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He has done more good than legions of software engineers who make multiples of his income.

bitcharmer 6y ago
You can argue that software engineers who implemented avionics software that keeps airplanes safe or created thermostat-controlling software to reduce waste of energy and greenhouse gasses contributed even more given the scale of the applications. I have no idea what the point of your comment is though.
MrGilbert 6y ago
He has done more good than legions of software engineers who make multiples of his income. He has done more good than legions of CEOs who make multiples of his income. So... what's the point?
muzani 6y ago
I wish I had $650k to forgive. I've forgiven debts for a total of about $3300, but there's still that guy who owes $10k and told me 3 years ago that he'd pay me once he gets his BMW repaired.
imgabe 6y ago
He's an oncologist who was able to shrug and write off $650k of money he was owed. I'm pretty sure his income is multiples of the average non-FAANG software engineer. He was running his own practice so low to mid 7-figures would not be out of the question.
- csharptwdec19 6y ago
  Yep, I wouldn't be surprised if the tax write-offs for this made the 'real' impact far less.
throwe4234234 6y ago
I'm sure all of can do pro-bono consulting and say that that cost a gajillion dollars as well.
fraggle_sock 6y ago
Let's not devalue any one person's job or contribution. However, inequality of pay is real and it's a massive disparity that must be addressed. Another way of looking at it: the persons who clean the hospital are equally as valuable to the organisation as the doctors and nurses are. Without medical care, patients suffer and die. With an unclean hospital, patients suffer and die. Everyone should be paid roughly the same, with a reasonable stipend for extra time spent training. No good reason that a doctor should be on hundreds of thousands in salary per year, and a cleaner subsists on a minimal wage. Same goes for software engineers.
- Chris2048 6y ago
  > With an unclean hospital, patients suffer and die. I'm not a fan of this logic. Should water cost more b/c without it you'd die? Value is roughly determined by supply/demand, risk/reward. Doctors/nurses are more valuable than cleaners because they are harder to train, give function to the hospital in the first place (who cares to clean a hospital without any staff that no-one goes to), and you can consult with a doctor just as well in a dirty room.
- JoeAltmaier 6y ago
  Everybody is critical, of course. That's why they're hired. But not everybody is easily replacable. That's why they have different pay. And that is indeed a very good reason a doctor earns more. Doubt that? Then get your cleaner to take out your appendix.
- leetcrew 6y ago
  > Everyone should be paid roughly the same, with a reasonable stipend for extra time spent training. No good reason that a doctor should be on hundreds of thousands in salary per year, and a cleaner subsists on a minimal wage. no, there's a very simple reason for this. if for some reason there were a shortage of full-time cleaners, a doctor could clean a room in a pinch. a cleaner cannot treat a patient in lieu of a doctor, at least not with the same outcomes.

You can argue that software engineers who implemented avionics software that keeps airplanes safe or created thermostat-controlling software to reduce waste of energy and greenhouse gasses contributed even more given the scale of the applications. I have no idea what the point of your comment is though.

MrGilbert 6y ago

He has done more good than legions of software engineers who make multiples of his income. He has done more good than legions of CEOs who make multiples of his income. So... what's the point?

muzani 6y ago

I wish I had $650k to forgive. I've forgiven debts for a total of about $3300, but there's still that guy who owes $10k and told me 3 years ago that he'd pay me once he gets his BMW repaired.

imgabe 6y ago

He's an oncologist who was able to shrug and write off $650k of money he was owed. I'm pretty sure his income is multiples of the average non-FAANG software engineer. He was running his own practice so low to mid 7-figures would not be out of the question.

csharptwdec19 6y ago
Yep, I wouldn't be surprised if the tax write-offs for this made the 'real' impact far less.

throwe4234234 6y ago

I'm sure all of can do pro-bono consulting and say that that cost a gajillion dollars as well.

fraggle_sock 6y ago

Let's not devalue any one person's job or contribution. However, inequality of pay is real and it's a massive disparity that must be addressed. Another way of looking at it: the persons who clean the hospital are equally as valuable to the organisation as the doctors and nurses are. Without medical care, patients suffer and die. With an unclean hospital, patients suffer and die. Everyone should be paid roughly the same, with a reasonable stipend for extra time spent training. No good reason that a doctor should be on hundreds of thousands in salary per year, and a cleaner subsists on a minimal wage. Same goes for software engineers.

Chris2048 6y ago
> With an unclean hospital, patients suffer and die. I'm not a fan of this logic. Should water cost more b/c without it you'd die? Value is roughly determined by supply/demand, risk/reward. Doctors/nurses are more valuable than cleaners because they are harder to train, give function to the hospital in the first place (who cares to clean a hospital without any staff that no-one goes to), and you can consult with a doctor just as well in a dirty room.
JoeAltmaier 6y ago
Everybody is critical, of course. That's why they're hired. But not everybody is easily replacable. That's why they have different pay. And that is indeed a very good reason a doctor earns more. Doubt that? Then get your cleaner to take out your appendix.
leetcrew 6y ago
> Everyone should be paid roughly the same, with a reasonable stipend for extra time spent training. No good reason that a doctor should be on hundreds of thousands in salary per year, and a cleaner subsists on a minimal wage. no, there's a very simple reason for this. if for some reason there were a shortage of full-time cleaners, a doctor could clean a room in a pinch. a cleaner cannot treat a patient in lieu of a doctor, at least not with the same outcomes.