There’s a concept that exists in some form in most cultures, which in my culture is called Tall Poppy Syndrome, whereby someone or something of genuine merit inevitably gets attacked, resented or otherwise disliked.

I can’t help feeling that many of the attacks on the “FIRE movement” are driven by the need to slash a knife in the direction of the tall poppy. It’s there, it’s therefore worthy of comment. In the search for a newsworthy headline, journalists aim for the sensational – it’s sometimes a success story, but all too often it’s “the hidden dangers of…”. Neither story really covers the core message of the community, because they’re focused on the most extreme interpretations, or examples, than can be found and reported upon.

To be sure, there are a lot of individual messages and opinions within the FIRE community you can take exception to, debate or otherwise clarify, but to make blanket statements like “The FIRE Movement is Dangerous” feels just as clickbait-y as the worst parts of the FIRE Movement itself.