I don’t think this dichotomous thinking accurately captures the nuance and may just show a personal (and understandable) axe to grind. It’s definitely not an either-or choice.

Somebody can still quite easily work in CS and find affordable and high quality living. But maybe not in SV. I’d even argue you can work on more interesting problems. But people overwhelmingly want to work in SV because of the status it confers.