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It is exhausting. I get bombarded daily by a deluge of hustle culture paraphernalia. Start a side hustle. Monetize your hobbies. FIRE by 30 (I'm too late for t

It is exhausting. I get bombarded daily by a deluge of hustle culture paraphernalia. Start a side hustle. Monetize your hobbies. FIRE by 30 (I'm too late for that). Build the next big thing. Optimize your life. 10x your productivity. Rather than inspiring, I find this content draining and anxiety-inducing. Instead of materially improving my life, it makes me feel inadequate compared to more successful people. I'm becoming better at blocking and ignoring this content but there is still a long way to go.

all2 4y ago
This is the kind of thing that makes me want to throw away all my electronics and move to a farm in the middle of middle America and have a farm. The problem is, with property taxes of any kind, you have to have a "day job". :/ I just want a farm, a family, and to be left alone.
- taneq 4y ago
  Your family’s gonna want things, though. And you’re gonna want things (eg. medical care) for your family.
  - reaperducer 4y ago
    Farmers have things.
    - LostLetterbox2 4y ago
      Looking at supersize me 2 farmers either have an employer, debt, or are a megafarm themselves!
    - TylerE 4y ago
      The vast majority of farms in the US are now owned by giant conglomerates like ConAgra, not small family farmers, who barely exist anymore.
      - kelseyfrog 4y ago
        What are you talking about? "In 2020, family farms accounted for 98% of total farms and 87% of total production. 89% of those farms were small family farms"[1]. 1. https://protecttheharvest.com/news/2021-usda-report-finds-98-of-farms-are-still-family-owned/ https://protecttheharvest.com/news/2021-usda-report-finds-98...
        skinnymuch 4y ago
        Right below where you stopped quoting: “Likewise, the share of the value of production on small family farms declined from 26% to 20%.” This and other resources keep pointing out that large scale family farms which are corporations at that point are nearly half. Then non family farms are another fraction like 20%-ish. Then not all of the “families” owning the farms even farm their own land. That’s only 51% of farmers doing that full time. So 40%+ are landlords. Adam Smith the father of capitalism and Karl Marx and Engels all believed landlords are unethical and antithetical to capitalism or any economic system. Even if the OP was wrong, your response is similar. Can we get some specifics of the actual finances? Otherwise this is all propaganda for the US seeming more fair and equitable than it really is. Adam Smith would be rolling in his grave.
        kelseyfrog 4y ago
        Except GP mentioned ownership and when presented with ownership stats we find ourselves talking about value production. It comes across as a conclusion in search of evidence. What's happening is goal shifting. I strongly believe that when a commenter makes an inaccurate claim, the bare minimum is pointing out the factual error. I'm under no obligation to speculate what the commenter really meant. I took them at face value - a completely fair approach. If they wish to clarify, or make a better argument, that's on them.
        skinnymuch 4y ago
        We are intelligent adults here. We don’t have to pretend my statements were these fallacies. A fallacy is a fallacy eventually. It’s possible I’m too autistic to understand why you are behaving the way you are. Your behavior and defensive mechanism baffles me if it’s in good faith. When I got into politics I spent a long time looking over all sides and never ever thought things like what you wrote. I always thought looking for the truth is the best thing. For me it doesn’t make sense in my world view to be pedantic the way you are behaving. It’s a rather traditional autistic behavior though. I know i spend a lot of time masking to seem more normal and not be so pedantic). In my eyes class is the only thing that matters. Do you not believe in material dialectics? Your views sound very libertarian from my reading on those politics. I don’t believe in private property so we will have to disagree on caring about ownership.
    - taneq 4y ago
      Not ones that threw away all their electronics.
- cmrdporcupine 4y ago
  Farms are a money-pit of their own, and most 'farmers' these days have to have off-farm income. Cabin in the woods, though...
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - Arrath 4y ago
