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Isn't it crazy this is what it all boils down to...looking over our 30 some odd years grinding away and we are looking to stay safe. You can live your dream or

Isn't it crazy this is what it all boils down to...looking over our 30 some odd years grinding away and we are looking to stay safe. You can live your dream or help someone else build theirs.

pmiller2 6y ago
Or, we could have an actual social safety net where if you lose your job and can't find one for a few months, you don't lose your health insurance, your home, and your ability to eat. Most people do not have sufficient savings to cover an extended job search, UI simply doesn't cut it, COBRA is prohibitively expensive, and Medicaid only kicks in at absurdly low income levels.
- mcnichol 6y ago
  Yeah...I mean I think money is genuinely this necessary evil we've built a society around and I am constantly questioning it. How interesting that we can build a system that can fluctuate enough to upend lives both good and bad. You become so focused on it, it is seen as this brass ring. Once you have it, you question everything. I realize this is a bit philosophical and idealistic. You appear to have a similar viewpoint as mine in terms of a society that supports the whole, I just wonder if you can do that effectively when you have a source of power so specific like money. There are some very revolutionary thinkers/philosophers/minds that were somewhat detached from money (in that they came from such wealth they didn't have to care or they chose a life detached from it) Plato, Aristotle, Wittgenstein...many more. I'm curious if there is a connection or merely just a representation of the population. This is something I've rolled in my head for a while but first time I've said it out loud so a lot of people are now coming to my mind now that were not wealthy. I cannot necessarily see it going away but perhaps more of a direct representation of what it means...our time/energy.
scarface74 6y ago
What makes you think some people’s dream might not be to work from 9-5 go home to their spouse, 2.5 kids, their house in the burbs and get money to put into their account every two weeks? Save consistently and retire?
- mcnichol 6y ago
  I think you are using satire to make a point although you may be serious. To play devils advocate to my own point: There are some jobs that between those hours of 9-5 it is a dream come true. I ran an R&D team, we could buy any technology, kick off any project, success wasn't "Making a unicorn" but merely understanding something and providing guidance/insight to our executives. It went well for several years...the party ended after leadership changed and they had new opinions on what R&D meant. It was my dream and theirs for a period of time...then it was no longer my dream, just theirs. I left to find my dream....I now make 5x as much doing something I love.
  - scarface74 6y ago
    I’m very serious. It has never been my desire to start my own business. I go home and sleep well at night not worrying about customers, investors, funding. It went well for several years...the party ended after leadership changed and they had new opinions on what R&D meant. It was my dream and theirs for a period of time...then it was no longer my dream, just theirs. And when that happens, I email recruiters and get another job usually paying more within a few weeks. The shortest time from looking for a job to having an offer is 4 days. The longest is about 7 weeks. But I only applied for one job. The process just takes a while for $BigTech. Which brings up an even better example. The company I work for announced an across the board pay cut because our customers were losing money because of Covid. The company is having to cut prices, come up with payment arrangements, get money from the government, etc. I bet the owners aren’t sleeping well at night. The next day after they announced the pay cut, a recruiter from $BigTech reached out to me about a remote role. I applied for the job, got it, with a 50% pay bump and I still sleep well. I left to find my dream....I now make 5x as much doing something I love. Survivorship bias. Statistically how will most software developers make more money over a lifetime - starting their own company or in the immortal words of r/cscareerquestions, “learn leetCode and work for a FAANG”?[1] Or depending on where you are living, just bring your run of the mill “Enterprise Developer” in any major city in the US that’s not on the west coast. [1] Not that I went down that road to “work for a FAANG”. I took another route that pays as well to get into $BigTech.

Isn't it crazy this is what it all boils down to...looking over our 30 some odd years grinding away and we are looking to stay safe. You can live your dream or help someone else build theirs.

pmiller2 6y ago

Or, we could have an actual social safety net where if you lose your job and can't find one for a few months, you don't lose your health insurance, your home, and your ability to eat. Most people do not have sufficient savings to cover an extended job search, UI simply doesn't cut it, COBRA is prohibitively expensive, and Medicaid only kicks in at absurdly low income levels.

mcnichol 6y ago
Yeah...I mean I think money is genuinely this necessary evil we've built a society around and I am constantly questioning it. How interesting that we can build a system that can fluctuate enough to upend lives both good and bad. You become so focused on it, it is seen as this brass ring. Once you have it, you question everything. I realize this is a bit philosophical and idealistic. You appear to have a similar viewpoint as mine in terms of a society that supports the whole, I just wonder if you can do that effectively when you have a source of power so specific like money. There are some very revolutionary thinkers/philosophers/minds that were somewhat detached from money (in that they came from such wealth they didn't have to care or they chose a life detached from it) Plato, Aristotle, Wittgenstein...many more. I'm curious if there is a connection or merely just a representation of the population. This is something I've rolled in my head for a while but first time I've said it out loud so a lot of people are now coming to my mind now that were not wealthy. I cannot necessarily see it going away but perhaps more of a direct representation of what it means...our time/energy.

scarface74 6y ago

What makes you think some people’s dream might not be to work from 9-5 go home to their spouse, 2.5 kids, their house in the burbs and get money to put into their account every two weeks? Save consistently and retire?

mcnichol 6y ago
I think you are using satire to make a point although you may be serious. To play devils advocate to my own point: There are some jobs that between those hours of 9-5 it is a dream come true. I ran an R&D team, we could buy any technology, kick off any project, success wasn't "Making a unicorn" but merely understanding something and providing guidance/insight to our executives. It went well for several years...the party ended after leadership changed and they had new opinions on what R&D meant. It was my dream and theirs for a period of time...then it was no longer my dream, just theirs. I left to find my dream....I now make 5x as much doing something I love.
- scarface74 6y ago
  I’m very serious. It has never been my desire to start my own business. I go home and sleep well at night not worrying about customers, investors, funding. It went well for several years...the party ended after leadership changed and they had new opinions on what R&D meant. It was my dream and theirs for a period of time...then it was no longer my dream, just theirs. And when that happens, I email recruiters and get another job usually paying more within a few weeks. The shortest time from looking for a job to having an offer is 4 days. The longest is about 7 weeks. But I only applied for one job. The process just takes a while for $BigTech. Which brings up an even better example. The company I work for announced an across the board pay cut because our customers were losing money because of Covid. The company is having to cut prices, come up with payment arrangements, get money from the government, etc. I bet the owners aren’t sleeping well at night. The next day after they announced the pay cut, a recruiter from $BigTech reached out to me about a remote role. I applied for the job, got it, with a 50% pay bump and I still sleep well. I left to find my dream....I now make 5x as much doing something I love. Survivorship bias. Statistically how will most software developers make more money over a lifetime - starting their own company or in the immortal words of r/cscareerquestions, “learn leetCode and work for a FAANG”?[1] Or depending on where you are living, just bring your run of the mill “Enterprise Developer” in any major city in the US that’s not on the west coast. [1] Not that I went down that road to “work for a FAANG”. I took another route that pays as well to get into $BigTech.