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Must be nice to be financially comfortable enough to give that up. I’m glad that they’re addressing the issue, but how many people are stuck with the mortgage

Must be nice to be financially comfortable enough to give that up. I’m glad that they’re addressing the issue, but how many people are stuck with the mortgage and the student debt and the family that needs almost every penny of their income to make ends meet for every person that has the resources to do drop out of the tech industry in less than half a year?

zwkrt 5y ago
Those things you mention aren’t really the chains you make them out to be. You can sell your house and move somewhere affordable. Poor people have kids all the time, a lot of times they are even smart! What you feel chained to is your ritzy lifestyle. Your wife and kids won’t resent you for not providing all that fancy shit, but they will resent you for working yourself until there’s nothing left for them.
- necrotic_comp 5y ago
  Not for nothing, but what you're saying is both classist and doesn't take into account the reality of friendships and roots that can take hold in a place after you've settled in. Things may be expensive, and you may feel trapped on the hedonic treadmill, but moving to a new city or a lower COL area may not be a realistic option for many people.
  - zwkrt 5y ago
    Classist against who? Land owners? Color me unmoved.
    - necrotic_comp 5y ago
      "Poor people have kids all the time, a lot of times they are even smart!" is extraordinarily classist. It makes a joke that based on the assumption that the majority of the time poor people are stupid. Not a good look to say something like that.
      - munificent 5y ago
        I think there is a charitable interpretation of that sentence where they were being tongue-in-cheek with the understanding that readers would all agree that obviously being born to a poor family does not determine your intelligence.
        phone8675309 5y ago
        The rest of the post seemed to indicate they didn't deserve the benefit of the doubt there.
- Ozzie_osman 5y ago
  Though in theory I agree, I think this is simplistic. I know a lot of people who don't live a "ritzy" lifecyle but are still stuck where they are. And yes, in theory, they could move somewhere affordable, but they may not have enough of a cushion, or they may have roots where they live now (for instance, their kids might have friends, or they may have family that are either helping them with their kids or require being helped).
  - lazide 5y ago
    It’s also unfortunately the case that there are wives (and husbands) and kids that WILL resent someone for giving up the ritzy (or materially comfortably) life for somewhere calmer and better for someone’s mental health. It happens. And when it happens, the side effects can be downright crushing - Google ‘child support imputed income’ for an example of the legal framework that can be brought to bear against someone.
- jvvw 5y ago
  I do empathise with people in that bind - it's hard to know if a job paying much less will actually be significantly less stressful - big gamble to make with lots at stake. Affordable areas generally have fewer jobs - just moving somewhere more affordable isn't a trivial thing to do and there are overhead costs in moving house so you need to downsize considerably.
kamranjon 5y ago
These are all choices you make. I chose not to have children, own a house, etc because I didn't want to feel like I was buried by these things. Many people don't feel that way and the decision to take on those responsibilities makes sense. The tech industry is a major driver for gentrification as a result of ludicrously high pay rates, especially after the pandemic when tech workers have started to move into cheaper areas as a result of the adoption of remote work. If dropping out of the industry is what you want, an adjustment of expectations is likely required and I'd argue tech workers have plenty of room to adapt there.
NikolaNovak 5y ago
Agreeing with some of the comments here: I feel like I'm stuck in my current high paying job; we have a mortgage, nice car, lots of "stuff". Through conversations with therapist and my spouse I've been slowly realizing how much this stuff owns me, rather than me owning stuff. I never have time to play with my synths or flight-sim setup or even photography anymore. The only time I'm truly relaxed is when we go somewhere far and without connectivity - I don't have a 1000-item household todolist, I don't get work emails, I don't have 100 entertainment options that paralyze me. I'm trying to convince myself and make the step and actually start getting rid of stuff and considering a less stressful/paying job... I may not be as "stuck with mortgage" as I feel -- we'll see how it goes :|
- rpmisms 5y ago
  I feel that. My wife and I have a rule: if our expenses go over what we could make working in fast food, we sell some stuff.
  - KittenInABox 5y ago
    Genuinely asking: how do you plan to rent/own property? Where I live working in fast food would only get you a shared bedroom or a small studio, which would be cramped for a couple.
    - rpmisms 5y ago
      Our mortgage is ~$1000 a month. If you can make the down payment and get approved, owning is almost always cheaper than renting. edit: $400 of that $1k is property taxes. Live outside of town. It's better. I promise.
      - fossuser 5y ago
        The Bay Area is a relevant outlier here - $1k/month would not cover the monthly property tax on a mortgage for a crappy place.
ibejoeb 5y ago
He didn't just say "fuck it I'm rich later" but I don't know why anyone would hold it against him if he had. He started a business and does a job that he manage in a healthy way. This is good.
mbrodersen 5y ago
It sure helps. Are you saying that only people who are in the worst possible situation (unemployed, in a civil war, with cancer, raped daily, low IQ, blind, …) can talk about having problems?
- phone8675309 5y ago
  > Are you saying that only people who are in the worst possible situation (unemployed, in a civil war, with cancer, raped daily, low IQ, blind, …) can talk about having problems? No. I'm glad that they're tackling their burnout issues by changing professions, but I'm trying to have a conversation about how social and financial issues may keep other people in not as advantageous a position from doing the same. That's all.

