I'm not sure about your other questions, but here at JPF is probably a better place to discuss Java / future IT / world problems than at your nail spa. Then again, a nail spa is probably quite a nice place to hang out for reasons other than Java insights.
Yeah, be a programmer - you could be rich! Google was a student project that went huge. Facebook is the same as a gazillion other sites who didn't go huge. It's very hard to say what people will pay a lot of money for by the time that you're ready to write it, but as Edna Mode said: "Luck favours the prepared".
Edna Mode Scene 2 - YouTube