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

The Art of Money Getting

kk.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 239 posts

Re: The Art of Money Getting

#211

Post by steve_adams_86 »

matheusmoreira wrote: post #167
steve_adams_86 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and that's pretty important to me The older I get, the more I realize what a critical component of personal and social relationships it is, and how deeply it reinforces virtually everything good in society. There's never a good reason to forgo it, and never a good reason to accept spending time with people who don't have it. It only leads to trouble. I started my career in ad tech and it was often such abject miser…

> we did bad things to people and made filthy money I blame society. It systematically rewards sociopathic behavior. I was raised with integrity and honesty as core values. Every single day I am psychologically assaulted by the fact we not only have all these sociopaths running around but also the fact that they are the ones making it . It makes me wish I was one of them. Maybe one day I'll finally break and start ca…

From my perspective, they aren’t making it.

It have a sense of relief that I’m content with so much less. Yesterday I made some sourdough bread and it was so gratifying. They cost around 70 cents CAD when you break down the costs for flour, salt, and energy to cook them. When you pull them out of the oven they do this incredible thing where they crackle and pop as they cool, and the rock-hard crust gradually softens. The smell is incredible. The first slices are always this impossible combination of crispy, glass-like crusts with a chewy, pillowy, delicious interior. It’s so good.

I’m in the worst financial condition I’ve been in my life. I earn less than half as much as I used to. Yet I enjoy things like this, I love my job, I can afford to take care of my family, there are countless things I want to do that I can still afford to do. Explore the outdoors, swim, dive, read, fish, spend time with friends.

That stuff is making it. I don’t need to exploit anyone to enjoy those things. In fact, I can make people’s lives better! I can give my neighbours nice bread. I can share fish I catch. I can take someone to an amazing spot I found.

The world doesn’t ask anything of us beyond that. It’s a choice to pursue more, and it’s a choice to pursue more at the expense of others. I really believe that choice comes with a consequence, too. My impression is that people who choose poorly tend to live hollow and discontented lives. I don’t think there are many exceptions, and when there are, these people tend to share a lot of traits with psychopaths. I don’t envy them either.

Re: The Art of Money Getting

#212

Post by kaladin-jasnah »

SoftTalker wrote: post #197
kaladin-jasnah wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a new grad, I think a lot of the companies that have respectable goals to me only hire at the senior level. So what am I supposed to do, go do something I deeply disagree with for a few years so I can eventually work on something respectable?

Yes, if that's the viable path. The world isn't a perfect place, and you still need to eat. Also, you can do your own job with personal integrity regardless of what others are doing.

To be fair, I have done things I don't really agree with in the past morally and I couldn't really stand myself or grow as a technologist. The lack of morality in what I did made me work slowly and poorly. So it makes things hard.

Re: The Art of Money Getting

#213

Post by sebastiennight »

coliveira wrote: post #148
triprjt wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i think he meant having stuff that he brought to life

But he didn't, it was given to him by AI.

I'd say many fathers are pretty happy "having kids given to them by a woman" (to use your terminology).

It seems you wouldn't give them credit for it, but most of them appear to feel quite a bit of responsibility for bringing those to life.

Re: The Art of Money Getting

#214

Post by runamuck »

amunozo wrote: post #2

The hardest thing is to know what's your best fit. Any advice?

Force yourself to try a lot of things. Look for meetups in different topics you can do in your free time (I hope you have some). Try HAM radio (you can get a career in COMMs), public speaking (executive leadership), group fitness (become a trainer), maker scene (robotics) etc. (Also give me some ideas!)

Re: The Art of Money Getting

#215

Post by esseph »

SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #190
esseph wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

I'm not quitting the site myself, but the kind of cynicism evinced in the comment is toxic. If your response to the very ideas of accounting, law, healthcare and journalism is to wave your hand and nonspecifically declare that they couldn't possibly be respectable, you're making things worse and creating cover for unethical people, even if you understand yourself to be doing it in a wise and savvy way.

It seems more to me like an acknowledgement of the realities on the ground, which is the first step to actually fixing things.

To be very clear, one of the things from the original Trump platform was to "drain the swamp", right? Now, clearly that's not what he meant... or maybe he did from different terms maybe from you and I. But for supporters? They saw a government that they felt was corrupt, wasteful, and out of touch. Propaganda or not, it doesn't matter.

That whole idea of the government being wasteful and untrusted reared its head again in the 2024 election with DOGE.

