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Lifers, Dayjobbers, and the Independently Wealthy: A Letter to a Former Student

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Re: Lifers, Dayjobbers, and the Independently Wealthy: A Letter to a Former Student

#171

Post by solarmist »

mrguyorama wrote: post #124
digging wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if that's true, then the animals are in charge. you'll be miserable for the honor of being enslaved by beast? the GP hit the nail on the head saying, > If you start looking at the law in terms of "how much does it cost to do whatever I want", then you are now effectively playing by the same rules as those who seek to control your life. laws are for the powerless.

>laws are for the powerless. But understanding that doesn't give you any power back. Knowing that you can just pay large fines to do illegal business things doesn't help someone who isn't running a business or can afford to pay those large fines

I somewhat disagree. It doesn't give you resources, but it does give you a degree of freedom in your thinking and problem-solving.

There is also the fact that many things you could be fined for aren't worth it if you're small enough not to be a threat. Most of those threats come from other companies holding you to the flame, not from public institutions.

Follow the rules enforced by public institutions, but take risks when it's not worth it for private institutions to complain.

That said, if you don't have money for multiple years of expenses, it doesn't help you much directly.

Re: Lifers, Dayjobbers, and the Independently Wealthy: A Letter to a Former Student

#172

Post by efnx »

HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #90
softfalcon wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, similar situation with: - My brother who is a writer while his wife works at an industrial job that pays exceedingly well - My friend who is an artist, whose husband owns an engineering firm with big medical device contracts - My other friend who is a nature photographer, whose husband works in tech - Yet another friend who is a musician, whose wife works in tech - Another friend who runs a dog shelter, whose h…

"What do you call a drummer without a girlfriend?" "Homeless."

What do you call a girl on the arm of a harmonica player?

A tattoo.

Re: Lifers, Dayjobbers, and the Independently Wealthy: A Letter to a Former Student

#173

Post by wnolens »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #145
digging wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s all about trade-offs. It's true that in our limited lifespans we will always have to choose trade-offs, but the current choice between crushing poverty vs crushing workload is not a natural one; it's contrived. most of us should be working fewer hours in the modern economy and have more leisure/creativity time. personally, I've made it my goal as a SWE to get a 4-day work week and/or shorter work days. even if…

> personally, I've made it my goal as a SWE to get a 4-day work week and/or shorter work days. even if it means a pay tradeoff. Part time work week + fully remote is the dream for me I don't want to spend my whole life working to make more money than I realistically am ever going to spend just to save enough to retire just to die a month into my retirement.

Had the same attitude as you, and achieved this (20h wk, remote, 6fig). Was still miserable.

Maybe for you it's only the shape of life that is the difference. But personally it was the quality of the things that filled that shape. Those tradeoffs weren't obvious at the beginning (ex: the kind of coding gigs that let me work 20h wks were boring as shit and dead ends).

Best of luck. There's a balance out there for everyone.

Re: Lifers, Dayjobbers, and the Independently Wealthy: A Letter to a Former Student

#174

Post by solarmist »

WalterBright wrote: post #149
WalterBright wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honor is what separates men from animals. We all get to choose which we are.

https://www.admissions.caltech.edu/why-caltech/student-life/...

The people writing the rules always have an unfair advantage.

They can include literally anything they come up with and often, with enough time and rewriting, make it sound fair and equitable.

How do you propose addressing that? You can't be on the rules-making groups of every institution you participate in.

Re: Lifers, Dayjobbers, and the Independently Wealthy: A Letter to a Former Student

#175

Post by barbazoo »

nradov wrote: post #81
JSavageOne wrote: post #39

Great, practical advice. I do think however that by 2030, UBI will be the norm in many wealthy countries, and thus more people will be able to pursue their passions rather than having to sell their soul as dayjobbers to make money for corporations and rich people.

There's no way UBI will become the norm. I'm certainly not willing to pay higher taxes so that other people can pursue their passions. They can get a job like the rest of us.

