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“People simply empty out”

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Re: “People simply empty out”

#91

Post by noonespecial »

_delirium wrote: post #16
blackhole wrote: post #5

I feel like too many people get sucked into the idea of furthering their career, to the point that they forget to further their own life. What is the point of existence if we never get around to experiencing it? "It's not the things we do in life that we regret on our death bed, it is the things we do not." - Randy Pausch

Hence the somewhat curious (and I think, very American) idea of the "Golden Years". If you put your head down and work hard, taking no vacations, until you're age 65, then you flip 180 degrees in the other direction and retire into a life of full-time leisure. So if you live long enough, it really won't be a waste; you cash it in all at the end! A Scandinavian psychologist somewhat recently proposed a typically Scand…

The "Golden Years" are not what they used to be. The WWII generation likely thought that way, but what I see on the ground now is not working hard to cash in, its working hard in terror of a coming time when you can't work. If you haven't saved enough by that time you die in misery and poverty. Eek over the line and if you don't get an unlucky disease, you get a modicum of comfort.

"Enjoy your Golden years" has turned into "Winter is coming."

Re: “People simply empty out”

#92

Post by ritchiea »

enraged_camel wrote: post #32

>>You know my old saying, "Slavery was never abolished, it was only extended to include all the colors." Some people balk at the idea of "wage slavery," primarily because they think it is so different from the traditional slavery that it should not be called that. But the question is, if you are doing something and the alternative is starvation and death, are you really a free human being? If you think about it for a…

I agree that wage slavery exists but let's be serious, slavery in many societies, including the US was a brutal existence that included beatings & intentional separations of families, often even if you as a slave were compliant in the system. If you weren't compliant you were subject to torture and/or a violent death. The cruelty of slavery stretches far beyond the lack of freedom you're describing here.

Re: “People simply empty out”

#93

Post by [deleted] »

Casseres wrote: post #29
mikegagnon wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People aren't working in factories to put bread on the table, people are working in offices to pay for their next new car or big screen TV. People are still working in factories to put bread on their tables. There is a huge amount of poverty in the world. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty

You're right, but I'm referring to the United States. I'm sorry I didn't make that clear.

[deleted]

Re: “People simply empty out”

#94

Post by davros »

djim wrote: post #55

i sold my startup about 3 months ago, and immediately starting looking for another job. after a couple months, a couple interesting but-not-exciting offers, and one interview process that ended in me not getting an offer, i finally took a worthy vacation. while on a boat in the caribbean, a couple things occurred to me: (1) i really don't need to work for the next ~10 years (2) in that time, i will likely stumble on…

My experience is that reaching a 'work-optional' state is not the easy transition most would think it. I recommend that you search for a meaningful goal and get to work on it, drifting is dangerous.

Re: “People simply empty out”

#95

Post by sliverstorm »

_delirium wrote: post #16
blackhole wrote: post #5

I feel like too many people get sucked into the idea of furthering their career, to the point that they forget to further their own life. What is the point of existence if we never get around to experiencing it? "It's not the things we do in life that we regret on our death bed, it is the things we do not." - Randy Pausch

Hence the somewhat curious (and I think, very American) idea of the "Golden Years". If you put your head down and work hard, taking no vacations, until you're age 65, then you flip 180 degrees in the other direction and retire into a life of full-time leisure. So if you live long enough, it really won't be a waste; you cash it in all at the end! A Scandinavian psychologist somewhat recently proposed a typically Scand…

Unless you are a hedonist, maximum leisure in your prime working years and minimum leisure in old age don't make sense. Personally, I've found work matured both me and my brothers, gave us more perspective, and generally improved us as human beings.

Without including the chance to really mature, you are basically talking about extending adolescence, and we already complain about how irresponsible and short-sighted twenty-year-olds are today.

