Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I have quit my job

bitspook.in

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 176 posts

Re: I have quit my job

#71

Post by MrDresden »

awill88 wrote: post #54

There is a lot to unpack, but I hear you. “Perhaps I am not suited for working in a services company with rapid transitions“ I think you’re right. You read like you’re a people pleaser. I know it because I am too. You, like me, might have a difficult time with having a dynamic yet firm grasp on our purpose in, what is more often than not, textbook Kafkaesque situations; situations we put ourselves in, and we’re accou…

> "So, from one to another, just remember it’s quite the privilege to publish a statement declaring in a public space that you’re “taking a break” from work."

Why this anger towards the author for doing what he considers to be the best thing for himself?

Yes, being able to take a break from work is a privilege. But it isn't one that people should be publicly shamed for when needing to exercise it. Rather we should work towards having that option on the table for as many people on this planet as possible.

Worker's rights have been so completely eroded (or never even established) in so many places around the world, that it breeds this kind of sick attitude of turning against those who decide to put them selves or loved ones before the employer and work.

I say this as someone who is personally about to take a long sabbatical, with full pay, because of incredible burnout after having gone through a very traumatic period involving a partners cancer treatment.

This is only possible because of the incredible strong union that I am a part of.

Re: I have quit my job

#72

Post by bigDinosaur »

anonymoushn wrote: post #59
bigDinosaur wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taxes don't go one way though. Governments provide plenty of useful services. If your government provides no useful services then that would be stealing, and you should probably move asap.

Even after you move, you have to pay $150,000 to buy another citizenship before you can end your relationship with the tax authorities :)

On a more local level this can apply in terms of city and state as well, so not just country. If you get literally no useful or beneficial services from a city government that's not a bad reason to move away unless you have no need for anything governmental.

Re: I have quit my job

#73

Post by t_mann »

Terry_Roll wrote: post #68
black_puppydog wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Linux? You could argue that red hat did the monetization there, but torvalds didn't, not before it got bigger. Penicillin would also be one. It had to be forced on the industry because they couldn't monetize it, so you could argue that "more hustle would have helped".

> Penicillin would also be one. Short term benefit, long term disaster. Penicillamine (metabolised penicillin) causes copper depletion reduces Interleukin-2 which increases the risk of some cancers and the effectiveness of the white blood cells. To the OP: Find a problem you can fix, want to fix, monetise and try to stay legal. I'm learning that govt legislation is sometimes a posterior covering position whilst tryin…

Re Penicilin: the 'short term' benefits of not dying from a lung infection are pretty significant though. We might have better drugs today, but it was quite a miracle back then.

Re: I have quit my job

#74

Post by paskozdilar »

MrDresden wrote: post #71
awill88 wrote: post #54

There is a lot to unpack, but I hear you. “Perhaps I am not suited for working in a services company with rapid transitions“ I think you’re right. You read like you’re a people pleaser. I know it because I am too. You, like me, might have a difficult time with having a dynamic yet firm grasp on our purpose in, what is more often than not, textbook Kafkaesque situations; situations we put ourselves in, and we’re accou…

> "So, from one to another, just remember it’s quite the privilege to publish a statement declaring in a public space that you’re “taking a break” from work." Why this anger towards the author for doing what he considers to be the best thing for himself? Yes, being able to take a break from work is a privilege. But it isn't one that people should be publicly shamed for when needing to exercise it. Rather we should wo…

> Why this anger towards the author for doing what he considers to be the best thing for himself?

Because most of us don't have the luxury to take a break from work.

Honestly, I feel jealousy towards people who can take a break from work. I've been feeling like I'm on a treadmill since my teen years.

I am not ashamed of it, though - jealousy is a human feeling and we can't wish it away, we can only control it and not let it interfere with our lives.

Re: I have quit my job

#75

Post by jrib »

> I want to spend some time making impractical decisions. I want to build software which solve the problem of making me happy, or at least entertained.

I hope you get a chance to do that, at least for a while. I want that too.

Re: I have quit my job

#76

Post by ejb999 »

emptyfile wrote: post #64
hans1729 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree heavily with this. Lots of people make a living doing what they love/building a better world. Just because we normalized selling our attention to the highest fiscal bidder, doesn’t mean that the highest fiscal bid is actually valuable in terms of life quality. Nobody looks back and says “eh, I wish I’d have worked more at [soulless job]”. I think your perspective is extreme dystopian, and it makes me sad t…

>Lots of people make a living doing what they love/building a better world. Really? America must be a great place then. Don't know anyone like that where I live. My doctor friends would be closest but they certainly don't have a good quality of life and their lives are quite dystopian.