    >Cabin in the woods, though... With, or without a flesh eating virus?
- mydriasis 4y ago
  Come to Ohio. There are acres around. You can have 3-5 acres and keep your day job as long as you've got a partner on board with ya.
  - enraged_camel 4y ago
    https://twitter.com/ChrisJBakke/status/1638323074205614082 https://twitter.com/ChrisJBakke/status/1638323074205614082
- throwaway675309 4y ago
  The problem with this rose tinted pastoral view is that you (likely) have zero experience in agriculture, so this just isn't a realistic goal. Not to mention that small farms are basically razor thin in terms of profit margins.
  - AverageDude 4y ago
    Agriculture has lots of “inside knowledge” which gets passed onto next generation. You need to intern first with another farmer. Ironically, Jeremy Clarkson is doing exactly right this time.
  - bredren 4y ago
    Perhaps if agriculture drifts toward tech solutions, more people would be able to quickly grow their experience. Check out the open source field robot project by Twisted Fields: https://community.twistedfields.com/t/january-2023-update-new-vehicle-design-metal-shop-motor-controller-motherboard/343 https://community.twistedfields.com/t/january-2023-update-ne...
    - nradov 4y ago
      Large scale agribusiness is already 100% tech solutions. This makes getting into the field and gaining experience harder, not easier. Even small scale farming requires a huge amount of tacit knowledge that can only be gained by doing.
  - all2 4y ago
    I was raised on a farm. I know what it is like and the kind of dedication it requires, as well as possess some of the knowledge to dive in head first. Making assumptions is fine, just be wary that you could be completely wrong.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- kevmarsden 4y ago
  Same here. We need a Homestead Act 2.0. In the meantime, expanding my backyard garden is a decent alternative. I used to spend most of my free time browsing the internet or tooling around with code. Now I hardly touch my computer on weekends.
- EvanAnderson 4y ago
  Property taxes are nothing compared to health insurance, though. I’d totally be living in a backwater doing far less work if not for needing $20K / year for health insurance for my family (and $10K on in reserve for my “out of pocket maximum”).
  - grey-area 4y ago
    Most of the world doesn’t pay health insurance and has better outcomes.
    - cpursley 4y ago
      Maybe not the rest of the world, but certainly the developed world. Hell, even some Eastern European countries have both lower taxes and better health outcomes (socialized healthcare) than America.
      - all2 4y ago
        Medical mistakes in hospitals sits at #3 on the list of 'things that kill people prematurely'. [0] Note that's from 2016, and it doesn't appear the CDC has updated their reporting methods. [0] https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_suggests_medical_errors_now_third_leading_cause_of_death_in_the_us https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_su...
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
  - kortilla 4y ago
    Not sure that’s relevant if you have no actual income. That’s fully subsidized.
    - tenacious_tuna 4y ago
      I'm not clear on how it's not relevant--Wouldn't you need some money for insurance no matter what? I remember glancing at the medicaid qualifications for a friend and being stunned that you only qualify if you have less than $2k in assets, so I don't think that's a sustainable method for off-grid living assuming you have a house/cash reserve/whatever.
- qup 4y ago
  I have 40 acres and a home, property taxes are under $300/year. Ozarks.
- JKCalhoun 4y ago
  That does seem to be the dream of a lot of us. Perhaps an Indian tribe will adopt us. Or Mennonites? I know I'm careening wildly into politically incorrect space but I think you get my (joking) point. Being serious though, surely managing the farm to any degree will yield profits that will offset the property taxes.
mr_toad 4y ago
> makes me feel inadequate If you could sum up marketing in four words.
taneq 4y ago
Somehow my old old email address ended up in a Helsinki Startup incubator’s investor list, associated with some Scandinavian venture capitalist. It’s been 10 years and I still get pitches emailed to that address regularly. At this stage if I’m ever in a position to find startups I’m going to fly over there and personally tell them to get fscked.
BLKNSLVR 4y ago