Re: “People simply empty out”

#96

Post by orofino »

VexXtreme wrote: post #82
_delirium wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hence the somewhat curious (and I think, very American) idea of the "Golden Years". If you put your head down and work hard, taking no vacations, until you're age 65, then you flip 180 degrees in the other direction and retire into a life of full-time leisure. So if you live long enough, it really won't be a waste; you cash it in all at the end! A Scandinavian psychologist somewhat recently proposed a typically Scand…

> Hence the somewhat curious (and I think, very American) idea of the "Golden Years". If you put your head down and work hard, taking no vacations, until you're age 65, then you flip 180 degrees in the other direction and retire into a life of full-time leisure. So if you live long enough, it really won't be a waste; you cash it in all at the end! And this exact kind of thinking is what the societal overlords want yo…

I always kind of shake my head at this. On a board with many people making 100k+ per year, who are the "societal overlords" you're referencing. Sure there are people that make much more than that, but anything beyond 80k allows a person to save quite a bit and "quit" the rat race earlier if they like.

Re: “People simply empty out”

#97

Post by orofino »

This goes off the tracks for me about midway through. While for many people the reality described is actually their life, there are many of us (and I'd imagine a huge percentage of those reading this) that aren't slaves. If you're making over 70-80k/year, you have the capacity to save a lot and do the things you want to do before you hit 55, 65, or 75.

Re: “People simply empty out”

#98

Post by mattm »

dictum wrote: post #40
_delirium wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hence the somewhat curious (and I think, very American) idea of the "Golden Years". If you put your head down and work hard, taking no vacations, until you're age 65, then you flip 180 degrees in the other direction and retire into a life of full-time leisure. So if you live long enough, it really won't be a waste; you cash it in all at the end! A Scandinavian psychologist somewhat recently proposed a typically Scand…

>he suggested people should work to age 80, but work proportionally less in all the years up to there. At 70, your body is generally not able to do the same things you were doing at 20/30, at least not with the same ease. A 75 year old man could work as hard as a 25 year old man, but the same amount of work will probably take a greater toll on his health. In a way, seems like his scheme is pretty much geared to make…

And why is the body not capable of doing the same things at 70? Is it because you overworked it earlier on?

Re: “People simply empty out”

#99

Post by sliverstorm »

_delirium wrote: post #43
dictum wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>he suggested people should work to age 80, but work proportionally less in all the years up to there. At 70, your body is generally not able to do the same things you were doing at 20/30, at least not with the same ease. A 75 year old man could work as hard as a 25 year old man, but the same amount of work will probably take a greater toll on his health. In a way, seems like his scheme is pretty much geared to make…

Is it really more impractical for a 70-year-old to work 25 hours, than for a 60-year-old to work 40 hours? The latter is widely expected today, and we expect 60-year-olds to work as hard as 25-year-olds. Otherwise, we'll hire the 25-year-old over them. If that's a problem, we should change it across the board. Note that this proposal is also in the context of a system that provides full support for job retraining and…

I think the drop-off is more precipitous than you believe, at least for the jobs that require physical ability & mobility.

Re: “People simply empty out”

#100

Post by sliverstorm »

orofino wrote: post #96
VexXtreme wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Hence the somewhat curious (and I think, very American) idea of the "Golden Years". If you put your head down and work hard, taking no vacations, until you're age 65, then you flip 180 degrees in the other direction and retire into a life of full-time leisure. So if you live long enough, it really won't be a waste; you cash it in all at the end! And this exact kind of thinking is what the societal overlords want yo…

I always kind of shake my head at this. On a board with many people making 100k+ per year, who are the "societal overlords" you're referencing. Sure there are people that make much more than that, but anything beyond 80k allows a person to save quite a bit and "quit" the rat race earlier if they like.

This is part of why the "rat race" works/exists. People are always looking up to see who is above them, never down to see how far they've come.

"I IPO'd for ten million dollars! Life is awesome!" quickly transitions to "Frank IPO'd for 5x what I did! That's not fair!"

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