How do you explain the ten's or hundreds of thousands of people in the world that already have financial freedom (i.e. enough in the bank to live comfortably the rest of their lives), and yet still get up everyday and goto work?

Re: I have quit my job

#77

Post by MrDresden »

paskozdilar wrote: post #74
MrDresden wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "So, from one to another, just remember it’s quite the privilege to publish a statement declaring in a public space that you’re “taking a break” from work." Why this anger towards the author for doing what he considers to be the best thing for himself? Yes, being able to take a break from work is a privilege. But it isn't one that people should be publicly shamed for when needing to exercise it. Rather we should wo…

> Why this anger towards the author for doing what he considers to be the best thing for himself? Because most of us don't have the luxury to take a break from work. Honestly, I feel jealousy towards people who can take a break from work. I've been feeling like I'm on a treadmill since my teen years. I am not ashamed of it, though - jealousy is a human feeling and we can't wish it away, we can only control it and not…

I’ll admit I just now realise that the author seems to have shared the post here themselves.

That does put it into a slightly different light.

Re: I have quit my job

#78

Post by hoseja »

chii wrote: post #25
hans1729 wrote: post #14

> I imagine building solutions to problems I see in my surroundings. For some irrational reason, I feel a desire to give back to society. I think there is nothing irrational about this. Look up “purpose economy”. Grinding away your life in the interests of some company that basically just wants to achieve financial gains is not satisfying at all, we’re just normalizing it because it’s lucrative and we live in a world…

> I think there is nothing irrational about this. it's not irrational. Unless you ignore the lower needs on the Maslow's hierarchy of needs and spend your efforts on the higher needs. The lower needs are basic - sustenance and safety etc. If someone is wealthy enough to meet these needs with time and resources to spare, then it makes a lot of sense to spend the extra resources on the higher needs. But it is irrationa…

And that is why US is spending so much effort making sure the basic needs stay unmet.

Re: I have quit my job

#79

Post by DocTomoe »

paskozdilar wrote: post #74
MrDresden wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "So, from one to another, just remember it’s quite the privilege to publish a statement declaring in a public space that you’re “taking a break” from work." Why this anger towards the author for doing what he considers to be the best thing for himself? Yes, being able to take a break from work is a privilege. But it isn't one that people should be publicly shamed for when needing to exercise it. Rather we should wo…

> Why this anger towards the author for doing what he considers to be the best thing for himself? Because most of us don't have the luxury to take a break from work. Honestly, I feel jealousy towards people who can take a break from work. I've been feeling like I'm on a treadmill since my teen years. I am not ashamed of it, though - jealousy is a human feeling and we can't wish it away, we can only control it and not…

> Because most of us don't have the luxury to take a break from work.

If you ask the 5 whys, you'll see that you actually can take a break from work, you are just unwilling to deal with a (potentially rapid) change in lifestyle.

I know enough IT people who at age 40 decided to become potters, or motorcycle repair folks, or blacksmiths. They immediately stopped earning six figures. They live in metropolitan areas no longer. But they all seem to be a lot happier now.

No one is going to applaud you for your money high score when you leave that body of yours. Life is about enjoying the dance, not racing to the end.

Re: I have quit my job

#80

Post by DocTomoe »

8n4vidtmkvmk wrote: post #44
bedobi wrote: post #5

Could more people use taking a break, for no particular reason, and not necessarily to work on anything - just taking a break for taking a break's sake? I think so. Especially hackernews people who are overwhelmingly more likely to be privileged enough to be able to do it compared to most. "...leisure is time away from work, not facilitating it. By viewing work as something we do to support our leisure time, rather t…

would love to take a nice long break and turn my head off for a bit. kinda hard when your employer stops paying you and the landlord still wants his rent

Seems like the problem is in your attachment to your flat. Fixer-upper houses in the countryside are basically cheaper than a year's one-bedroom rent in the Bay Area. It's all a question of trade-offs. Would you rather

a) have a soul-crushing job and a nice flat or b) live happily, but in the Mid-West?

Post reply on HN