> FIRE by 30 (I'm too late for that) I feel like I'm struggling to be able to retire comfortably by retirement age despite feeling that I'm well ahead of a number of my peers.
- EngManagerIsMe 4y ago
  [flagged]
  - LostLetterbox2 4y ago
    And then I hear that workers in China get one day off a month and companies will continue to talk about international competition... Without reintroducing tariffs (I'm based in Australia) to protect working conditions, and widespread protest at how poor median conditions are getting I don't see how this situation reverses. I'd love to see the logic of financial class applied back at them to at least reduce the number of direct votes they have at elections.
    - throwaway2037 4y ago
      No trolling: One day off a month is 12 days per year. Most people in the United States get 10 days or less annual leave.
      - kortilla 4y ago
        The fuck are you on about? In the US 2 days off per week is standard + additional vacation days.
      - CalRobert 4y ago
        And weekends.
      - dragonwriter 4y ago
        > Most people in the United States get 10 days or less annual leave. After one year of service, the median is in 10-14 day range for vacation; the majority get 10 days or more, and only 39% get less. And this gets better with longer service. https://www.bls.gov/ebs/factsheets/paid-vacations.htm https://www.bls.gov/ebs/factsheets/paid-vacations.htm
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
reaperducer 4y ago
it makes me feel inadequate compared to more successful people Don't get sucked into other people's vanity, greed, and envy cycle. Why would you want to be like them? Life isn't a video game. We don't "win" by having the highest score tallied in dollar signs.
- tehwebguy 4y ago
  Yeah but those points are how people pay for food and medicine. Some of those suckers are greedy and some of them are desperate.
partiallypro 4y ago
Many people that claim to be successful aren't. It's like stock traders that sell access to their newsletters and Discord channels, etc. They aren't making their money from their amazing stock trades; they are making their living from subscriptions. "Side hustle" people do the exact same thing. Certainly, there are people more successful than me or you, and most people on this board but they usually aren't the ones online making videos about it. When I was 20 or so I was pushing $250K a year in revenue on eBay and Amazon, which felt great at the time as a side gig for a college student; but I barely made a dime. This is an example of a scheme that is pushed all the time by people, and I know how difficult it is and how their numbers usually don't add up because I was there...even when seller fees were way less.
serverholic 4y ago
[dead]
spaceman_2020 4y ago
This “early retirement” obsession is a symptom of the meaningless of most modern day work. I have never met anyone with a meaningful job who wants to retire, let alone retire early. All the surgeons, social workers, artists I know want to keep working till the day they die.
- somenameforme 4y ago
  Your sample on doctors at least is almost certainly off. Here [1] is a random recent report from Massachusetts but it's very much the rule and not the exception. All the following are on physicians: - 55% showing symptoms of burn out - more than 50% looking to reduce hours, 25% looking to leave medicine altogether - 1 in 3 felt their work schedule allowed time for a personal/family life And so on. It's also not COVID. The reason I looked this up was personal anecdata from long before COVID. I have family in medicine and so was casually acquainted with a number of doctors, literally all of whom were less than enthusiastic about their jobs. You get paid a lot, but the hours are absolutely brutal, you spend an ungodly amount of time just filling out regulations related paperwork, and it's just generally a really painful career. Part of being a good doctor is hiding all of this from the patient, and making it look like every day is a joy to be there doing what you love. In med school you literally study good bedside manner. [1] - https://www.massmed.org/Publications/Research,-Studies,-and-Reports/Supporting-MMS-Physicians--Well-being-Report---Recommendations-to-Address-the-Ongoing-Crisis/ https://www.massmed.org/Publications/Research,-Studies,-and-...
  - nradov 4y ago
    Doctors have huge variances in job satisfaction and overall happiness based on specialty. https://www.mdlinx.com/article/these-doctor-specialties-are-the-happiest/7m8muP4vVSc1nSLq4WX706 https://www.mdlinx.com/article/these-doctor-specialties-are-...