zwkrt 5y ago

Those things you mention aren’t really the chains you make them out to be. You can sell your house and move somewhere affordable. Poor people have kids all the time, a lot of times they are even smart! What you feel chained to is your ritzy lifestyle. Your wife and kids won’t resent you for not providing all that fancy shit, but they will resent you for working yourself until there’s nothing left for them.

necrotic_comp 5y ago
Not for nothing, but what you're saying is both classist and doesn't take into account the reality of friendships and roots that can take hold in a place after you've settled in. Things may be expensive, and you may feel trapped on the hedonic treadmill, but moving to a new city or a lower COL area may not be a realistic option for many people.
- zwkrt 5y ago
  Classist against who? Land owners? Color me unmoved.
  - necrotic_comp 5y ago
    "Poor people have kids all the time, a lot of times they are even smart!" is extraordinarily classist. It makes a joke that based on the assumption that the majority of the time poor people are stupid. Not a good look to say something like that.
    - munificent 5y ago
      I think there is a charitable interpretation of that sentence where they were being tongue-in-cheek with the understanding that readers would all agree that obviously being born to a poor family does not determine your intelligence.
      - phone8675309 5y ago
        The rest of the post seemed to indicate they didn't deserve the benefit of the doubt there.
Ozzie_osman 5y ago
Though in theory I agree, I think this is simplistic. I know a lot of people who don't live a "ritzy" lifecyle but are still stuck where they are. And yes, in theory, they could move somewhere affordable, but they may not have enough of a cushion, or they may have roots where they live now (for instance, their kids might have friends, or they may have family that are either helping them with their kids or require being helped).
- lazide 5y ago
  It’s also unfortunately the case that there are wives (and husbands) and kids that WILL resent someone for giving up the ritzy (or materially comfortably) life for somewhere calmer and better for someone’s mental health. It happens. And when it happens, the side effects can be downright crushing - Google ‘child support imputed income’ for an example of the legal framework that can be brought to bear against someone.
jvvw 5y ago
I do empathise with people in that bind - it's hard to know if a job paying much less will actually be significantly less stressful - big gamble to make with lots at stake. Affordable areas generally have fewer jobs - just moving somewhere more affordable isn't a trivial thing to do and there are overhead costs in moving house so you need to downsize considerably.

kamranjon 5y ago

These are all choices you make. I chose not to have children, own a house, etc because I didn't want to feel like I was buried by these things. Many people don't feel that way and the decision to take on those responsibilities makes sense. The tech industry is a major driver for gentrification as a result of ludicrously high pay rates, especially after the pandemic when tech workers have started to move into cheaper areas as a result of the adoption of remote work. If dropping out of the industry is what you want, an adjustment of expectations is likely required and I'd argue tech workers have plenty of room to adapt there.

NikolaNovak 5y ago

Agreeing with some of the comments here: I feel like I'm stuck in my current high paying job; we have a mortgage, nice car, lots of "stuff". Through conversations with therapist and my spouse I've been slowly realizing how much this stuff owns me, rather than me owning stuff. I never have time to play with my synths or flight-sim setup or even photography anymore. The only time I'm truly relaxed is when we go somewhere far and without connectivity - I don't have a 1000-item household todolist, I don't get work emails, I don't have 100 entertainment options that paralyze me. I'm trying to convince myself and make the step and actually start getting rid of stuff and considering a less stressful/paying job... I may not be as "stuck with mortgage" as I feel -- we'll see how it goes :|

rpmisms 5y ago
I feel that. My wife and I have a rule: if our expenses go over what we could make working in fast food, we sell some stuff.
- KittenInABox 5y ago
  Genuinely asking: how do you plan to rent/own property? Where I live working in fast food would only get you a shared bedroom or a small studio, which would be cramped for a couple.
  - rpmisms 5y ago
    Our mortgage is ~$1000 a month. If you can make the down payment and get approved, owning is almost always cheaper than renting. edit: $400 of that $1k is property taxes. Live outside of town. It's better. I promise.
    - fossuser 5y ago
      The Bay Area is a relevant outlier here - $1k/month would not cover the monthly property tax on a mortgage for a crappy place.

ibejoeb 5y ago

He didn't just say "fuck it I'm rich later" but I don't know why anyone would hold it against him if he had. He started a business and does a job that he manage in a healthy way. This is good.

mbrodersen 5y ago

It sure helps. Are you saying that only people who are in the worst possible situation (unemployed, in a civil war, with cancer, raped daily, low IQ, blind, …) can talk about having problems?

phone8675309 5y ago
> Are you saying that only people who are in the worst possible situation (unemployed, in a civil war, with cancer, raped daily, low IQ, blind, …) can talk about having problems? No. I'm glad that they're tackling their burnout issues by changing professions, but I'm trying to have a conversation about how social and financial issues may keep other people in not as advantageous a position from doing the same. That's all.