411–420 of 583 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can't "just move". It is quite difficult to get into the US
Is it harder to get into the US or the EU?
Of course you could also come as a student and finish your education within EU. In some countries you can even do it for free.
> Disclaimer: I acknowledge that I’ve been very privileged, especially in the educational opportunities I’ve had. This might sound reasonable from a US-centric perspective, but to me it reads like utter nonsense. The main privilege here is access to the US labor market and tax policy. There are no stories like this one where I live (in Sweden). Absolutely none.
One of the biggest tragedies, in my view, is what a lovely place Europe is to live, and what utter lack (seemingly for no great underlying reason) of class mobility exists there.
And people in the middle are squeezed from the both sides.
Here's 2 questions for the "FIRE" crowd. 1) To stop working when you hit a certain number seems to me to be falling into the faulty logic illustrated in Freakonomics -- when a taxi driver works every day towards a certain $ figure, he suffers on crappy days (keeps on driving to little benefit) when fares are just not coming, and cuts off his earnings on great days where business is pouring in like crazy. Instead, you…
“Oh, if you don’t have to bail water to keep from drowning you’ll just sit there in the ocean not doing anything.”
No. You can go where you want, without worry.
“But I like bailing water, it gives me purpose, I want to do this forever!”
That’s nice, I like fixing leaks, just in case.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Most of the population spend the majority of their income on rent, commuting, and essentials. Students also have lots of debt over the past decade (15k on average). Owning a car is expensive, but so is public transport (esp. for a family). Renting is expensive, but so is buying a house. > Income tax brackets range from ~40-50%, while corporate and dividend taxes are minimal - 15-20%. VAT is regressive and applies o…
> the US practically invented all these issues I don’t believe that the Netherlands has inherited these ideas from the USA. In fact, NL invented capitalism and stock markets. Every Dutchie I speak to about the inequality here, loves comparing themselves to the USA memes. It’s that whataboutism and the ignorance that bothers me.
Of course, I'm aware that NL invented stock markets and pioneered a lot of ideas behind modern capitalism. That wasn't where I was going with it.
Not to turn this into some weird anti-pissing contest of "my country is worse than yours," but, if you look at the numbers, the US fares worse than NL on:
Gini coefficient [0]: US 41.4 vs NL 28.1
Global social mobility index [1]: US 70.4 vs NL 82.4
Human development index [2]: US 0.92 vs NL 0.944
Now, I don't think capitalism is the best system for maximizing any of the above, but, if you look at the tables, it's pretty clear that the Nordic model of capitalism is basically as good as capitalism gets. When you look at some of the things that go into these indices, other than stuff like "GDP per capita," it's pretty clear why: having a strong safety net and other social programs for workers makes people better off.
If nothing else, reducing the consequences of failure from "total personal and financial ruin" to something more manageable is more likely to encourage people to take chances that may or may not pay off. That's what economic freedom really is. That's also the part of capitalism the US didn't pick up, so, that's what I was getting at when I was saying that the US invented those issues. Again, not to get into an anti-pissing contest, but, that's why the US recently got compared to Jurassic Park [3] on here. I don't see anybody comparing NL to a land where dinosaurs will eat you if you're not always vigilant.
> Every Dutchie I speak to about the inequality here, loves comparing themselves to the USA memes. It’s that whataboutism and the ignorance that bothers me.
I'm not sure what you mean here, but I'd like to know. Are you just saying that people you talk to are saying what I said, but without the facts and figures?
---
[0]: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/gini-coef...
[1]: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/social-mo...
[2]: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/hdi-by-co...
I do not understand why articles like these consistently score poorly on HN? Of course it’s all based on luck, but that doesn’t make it an uninteresting read. I admire the diligence of the author, and how well they played the lucky cards they were given. I am frequently in awe when reading technical articles on HN, with people advancing the state of the art in some technology. Those people also are incredibly lucky,…
Let me add 1) get a prenup before marriage because there's a 50/50 chance you'll lose half in divorce (at least in California.) This is not very romantic so it's not something I ever considered, but it's recommended to wealthy persons by lawyers. 2) don't become an alcoholic or drug addict. If you think you might be developing a problem, own up to it, seek help and go to rehab if necessary. This includes gambling add…
Another option for the drugs thing is to never do drugs or drink alcohol. I haven’t ever done any and I’ve managed to avoid addiction my entire life. I still have fun - I am actually considered the fun and lively person of many friend groups.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don’t want to dismiss your question, but to be honest I don’t know how to answer it. Maybe if everyone did it new arbitrage opportunities would arise so that it would become more lucrative to move somewhere else where there is a demand for services that nobody is doing anymore? But I am not an economist so I am not interested in reading 50 pedantic comments about how my previous sentence is inaccurate. I do not con…
>I do not concern myself with non-practical (in my opinion) matters because I know that the vast majority of people will not take that path, so it’s likely not an issue. Vanguard index funds are basically meme stock status in large part because of articles like this. So arguably it's already happening and distorting prices.
People are already doing all this. Probably about as many that ever could. It’s why the interview process is so ridiculous and keeps getting more difficult.
Here's 2 questions for the "FIRE" crowd. 1) To stop working when you hit a certain number seems to me to be falling into the faulty logic illustrated in Freakonomics -- when a taxi driver works every day towards a certain $ figure, he suffers on crappy days (keeps on driving to little benefit) when fares are just not coming, and cuts off his earnings on great days where business is pouring in like crazy. Instead, you…
It only makes sense if youve got something else you want to do. Id venture almost none of the FIRE crowd end up sitting in front of a tv eating microwave dinners for 60 years because they retired. I mean maybe thats what some people want and more power to them but thats not what FIRE is about
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I disagree with everything you've said. The only difference between myself and my other friends (who also have advanced degrees from top universities in the bay area) is that I abandoned my field of study and jumped into tech. After 10 years, we have vastly different financial outcomes now. A lot of hard working, well educated, dedicated people struggle financially around here, because they happened to not choose tec…
Part of working smart rather than working hard is seeing the salary signals the market is sending and responding to them strategically. This is worth more than mastering a skill that is saturated with competition relative to demand. It took me a long time to accept this as I was wedded to the idea that hard work and skill alone should be well compensated. But that hard work and skill needs to be pointed in a good dir…
If you had an advanced degree in math or physics, hedge funds in NYC was always an option to maximize your talent in exchange for money. But one also had an option to choose something different and still make an upper middle class living.
It seems these days, only the finance/tech offer such living. NOT choosing tech is choosing barely middle class living, and everyone else is delegated to hand-to-mouth living.