    - somenameforme 4y ago
      Not to nitpick there, but I wouldn't really call that much variance. That study showed a job happiness ranging from 24-43% by specialty. It's certainly a sizable range, but even the high end of 43% happiness is not what you'd describe as the sort of job people want to work till the day they die.
bruce511 4y ago
>> It is exhausting. I get bombarded daily by a deluge of hustle culture paraphernalia. Start a side hustle. Monetize your hobbies. FIRE by 30 (I'm too late for that). Build the next big thing. Optimize your life. 10x your productivity. You realize none of this is "real" right? I mean, a 31-year-old retired guy has got nothing better to do than send you spam? And if he's asking for money, then (surprise!) he's not retired. Almost all of these emails are self-evident - ask yourself "if this were true, why does need my money?" Ask yourself "if I were retired, would I waste my time sending out mails like this?" >> Rather than inspiring, They are not meant to be _inspiring_ - they're meant to be _profitable_. Seriously mate, it's a bottom-feeding hustle. It's not meant to inspire you. It's meant to separate you from some $. This is not success. >> it makes me feel inadequate compared to more successful people. Firstly, you are inadequate. You are insignificant. If you disappeared few people would notice, and after a week pretty much everyone won't care. In other words you're _just like everyone else_. You're not special. You're not special good, you're not special bad. You're just you. _Just like everyone else_. (I say this not to be a dick, but simply to state the obvious. Once you understand this, contentment is easier.) [2] So some guy is more successful than you, richer than you, more famous than you. So what? I mean out of 8 billion or so, 8 billion-1 are "not the richest" - not the most successful - not the most famous? If you get anxious because there's someone ahead of you in the queue, well, good luck on that. What about the length of the queue behind you? Ever notice them? You got food today? Shelter tonight? Income tomorrow? Man you don't know how good you got it - what da'ya want? A rocket into space? Give yourself a break. You're doing fine. Live a life of gratitude and generosity. Give more money away [1]. And for goodness sake, don't measure your life by Spam. Seriously. [1] - Giving money away is the best way to reduce the hold money has on your life. It might be $1. It might be $10. It might be whatever. Giving it away reminds you, you are in control of the money, not the other way around. And reminds you that whatever you have, there are folk out there with less. [2] Z makes a real breakthough... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIv-FUarVWU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIv-FUarVWU
- JKCalhoun 4y ago
  Thank you, I like your reply. Would that the internet served up more of that.
- 4y ago
fshbbdssbbgdd 4y ago
I don’t see stuff like that very often. I wonder what’s different about our filter bubbles or media consumption habits.
nicbou 4y ago
We should promote an anti-hustle. Drink tea on the balcony! Don’t answer emails after 4PM! Grow plants on windowsills! Sketch in notebooks! Linger in cafés!
- JKCalhoun 4y ago
  An artist friend of mine checks email/web in the early morning only; and then cold-turkey the internet for the next 23 hours. I think he may be on to something.
- alexvoda 4y ago
  When people start doing that the media and corporations will call it an epidemic of quiet quitting. It's sad but society is truly diseased.
oulipo 4y ago
Well, that's precisely how capitalism work. It doesn't work by making you feel good, otherwise it wouldn't sell you a product. It works by making you feel "not enough" and then pretending to sell you the solution
simultsop 4y ago
Guess what, you brought that vibe in this section too, now I have to block this post for me.
teh_klev 4y ago
What is "FIRE" content?
- SamoyedFurFluff 4y ago
  financial independence early retirement. It’s the notion that you can work towards retiring early where your money makes enough money to live off of independently from any employer.
  - teh_klev 4y ago
    Thank you. I was aware of the concept but had never seen that acronym before. When I was a tragically optimistic 22 year old in the 80's my plan was to be retired by 55, but that boat has long since sailed :)

