system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Fallout 3] What do people do for a living? How do Tenpenny's inhabitants afford to stay there?

Medical practitioners still have a place in the world, as do engineers, armed security, store owners, sex workers, but what do all of the generic NPCs do? They can't all be prospectors, and most settlements (Rivet City, Megaton, Republic of Dave) don't see enough trouble for everyone to make a living as security. 



As far as Tenpenny Tower goes, I understand the doctor and former slaver, but what does everyone else do? There's no Crimson Caravan or Gun Runners like in the West Coast for them to invest in, there don't seem to be any farms or ranches, there's no franchise of Super Duper Markets or Dots Diner for them to secretly own. One of them won't stop talking about communism, which baffles me since you'd think he'dve been lynched. What does *he* do for money?


I've heard fan theories that TP came from overseas, but that doesn't explain his wealth to me, where TPT gets its food, and brings in the new problem of who he convinced to accept pounds over dollars.



The only settlements that make sense to me are Paradise Falls and Rivet City. One seems self sufficient and insular, while the other probably deals slaves to foreign powers like The Pitt. I can't wrap my head around TPT or Megaton surviving. Canterbury Commons is 4 dudes with constant stop offs from caravans so its hardly even a village imo.
gpt
Tenpenny Tower is living in the past. Its a bunch of self-proclaimed wealthy people who live as people lived in the past. They're pretending everything is normal and they're living the good life in this luxury hotel. However, they're not actually wealthy. 

No matter how wealthy they claim to be, look at their actual inventories, including in their hotel rooms. They're no more wealthy than a random wasteland raider. The only thing Tenpenny Tower has in abundance is delusion and denial, similar to Andale.