation, assuming no other nutrient intake (and no water insecurity; you'll die in only a few days without water, even dirty water). That's likely not really what happened in this guy's case, since - and I speak from experience here - when you get that desperate, you get remarkably resourceful. Old multivitamins that you forgot were in the back of the cupboard and have sat there for at least 3-4 years? Yep, eat 'em. That freezerburned leftover scalloped potatoes at the bottom/back of the freezer from last year? Yeah, not the tastiest thing but it sure beats nothing. Out of everything else? Go see people at Sam's Club or Costco, or anywhere they give out free samples. Even a small bite can sustain you for a remarkably long time, much longer than you might think. The human body is _incredibly_ efficient; as a culture, we in the US eat just way more than we need (most of us, that is, myself included); so what passes for a "meal" for most of us, in a starvation context, could keep you going for 2-3 days.
So no, I don't think he's making this up, nor do I think it's sarcasm. I've been there. And take my word for it, because I hope you never have to find out for yourself, but the worst part of that scenario - being homeless or near-homeless, having no food - isn't the hunger. It's the fear.
There is no soup kitchen here. There is one food bank, which is only open once a month for a couple of hours. I haven't been, so cannot say whether they attempt to provide a month's worth of food or not.
The last food bank I went to operated twice a week and attempted to provide a week's worth of calories in pre-sorted bags of goods. Recipients were limited to 2x/mo. Obtaining a larger bag (e.g. for a family) required providing official state-issued photo ID for any and all additional recipients, which was then logged and counted as part of each individual's 2x/mo limit.
I predict we'll see a lot more stories like these, and worse, coming out of the US in the coming months and years. Not nearly enough is being done to address the underlying problems, and it's got to be a problem of cataclysmic proportions before Congress will even consider a 5-minute discussion over lunch, let alone draft a bill with any real teeth (regardless of party).
But anyway, we know too little about OP to make assumptions about his economy
If you really can't find work in this market, you should really try fixing your resume since you most likely aren't selling your skills or have a red flag. Some of my older coworkers only put their last 12 years experience, or don't list dates on them to avoid age discrimination at the resume filter stage.
It is simpler and more lucrative and will take almost anybody right now, organizations cant find devs and they are always rushed because the space is so much faster than the rest of tech
lucky for you, ideology isn't a luxury you can afford to have compared to comfortable web2 devs that talk themselves out of everything, go there and figure out what they want
It was made for the main EVM called Ethereum, but other EVMs use this as well, things can be slightly different on other EVMs
https://github.com/ChainSafe/web3.js
https://web3js.readthedocs.io/en/v1.7.1/
The web3 concept extends beyond EVMs, as the term has mostly begin meaning “connect to nearest nodes instead of your own backend server” and so other distributed networks have their own equivalent but not typically with the web3.js library, but some other way to communicate with the nodes via RPC
You can get grants to contribute to development for making libraries like web3 (but thats probably the least lucrative thing to do)
The more lucrative thing would be to contract with projects that need their frontends built, or smart contracts deployed to these nodes (that the frontend interacts with)
so I just write the accurate answers for the silent lurkers really
From a technological standpoint, how is it significantly different from "Web2"? Seems to me like it's essentially the same tech we've used for decades with some usage of the metamask API thrown in.
The primary difference is frequently the use of the library web3.js or some other equivalent for the respective network
Metamask browser extension is one of many apps that listen for web3.js calls and helps the browser connect to the nearest node on the configured network
Its basically the same tech but less of it, like I mentioned, it’s simpler. No product has to track user sessions across a massive funnel to sell their data or impress investors salivating over the potential of selling data, and the calls to action are all direct payments, so frontends are simpler.