121–130 of 291 posts
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Bill's high school also had a PDP terminal connected to UW. Basically no other high school had that - which gave him an early head start.
This was mentioned in Outliers , I think. I wonder what the equivalent one-in-a-billion “head start” technology is for kids today.
Middle class in the US goes up to about $120k. I dont know any licensed tradespeople that work for themselves that make less than this.
Electricians $50-60k: https://www.indeed.com/career/electrician/salaries https://www.salary.com/research/salary/alternate/electrician... Plumbers: $60k https://www.salaryexpert.com/salary/job/plumber/united-state... https://www.salary.com/research/salary/alternate/licensed-pl... Now those aren't self employed, but "What Kind of Money Can a Self-Employed Master Plumber Make Annually?" Suggest maybe 20% more for self e…
This is probably key. If GP's comment is accurate, I suspect it has more to do with "small business owner" than "tradesman". Of course they may just have a inaccurate view of real net, also. I know a few guys who would brag about "I made X last year" as a self-employed sub, but on a little interrogation it became clear they were very handwavy between company gross revenue and "I made".
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Rents only get pumped up if we don't have enough housing to go around... in which case regular incomes do the same thing.
Meaning that, unless you fix housing, UBI doesn't make a difference.
If you don't need to chase a high income, you can move where there's cheaper rent and try to innovate there. Assuming that you don't need any of the spatial resources of the expensive areas. (A big if... but perhaps you can grow your idea then move to the areas with lots of capital.)
Since when did anyone think the smartest people, those with the best booklearnin learning acquisition, would be the best entrepreneurs? I don't know that the biggest Ayn Rand cultist would have that expectation. It's equally plausible that the traits that lead to entrepreneurship are heritable but not learning-related.
I've heard a great deal about Bill Gates in my lifetime, but it wasn't until I read Paul Allen's 2011 autobiography that I learned that Bill's mother (a director at a bank) introduced him to IBM chairman John Opel in 1980. They both sat on the board for United Way[0]. It really struck me how these kinds of connections are less of a twist of fate, and more about environment and proximity. Even now it feels remarkable…
Not surprising to a British reader. Sutton Trust research [1] finds that positions of influence in the UK, and the professions generally, are dominated by the 7% who were privately educated. Conclusion: networks and connections are everything. [1] https://www.suttontrust.com/our-research/elitist-britain-201...
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My experience as well, until the first time I got funded. After a success under your belt, it's easy to keep going and get more funding. There's no shortage of capital looking for people to fund right now (it goes through spells). The first time I got funded, it was through a rich elite idiot's social connections (CEO). CEO was a sleazeball, and got all the financial and most of the branding benefit of the venture, d…
Yea, I'm doing well enough in my career to have some disposable income now, and was thinking maybe I should outsource to some freelancers next time I get a new software idea, and just play project manager / salesman. However, the engineer in me would hate to not be building the thing myself.
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Maybe. Growing up in the U.S., my obvious lack of straight teeth (single mother could not afford braces for my sister or me) gave away my pedigree.
I suspect the main difference between the US and UK this way is the honesty of the process. In the US a ton of money an energy is spent on social signalling and class definition, but also on maintaining a fiction that "class" isn't really a thing. I do think the US class system is easier to fake, as it relies a bit more on superficial signifiers than institutions and history than the UK. The myth of the "self made ma…
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Healthcare and Basic Income would do a lot to encourage entrepreneurship. I had to also wait till I paid off my student loans. There are a whole lot of shackles if you come from a humble background to starting a company full time. On the other hand it has never been cheaper to start a side hustle.
> Healthcare and Basic Income would do a lot to encourage entrepreneurship Would it though? From what I understand EU has way better social safety nets, yet much smaller entrepreneurship rates compared to USA. Counter-intuitively, limitations drive innovations. When your resources are limited, you are forced to innovate. When you have infinite resources, you tend to waste it. Ever notice that when you have infinite t…
I've known this for decades. When Bill Gates started publishing Smart Basic (or whatever) in magazines, I got a copy and saw what crap it was. I could do better. Why didn't I? That was my very first thought. The reason was, I had to work halftime to pay tuition and buy food. I was mired in working to live. Ol Bill had a family to support him as he bought resources (ads in magazines etc), recruited staff, took meeting…
While there will be a few folks that will prosper from basic income, I can’t say I’m interested in paying people to pursue things that are more like hobbies. For every entrepreneur or community volunteer that makes a difference, I fear 9 others will set their sights on being gaming streamers or will just sit around writing blogposts. If you aren’t adding value somewhere and are able minded and able bodied, I don’t wa…
Instead of perpetual UBI, he’s in favor of a larger single lump sum paid out after a period of time post-civil service. The idea being instead of the slow morphine drip of $1k a month for life, you can get, say, $25k-$50k in a lump sum after serving a year or two in the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps etc.
The advantage being service builds a stronger sense of community and gives you more skin in the game. Additionally, a larger single lump sum is more conducive to helping start a business as well as being cheaper long term. It parallels the GI Bill in a lot of aspects.
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They could even do this without too many major changes. Just three in fact: - Increase HSA Contribution Limit - Allow both Traditional & High Deductible insurance premiums to be paid with the HSA - Ban employers from directly providing/choosing insurance (ex. US Military) Essentially everyone goes out onto the open market and buys their insurance using pre-tax HSA contributions (similar to tax benefits to employers n…
You're assuming people have the money to contribute to an HSA and an employer when many do not.
I said there are other, arguably better, solutions (e.g. universal coverage) whereas this is an attempt to solve a near-term issue of employer provided health insurance.
If you can get the political support to pass universal reform to health coverage in the US, then absolutely do that instead. In the current political climate this compromise is still a vast improvement.