If you try to solve a hard problem, the question is not whether you will use a powerful enough language, but whether you will (a) use a powerful lang… - Paul Graham

Likewise, in any social hierarchy, people unsure of their own position will try to emphasize it by maltreating those they think rank below. I’ve read that this is why poor whites in the United States are the group most hostile to blacks.

Naturally wealth had a bad reputation. Two things changed. The first was the rule of law. For most of the world’s history, if you did somehow accumulate a fortune, the ruler or his henchmen would find a way to steal it. But in medieval Europe something new happened. A new class of merchants and manufacturers began to collect in towns.10 Together they were able to withstand the local feudal lord.

One of the best presents you can get for a cook is a new spice they didn't know about. You're not just buying them the spice, but the knowledge that it exists, and what it's like.