The smellmaxxing + boy kibble paradox reveals the real Gen Z value hierarchy: slash spending on commodities (food, rent, subscriptions) to zero, then concentrate remaining spend on high-identity-signal items (scent, accessories, AI tools) — any product that can position itself as an "identity signal" rather than a "necessity" gets purchased even in full austerity mode.
Nepal's Discord Revolution template is the most important geopolitical signal in this domain: the same Discord + anime meme infrastructure that teens use for gaming now routinely topples governments — any crypto/DeFi protocol, AI agent platform, or political movement that wants to mobilize Gen Z needs to think like a Discord server, not like a campaign.