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For me, keeping yourself relevant is not about money per se, but about freedom. Freedom to control your life instead of being controlled by an employer. By trad

by Nemi 6y ago

For me, keeping yourself relevant is not about money per se, but about freedom. Freedom to control your life instead of being controlled by an employer. By trading some current comfort (good work-life balance and low stress) for current discomfort (finding a new job and challenging yourself to grow) you make your "personal business" stronger (that is what value you and your career bring to prospective employers). That means if I do lose my job or my current employment situation goes south, I have less stress because I know my personal brand is strong and can go many places without fear. Bottom line, moving to a new job regularly is about investing in yourself and allowing you to control the direction of your life and not allowing others to control it.

bonoboTP 6y ago
A lot of young people around here dismiss money and status as superficial goals and hurt themselves in the long run. Once you leave the roughly egalitarian youth and college phase where everyone is roughly at a similar level (at least in your bubble), roads start diverging and money and status become more important than people especially idealistic nerds would imagine. The world is a cold hard place that doesn't give two shits what happens to you, whether you can make a living, provide your family or not. I don't mean to say that you have to enter the rat race and keep up with the Joneses and burn out. I just mean that money and status are these dirty words that are taboo to admit caring about in some circles, but it is money and status that earn you freedom and the ability to not give a fuck what people who you don't respect think about you. It is the only thing that will make annoying people you don't care about still act as if they respected you so you can concentrate on all the people and things you do care about.
- david-gpu 6y ago
  > money and status that earn you freedom and the ability to not give a fuck what people who you don't respect think about you Please, help me understand. It seems to me like not being bothered by what anybody thinks of you requires neither money nor status. Not only that, obtaining or maintaining social status, by definition, involves other people thinking highly of you in one way or another. And it would seem like one would need to be keenly aware of that in order to climb that ladder. I say this as somebody rather uninterested in their social status (what's the point of it?), who went from relative poverty to relative wealth and saw no difference in how much I care about either money or status. So, very much interested in understanding how this works for others. What am I missing?
  - ornornor 6y ago
    I suspect parent’s point is about FU money to some extent. I can basically afford to say “no” to my boss because I make a decent living and so I’m not scared of him reacting badly or firing me because I said no. By saying no, I don’t really give a fuck about what he’s thinking about me (will he like me, dislike me, resent me, respect me?) but I can only do that because if I were out of a job tomorrow I could still keep paying my rent and eat without skipping a beat. I’m not a millionaire either but I have built my life so that basic expenses can be met for a long time no matter what and that is in part because whenever I’m working for money, I get a better salary than most people in the country. Of course you can also not give a fuck about what others think do you without money but it’s a lot more uncomfortable I’d think. Everyone enjoys having food on the table and a roof over their heads.

by Nemi 6y ago

bonoboTP 6y ago

A lot of young people around here dismiss money and status as superficial goals and hurt themselves in the long run. Once you leave the roughly egalitarian youth and college phase where everyone is roughly at a similar level (at least in your bubble), roads start diverging and money and status become more important than people especially idealistic nerds would imagine. The world is a cold hard place that doesn't give two shits what happens to you, whether you can make a living, provide your family or not. I don't mean to say that you have to enter the rat race and keep up with the Joneses and burn out. I just mean that money and status are these dirty words that are taboo to admit caring about in some circles, but it is money and status that earn you freedom and the ability to not give a fuck what people who you don't respect think about you. It is the only thing that will make annoying people you don't care about still act as if they respected you so you can concentrate on all the people and things you do care about.

david-gpu 6y ago
> money and status that earn you freedom and the ability to not give a fuck what people who you don't respect think about you Please, help me understand. It seems to me like not being bothered by what anybody thinks of you requires neither money nor status. Not only that, obtaining or maintaining social status, by definition, involves other people thinking highly of you in one way or another. And it would seem like one would need to be keenly aware of that in order to climb that ladder. I say this as somebody rather uninterested in their social status (what's the point of it?), who went from relative poverty to relative wealth and saw no difference in how much I care about either money or status. So, very much interested in understanding how this works for others. What am I missing?
- ornornor 6y ago
  I suspect parent’s point is about FU money to some extent. I can basically afford to say “no” to my boss because I make a decent living and so I’m not scared of him reacting badly or firing me because I said no. By saying no, I don’t really give a fuck about what he’s thinking about me (will he like me, dislike me, resent me, respect me?) but I can only do that because if I were out of a job tomorrow I could still keep paying my rent and eat without skipping a beat. I’m not a millionaire either but I have built my life so that basic expenses can be met for a long time no matter what and that is in part because whenever I’m working for money, I get a better salary than most people in the country. Of course you can also not give a fuck about what others think do you without money but it’s a lot more uncomfortable I’d think. Everyone enjoys having food on the table and a roof over their heads.