5 ms·

Nothing is a guarantee of a good life. A good life requires so many different elements, but mostly comes down to one thing: what you put into it, esp. in regar

Nothing is a guarantee of a good life. A good life requires so many different elements, but mostly comes down to one thing: what you put into it, esp. in regards to improving the lives and welfare of others around you. Do this, and you will find that your own life gets better and better. Be kind, do work to help others, care about people and their lives (and not just your own) and you'll find that life will turn out pretty darn fine.

kleer001 6y ago
Exactly: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233578 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233578 "The only major personality trait that consistently leads to success is conscientiousness."
- chosenbreed37 6y ago
  I don't think contentiousness is the same thing described in that post. But I agree that it is an excellent trait to have.
  - kleer001 6y ago
    It's not. Conscientious is a very specific set of behaviours. I was offering an easy answer to the confused wondering of the Atlantic article. The path to success is known. Apparently not as well known as I would have thought. No need to point to the fact that the heterogeneous mess of a "College Degree" as being not a factor. Yes, there's lots of ways to not succeed. Why not do a very little bit of shallow research and shout out to the roof tops what actually does work?!
rbanffy 6y ago
A good ZIP code is a great start. https://talkpoverty.org/2015/12/17/american-dream-zip-codes-affordable-housing/ https://talkpoverty.org/2015/12/17/american-dream-zip-codes-...
- DiffEq 6y ago
  What made those zip codes good?
  - R0b0t1 6y ago
    Money.
    - rbanffy 6y ago
      Parent's money, to be precise.
  - simonsarris 6y ago
    This is one of the most underrated questions, despite how often it is asked, and it's a shame how many truly flip answers it gets whenever someone asks it.
    - rbanffy 6y ago
      Wealthier parents will buy homes there and donate/invest in local schools, which will afford a better education to their kids that, along with better networking, will increase the chances of being financially successful of their kids.
      - simonsarris 6y ago
        I think that's a terrible answer, sorry, and is pretty much what I mean. I somewhat agree with Taleb that wealth begets education, not the other way around. The special thing about good school districts is not the schools themselves, and the special thing about schools is not necessarily their budget: Some of the worst performing schools have the highest budgets.
  - jldugger 6y ago
    White flight.
  - MrFantastic 6y ago
EarthIsHome 6y ago
> Nothing is a guarantee of a good life. But lack of things and capital will never get you a good life. If you are starving, no matter what you put in or how kind you are to others, you cannot have a good life. If you are home insecure, you cannot have a good life. Period. I'm going to define "good life" to mean food, housing, and health security. While you're right that nothing is guaranteed, the wealthier you are, the more you can guarantee these basic needs. Even me, being in tech making around 6 figures, I haven't achieved my definition of a good life. This is because if I lose my job, the basic needs I listed cannot be maintained. However, if you do not need to work (i.e. CEOs, billionaires, etc.), you are more likely to have your basic needs for a good life met for the rest of your life even if you lose your "job". What I'm trying to say is that having things and lots of capital can very much get you to my aforementioned definition of a "good life". I think we're getting ahead of ourselves with these philosophical questions of what a "good life" is. First, let's meet everyone's basic needs: food, housing, and health. Because those needs are clearly not met.
- umvi 6y ago
  Is anyone in the USA actually starving? That's a common thing brought up, but calories are so cheap in the US that most poor people are actually morbidly obese, not starving. Even if you were starving, you could easily subsist panhandling at some traffic intersection. How long does it take to panhandle $10? An hour or two? And with that you could buy a 15 pound bag of rice which is like a months' worth of carbs. Starvation is a problem for Africa, not the USA.
  - huehehue 6y ago
    Yes, absolutely. The idea that nobody should starve because they can stroll up to an intersection and fill their pockets is based on a lot of assumptions that are simply untrue. The US is huge, some people would have to hitchhike quite far to get to a high-traffic area. There's also no guarantee of receiving any handouts at all, so I'm not sure I'd use the word "easily" (or even "possible"). And after hitchhiking and begging all day, praying for a few bucks to buy rice, you're not actually going to want to buy rice. You're going to want alcohol, or something fatty and sugary, or just plain drugs. Your framing of this problem trivializes a terrible, dehumanizing experience, and is out of touch with the reality of the impoverished middle-American.