all2 4y ago

This is the kind of thing that makes me want to throw away all my electronics and move to a farm in the middle of middle America and have a farm. The problem is, with property taxes of any kind, you have to have a "day job". :/ I just want a farm, a family, and to be left alone.

taneq 4y ago
Your family’s gonna want things, though. And you’re gonna want things (eg. medical care) for your family.
- reaperducer 4y ago
  Farmers have things.
  - LostLetterbox2 4y ago
    Looking at supersize me 2 farmers either have an employer, debt, or are a megafarm themselves!
  - TylerE 4y ago
    The vast majority of farms in the US are now owned by giant conglomerates like ConAgra, not small family farmers, who barely exist anymore.
    - kelseyfrog 4y ago
      What are you talking about? "In 2020, family farms accounted for 98% of total farms and 87% of total production. 89% of those farms were small family farms"[1]. 1. https://protecttheharvest.com/news/2021-usda-report-finds-98-of-farms-are-still-family-owned/ https://protecttheharvest.com/news/2021-usda-report-finds-98...
      - skinnymuch 4y ago
        Right below where you stopped quoting: “Likewise, the share of the value of production on small family farms declined from 26% to 20%.” This and other resources keep pointing out that large scale family farms which are corporations at that point are nearly half. Then non family farms are another fraction like 20%-ish. Then not all of the “families” owning the farms even farm their own land. That’s only 51% of farmers doing that full time. So 40%+ are landlords. Adam Smith the father of capitalism and Karl Marx and Engels all believed landlords are unethical and antithetical to capitalism or any economic system. Even if the OP was wrong, your response is similar. Can we get some specifics of the actual finances? Otherwise this is all propaganda for the US seeming more fair and equitable than it really is. Adam Smith would be rolling in his grave.
        kelseyfrog 4y ago
        Except GP mentioned ownership and when presented with ownership stats we find ourselves talking about value production. It comes across as a conclusion in search of evidence. What's happening is goal shifting. I strongly believe that when a commenter makes an inaccurate claim, the bare minimum is pointing out the factual error. I'm under no obligation to speculate what the commenter really meant. I took them at face value - a completely fair approach. If they wish to clarify, or make a better argument, that's on them.
        skinnymuch 4y ago
        We are intelligent adults here. We don’t have to pretend my statements were these fallacies. A fallacy is a fallacy eventually. It’s possible I’m too autistic to understand why you are behaving the way you are. Your behavior and defensive mechanism baffles me if it’s in good faith. When I got into politics I spent a long time looking over all sides and never ever thought things like what you wrote. I always thought looking for the truth is the best thing. For me it doesn’t make sense in my world view to be pedantic the way you are behaving. It’s a rather traditional autistic behavior though. I know i spend a lot of time masking to seem more normal and not be so pedantic). In my eyes class is the only thing that matters. Do you not believe in material dialectics? Your views sound very libertarian from my reading on those politics. I don’t believe in private property so we will have to disagree on caring about ownership.
  - taneq 4y ago
    Not ones that threw away all their electronics.
cmrdporcupine 4y ago
Farms are a money-pit of their own, and most 'farmers' these days have to have off-farm income. Cabin in the woods, though...
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- Arrath 4y ago
  >Cabin in the woods, though... With, or without a flesh eating virus?
mydriasis 4y ago
Come to Ohio. There are acres around. You can have 3-5 acres and keep your day job as long as you've got a partner on board with ya.
- enraged_camel 4y ago
  https://twitter.com/ChrisJBakke/status/1638323074205614082 https://twitter.com/ChrisJBakke/status/1638323074205614082
throwaway675309 4y ago
The problem with this rose tinted pastoral view is that you (likely) have zero experience in agriculture, so this just isn't a realistic goal. Not to mention that small farms are basically razor thin in terms of profit margins.
- AverageDude 4y ago
  Agriculture has lots of “inside knowledge” which gets passed onto next generation. You need to intern first with another farmer. Ironically, Jeremy Clarkson is doing exactly right this time.
- bredren 4y ago
  Perhaps if agriculture drifts toward tech solutions, more people would be able to quickly grow their experience. Check out the open source field robot project by Twisted Fields: https://community.twistedfields.com/t/january-2023-update-new-vehicle-design-metal-shop-motor-controller-motherboard/343 https://community.twistedfields.com/t/january-2023-update-ne...
  - nradov 4y ago
    Large scale agribusiness is already 100% tech solutions. This makes getting into the field and gaining experience harder, not easier. Even small scale farming requires a huge amount of tacit knowledge that can only be gained by doing.
- all2 4y ago
  I was raised on a farm. I know what it is like and the kind of dedication it requires, as well as possess some of the knowledge to dive in head first. Making assumptions is fine, just be wary that you could be completely wrong.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
kevmarsden 4y ago
Same here. We need a Homestead Act 2.0. In the meantime, expanding my backyard garden is a decent alternative. I used to spend most of my free time browsing the internet or tooling around with code. Now I hardly touch my computer on weekends.
EvanAnderson 4y ago
Property taxes are nothing compared to health insurance, though. I’d totally be living in a backwater doing far less work if not for needing $20K / year for health insurance for my family (and $10K on in reserve for my “out of pocket maximum”).
- grey-area 4y ago
  Most of the world doesn’t pay health insurance and has better outcomes.
  - cpursley 4y ago
    Maybe not the rest of the world, but certainly the developed world. Hell, even some Eastern European countries have both lower taxes and better health outcomes (socialized healthcare) than America.
    - all2 4y ago
      Medical mistakes in hospitals sits at #3 on the list of 'things that kill people prematurely'. [0] Note that's from 2016, and it doesn't appear the CDC has updated their reporting methods. [0] https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_suggests_medical_errors_now_third_leading_cause_of_death_in_the_us https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_su...
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- kortilla 4y ago
  Not sure that’s relevant if you have no actual income. That’s fully subsidized.
  - tenacious_tuna 4y ago
    I'm not clear on how it's not relevant--Wouldn't you need some money for insurance no matter what? I remember glancing at the medicaid qualifications for a friend and being stunned that you only qualify if you have less than $2k in assets, so I don't think that's a sustainable method for off-grid living assuming you have a house/cash reserve/whatever.
qup 4y ago
I have 40 acres and a home, property taxes are under $300/year. Ozarks.
JKCalhoun 4y ago
That does seem to be the dream of a lot of us. Perhaps an Indian tribe will adopt us. Or Mennonites? I know I'm careening wildly into politically incorrect space but I think you get my (joking) point. Being serious though, surely managing the farm to any degree will yield profits that will offset the property taxes.