Now things politically have flipped, and more non-partisan or less radical individuals have been pushed out to make way for partisan yes-men. Now the people on the other side of that political equation no longer trust things like the Federal Judiciary, Department of Education (or that it will even be funded), things like the Center for Disease Control, etc.

Oh and journalism! Everything has been bought out, and been allowed to in massive mergers by the Trump administration. Then they stuck government-approved heads at each of them.

Not acknowledging these realities is the first step toward repeating them.

Somehow, trust in institutions in this country will have to be rebuilt.

Re: The Art of Money Getting

#216

Post by cindyllm »

SoftTalker wrote: post #200
conductr wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The older I get, the more I feel it’s becoming in shorter supply. Even when I don’t like associating with those that seem to lack it, they seem to find me everywhere I go. This is professionally, as a consumer and even just socially. I’m probably just old and grumpy and this is a yearning for the good old days, but, when I look around it just seems to be getting out of control. For example, politics is huge indicator…

Weekly church attendance is at all-time lows. Nobody I know today goes to church. It was common when I was a child. And I'm not talking about going to save your soul from damnation, but for regular reinforcement of the Golden Rule, and other wisdom on how to live, and belonging to a group of people who care enough about those things to show up for it on a regular basis. Teaching of right and wrong in school has falle…

[dead]

Re: The Art of Money Getting

#217

Post by coliveira »

sebastiennight wrote: post #213
coliveira wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But he didn't, it was given to him by AI.

I'd say many fathers are pretty happy "having kids given to them by a woman" (to use your terminology). It seems you wouldn't give them credit for it, but most of them appear to feel quite a bit of responsibility for bringing those to life.

A woman is a human being. An AI is a machine.

Re: The Art of Money Getting

#218

Post by jgalt212 »

MrDarcy wrote: post #83
neilv wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like you, I've found that working with people of integrity (or some qualities closely related to that) is very important to me. Not in a "new-grad or corporate PR appropriating meaningless platitudes" kind of way. But in a "I have seen multiple times how one untrustworthy person can easily wreck all the work of a team or organization, and make their lives miserable, so averting that is a high priority" kind of way. L…

> But how do you find a respectable one, in a gold rush? Look for those who are trying to serve established respectable professions, ideally have already done so for many years or decades. Accounting, Legal, Healthcare, Journalism (in the ideal sense). Then look at their own mission. Then look at their own work. Do they show their work? Are they open? Do they willingly allow their customers to audit their work produc…

A lot of America's current problems can be pinned on journalism no longer being a prestige career.

Re: The Art of Money Getting

#219

Post by roncesvalles »

neilyio wrote: post #101
roncesvalles wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've come to learn that "do only what only you can do" is not great advice at all. It's leagues better to be the 10,000th-best SWE at Meta than the world's best basketweaver. Often doing something super unique is an excuse for shying away from mainstream competition.

I couldn’t resist a quick Google search for this. “Mary Jackson is a world-famous African-American sweetgrass basket weaver. In 2008, she was named a MacArthur Fellow for her basket weaving.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Jackson_(artist)?wprov=sf... I have to say, that sounds more fulfilling than anything I will ever do. People who become the best at anything are usually truly extraordinary.

1. The 2nd-best basketweaver will die in obscurity.

2. The MacArthur Grant, while obviously greatly commendable as an achievement, is monetarily worth less than what the 10,000th Meta engineer makes in one or two years.

Re: The Art of Money Getting

#220

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

esseph wrote: post #215
SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not quitting the site myself, but the kind of cynicism evinced in the comment is toxic. If your response to the very ideas of accounting, law, healthcare and journalism is to wave your hand and nonspecifically declare that they couldn't possibly be respectable, you're making things worse and creating cover for unethical people, even if you understand yourself to be doing it in a wise and savvy way.

It seems more to me like an acknowledgement of the realities on the ground, which is the first step to actually fixing things. To be very clear, one of the things from the original Trump platform was to "drain the swamp", right? Now, clearly that's not what he meant... or maybe he did from different terms maybe from you and I. But for supporters? They saw a government that they felt was corrupt, wasteful, and out of…

The first profession listed was "accounting", yet you don't seem to have any concerns about accounting or accountants. I think the first step towards rebuilding trust in the institutions that have been destroyed is to be specific about the problems and their solutions, rather than laughing at the idea that anyone in any industry could be good in 2026 America. Indeed, as you touched on, this whole thing is Trump's schtick; his supporters are so willing to excuse his misdeeds because they've come to believe that everything everywhere in the US is corrupt and unworthy of respect.
Post reply on HN