kleer001 6y ago

Exactly: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233578 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233578 "The only major personality trait that consistently leads to success is conscientiousness."

chosenbreed37 6y ago
I don't think contentiousness is the same thing described in that post. But I agree that it is an excellent trait to have.
- kleer001 6y ago
  It's not. Conscientious is a very specific set of behaviours. I was offering an easy answer to the confused wondering of the Atlantic article. The path to success is known. Apparently not as well known as I would have thought. No need to point to the fact that the heterogeneous mess of a "College Degree" as being not a factor. Yes, there's lots of ways to not succeed. Why not do a very little bit of shallow research and shout out to the roof tops what actually does work?!

rbanffy 6y ago

A good ZIP code is a great start. https://talkpoverty.org/2015/12/17/american-dream-zip-codes-affordable-housing/ https://talkpoverty.org/2015/12/17/american-dream-zip-codes-...

DiffEq 6y ago
What made those zip codes good?
- R0b0t1 6y ago
  Money.
  - rbanffy 6y ago
    Parent's money, to be precise.
- simonsarris 6y ago
  This is one of the most underrated questions, despite how often it is asked, and it's a shame how many truly flip answers it gets whenever someone asks it.
  - rbanffy 6y ago
    Wealthier parents will buy homes there and donate/invest in local schools, which will afford a better education to their kids that, along with better networking, will increase the chances of being financially successful of their kids.
    - simonsarris 6y ago
      I think that's a terrible answer, sorry, and is pretty much what I mean. I somewhat agree with Taleb that wealth begets education, not the other way around. The special thing about good school districts is not the schools themselves, and the special thing about schools is not necessarily their budget: Some of the worst performing schools have the highest budgets.
- jldugger 6y ago
  White flight.
- MrFantastic 6y ago

EarthIsHome 6y ago

> Nothing is a guarantee of a good life. But lack of things and capital will never get you a good life. If you are starving, no matter what you put in or how kind you are to others, you cannot have a good life. If you are home insecure, you cannot have a good life. Period. I'm going to define "good life" to mean food, housing, and health security. While you're right that nothing is guaranteed, the wealthier you are, the more you can guarantee these basic needs. Even me, being in tech making around 6 figures, I haven't achieved my definition of a good life. This is because if I lose my job, the basic needs I listed cannot be maintained. However, if you do not need to work (i.e. CEOs, billionaires, etc.), you are more likely to have your basic needs for a good life met for the rest of your life even if you lose your "job". What I'm trying to say is that having things and lots of capital can very much get you to my aforementioned definition of a "good life". I think we're getting ahead of ourselves with these philosophical questions of what a "good life" is. First, let's meet everyone's basic needs: food, housing, and health. Because those needs are clearly not met.

umvi 6y ago
Is anyone in the USA actually starving? That's a common thing brought up, but calories are so cheap in the US that most poor people are actually morbidly obese, not starving. Even if you were starving, you could easily subsist panhandling at some traffic intersection. How long does it take to panhandle $10? An hour or two? And with that you could buy a 15 pound bag of rice which is like a months' worth of carbs. Starvation is a problem for Africa, not the USA.
- huehehue 6y ago
  Yes, absolutely. The idea that nobody should starve because they can stroll up to an intersection and fill their pockets is based on a lot of assumptions that are simply untrue. The US is huge, some people would have to hitchhike quite far to get to a high-traffic area. There's also no guarantee of receiving any handouts at all, so I'm not sure I'd use the word "easily" (or even "possible"). And after hitchhiking and begging all day, praying for a few bucks to buy rice, you're not actually going to want to buy rice. You're going to want alcohol, or something fatty and sugary, or just plain drugs. Your framing of this problem trivializes a terrible, dehumanizing experience, and is out of touch with the reality of the impoverished middle-American.