mr_toad 4y ago

> makes me feel inadequate If you could sum up marketing in four words.

taneq 4y ago

Somehow my old old email address ended up in a Helsinki Startup incubator’s investor list, associated with some Scandinavian venture capitalist. It’s been 10 years and I still get pitches emailed to that address regularly. At this stage if I’m ever in a position to find startups I’m going to fly over there and personally tell them to get fscked.

BLKNSLVR 4y ago

> FIRE by 30 (I'm too late for that) I feel like I'm struggling to be able to retire comfortably by retirement age despite feeling that I'm well ahead of a number of my peers.

EngManagerIsMe 4y ago
[flagged]
- LostLetterbox2 4y ago
  And then I hear that workers in China get one day off a month and companies will continue to talk about international competition... Without reintroducing tariffs (I'm based in Australia) to protect working conditions, and widespread protest at how poor median conditions are getting I don't see how this situation reverses. I'd love to see the logic of financial class applied back at them to at least reduce the number of direct votes they have at elections.
  - throwaway2037 4y ago
    No trolling: One day off a month is 12 days per year. Most people in the United States get 10 days or less annual leave.
    - kortilla 4y ago
      The fuck are you on about? In the US 2 days off per week is standard + additional vacation days.
    - CalRobert 4y ago
      And weekends.
    - dragonwriter 4y ago
      > Most people in the United States get 10 days or less annual leave. After one year of service, the median is in 10-14 day range for vacation; the majority get 10 days or more, and only 39% get less. And this gets better with longer service. https://www.bls.gov/ebs/factsheets/paid-vacations.htm https://www.bls.gov/ebs/factsheets/paid-vacations.htm

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

reaperducer 4y ago

it makes me feel inadequate compared to more successful people Don't get sucked into other people's vanity, greed, and envy cycle. Why would you want to be like them? Life isn't a video game. We don't "win" by having the highest score tallied in dollar signs.

tehwebguy 4y ago
Yeah but those points are how people pay for food and medicine. Some of those suckers are greedy and some of them are desperate.

partiallypro 4y ago

Many people that claim to be successful aren't. It's like stock traders that sell access to their newsletters and Discord channels, etc. They aren't making their money from their amazing stock trades; they are making their living from subscriptions. "Side hustle" people do the exact same thing. Certainly, there are people more successful than me or you, and most people on this board but they usually aren't the ones online making videos about it. When I was 20 or so I was pushing $250K a year in revenue on eBay and Amazon, which felt great at the time as a side gig for a college student; but I barely made a dime. This is an example of a scheme that is pushed all the time by people, and I know how difficult it is and how their numbers usually don't add up because I was there...even when seller fees were way less.

serverholic 4y ago

[dead]

spaceman_2020 4y ago

This “early retirement” obsession is a symptom of the meaningless of most modern day work. I have never met anyone with a meaningful job who wants to retire, let alone retire early. All the surgeons, social workers, artists I know want to keep working till the day they die.

somenameforme 4y ago
Your sample on doctors at least is almost certainly off. Here [1] is a random recent report from Massachusetts but it's very much the rule and not the exception. All the following are on physicians: - 55% showing symptoms of burn out - more than 50% looking to reduce hours, 25% looking to leave medicine altogether - 1 in 3 felt their work schedule allowed time for a personal/family life And so on. It's also not COVID. The reason I looked this up was personal anecdata from long before COVID. I have family in medicine and so was casually acquainted with a number of doctors, literally all of whom were less than enthusiastic about their jobs. You get paid a lot, but the hours are absolutely brutal, you spend an ungodly amount of time just filling out regulations related paperwork, and it's just generally a really painful career. Part of being a good doctor is hiding all of this from the patient, and making it look like every day is a joy to be there doing what you love. In med school you literally study good bedside manner. [1] - https://www.massmed.org/Publications/Research,-Studies,-and-Reports/Supporting-MMS-Physicians--Well-being-Report---Recommendations-to-Address-the-Ongoing-Crisis/ https://www.massmed.org/Publications/Research,-Studies,-and-...
- nradov 4y ago
  Doctors have huge variances in job satisfaction and overall happiness based on specialty. https://www.mdlinx.com/article/these-doctor-specialties-are-the-happiest/7m8muP4vVSc1nSLq4WX706 https://www.mdlinx.com/article/these-doctor-specialties-are-...
  - somenameforme 4y ago
    Not to nitpick there, but I wouldn't really call that much variance. That study showed a job happiness ranging from 24-43% by specialty. It's certainly a sizable range, but even the high end of 43% happiness is not what you'd describe as the sort of job people want to work till the day they die.