A.k.a "I'm miserable so others should be, too".

Re: Lifers, Dayjobbers, and the Independently Wealthy: A Letter to a Former Student

#176

Post by barbazoo »

eastbound wrote: post #52
JSavageOne wrote: post #39

Great, practical advice. I do think however that by 2030, UBI will be the norm in many wealthy countries, and thus more people will be able to pursue their passions rather than having to sell their soul as dayjobbers to make money for corporations and rich people.

UBI is a bane because it kills meritocracy. The reason most people are successful is because they risk a lot if they weren’t. Surprise: Stress is a factor of excellence. You say it yourself: If UBI is introduced, then none of the hard jobs gets done.

> You say it yourself: If UBI is introduced, then none of the hard jobs gets done.

Unless the work is paid highly enough for people to take the job, no? What prevents a company from raising wages?

Re: Lifers, Dayjobbers, and the Independently Wealthy: A Letter to a Former Student

#177

Post by WalterBright »

olddustytrail wrote: post #163
WalterBright wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there is moral equivalence in stealing from your neighbor vs stealing from a billionaire They are the same. You said it yourself: STEALING

No they're not, even with caps lock engaged.

Yeah, they are. A true story:

A friend of mine years ago worked at Microsoft. He noticed that one of his colleagues was pilfering things in the office, and when asked about it said it was ok to steal from Microsoft because it was a wealthy company. One day, he found a stack of 4 hubcaps on his chair. He asked around, and my friend said "oh, I put those on your chair. I figured I'd give you a hand so you don't have to steal hubcaps from the parking lot." He got the message and that was the end of the pilfering.

Re: Lifers, Dayjobbers, and the Independently Wealthy: A Letter to a Former Student

#178

Post by ketzo »

Mistletoe wrote: post #166
ketzo wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Listen, can we all agree to stop calling any expenditure of money without a direct expectation of return a "zero interest rate phenomenon"? "Starving artists" have existed for millenia. The arts patronage system began either or thousands of years ago, depending on who you ask. People have paid lots of money for gold jewelry basically since we figured out how to pull it out of the ground. I saw someone call dog-walker…

But dog walking businesses weren’t getting $1.35 billion dollar valuations before the interest rates were zero for so many years in an unprecedented way. https://www.geekwire.com/2021/pet-sitting-marketplace-rover-... Hit max- https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/interest-rate

....okay, sure, granted.

But the business model of "I walk other people's dogs when they don't have time to" is not a ZIRP. It's just not.

People might have hired more dogwalkers! Because ZIR might have created more affluent individuals! But that's a couple logical jumps from "dogwalking is a ZIRP"

Re: Lifers, Dayjobbers, and the Independently Wealthy: A Letter to a Former Student

#179

Post by barbazoo »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #67
hguant wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 7 years? I think the current crop of pilot tests for UBI are set to finish up in 7 years. No way meaningful UBI gets well enough established in 7 years to be considered "a norm." UBI is this generation's fusion - it's going to be 10 years away until the late 2070s, if at all.

I have yet to see a pilot test for UBI even begin. Which country’s people are all (universal) receiving an income? The whole thing makes no sense if everyone is not getting it.

> I have yet to see a pilot test for UBI even begin.

Pilots have been done all over the place [0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_basic_income_pilots

Re: Lifers, Dayjobbers, and the Independently Wealthy: A Letter to a Former Student

#180

Post by microtherion »

The article mentions Philip Glass, but not his work as a plumber, featuring this delightful anecdote he told in an interview:

“While working, I suddenly heard a noise and looked up to find Robert Hughes, the art critic of Time magazine, staring at me in disbelief. ‘But you’re Philip Glass! What are you doing here?’ It was obvious that I was installing his dishwasher and I told him I would soon be finished. ‘But you are an artist,’ he protested. I explained that I was an artist but that I was sometimes a plumber as well and that he should go away and let me finish.”

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