bruce511 4y ago

>> It is exhausting. I get bombarded daily by a deluge of hustle culture paraphernalia. Start a side hustle. Monetize your hobbies. FIRE by 30 (I'm too late for that). Build the next big thing. Optimize your life. 10x your productivity. You realize none of this is "real" right? I mean, a 31-year-old retired guy has got nothing better to do than send you spam? And if he's asking for money, then (surprise!) he's not retired. Almost all of these emails are self-evident - ask yourself "if this were true, why does need my money?" Ask yourself "if I were retired, would I waste my time sending out mails like this?" >> Rather than inspiring, They are not meant to be _inspiring_ - they're meant to be _profitable_. Seriously mate, it's a bottom-feeding hustle. It's not meant to inspire you. It's meant to separate you from some $. This is not success. >> it makes me feel inadequate compared to more successful people. Firstly, you are inadequate. You are insignificant. If you disappeared few people would notice, and after a week pretty much everyone won't care. In other words you're _just like everyone else_. You're not special. You're not special good, you're not special bad. You're just you. _Just like everyone else_. (I say this not to be a dick, but simply to state the obvious. Once you understand this, contentment is easier.) [2] So some guy is more successful than you, richer than you, more famous than you. So what? I mean out of 8 billion or so, 8 billion-1 are "not the richest" - not the most successful - not the most famous? If you get anxious because there's someone ahead of you in the queue, well, good luck on that. What about the length of the queue behind you? Ever notice them? You got food today? Shelter tonight? Income tomorrow? Man you don't know how good you got it - what da'ya want? A rocket into space? Give yourself a break. You're doing fine. Live a life of gratitude and generosity. Give more money away [1]. And for goodness sake, don't measure your life by Spam. Seriously. [1] - Giving money away is the best way to reduce the hold money has on your life. It might be $1. It might be $10. It might be whatever. Giving it away reminds you, you are in control of the money, not the other way around. And reminds you that whatever you have, there are folk out there with less. [2] Z makes a real breakthough... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIv-FUarVWU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIv-FUarVWU

JKCalhoun 4y ago
Thank you, I like your reply. Would that the internet served up more of that.
4y ago

fshbbdssbbgdd 4y ago

I don’t see stuff like that very often. I wonder what’s different about our filter bubbles or media consumption habits.

nicbou 4y ago

We should promote an anti-hustle. Drink tea on the balcony! Don’t answer emails after 4PM! Grow plants on windowsills! Sketch in notebooks! Linger in cafés!

JKCalhoun 4y ago
An artist friend of mine checks email/web in the early morning only; and then cold-turkey the internet for the next 23 hours. I think he may be on to something.
alexvoda 4y ago
When people start doing that the media and corporations will call it an epidemic of quiet quitting. It's sad but society is truly diseased.

oulipo 4y ago

Well, that's precisely how capitalism work. It doesn't work by making you feel good, otherwise it wouldn't sell you a product. It works by making you feel "not enough" and then pretending to sell you the solution

simultsop 4y ago

Guess what, you brought that vibe in this section too, now I have to block this post for me.

teh_klev 4y ago

What is "FIRE" content?

SamoyedFurFluff 4y ago
financial independence early retirement. It’s the notion that you can work towards retiring early where your money makes enough money to live off of independently from any employer.
- teh_klev 4y ago
  Thank you. I was aware of the concept but had never seen that acronym before. When I was a tragically optimistic 22 year old in the 80's my plan was to be retired by 55, but that boat has long since sailed :)