6 ms·

> In America men often work long hours even when they are well off; such men, naturally, are indignant at the idea of leisure for wage-earners, except as the gr

by kubb 2y ago

> In America men often work long hours even when they are well off; such men, naturally, are indignant at the idea of leisure for wage-earners, except as the grim punishment of unemployment; in fact, they dislike leisure even for their sons. There will be hundreds of people here that fit this perfectly, or am I wrong about the demographics of HN?

resource_waste 2y ago
"The strong do what they can, the weak suffer as they must" There is a reason we work constantly and always. Nature is brutal, and if I am not among the best, I'm going to experience pain. Or at least that is what my 'trauma' pushes me to do. I'm literally afraid not to be a 1%er. And if you lived my life, have my experiences, you'd probably come to the same conclusion.
- sameoldtune 2y ago
  Trading pain for fear is one approach I guess. I don’t know a lot of 1%ers without coin sickness.
- dambi0 2y ago
  What are you scared of? Why 1%? Why not the 0.5% or the 2%? It all seems rather arbitrary.
  - j7ake 2y ago
    OP didn’t mean literally 1 percent. They meant as close to number 1 as possible, and never stopping even if they are number one. They are afraid that they would be discarded by society if they fall too far behind.
    - matwood 2y ago
      I don't care about being discarded, but I do care about financial security. I grew up with near nothing, and I'll fight and claw to never end up there again.
- programjames 2y ago
  "The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must." Source: Thuc. 5.89, justification for Athen's invasion of Melos, 416 BC. The full quote is even more brutal: "We shall not trouble you with specious pretences—either of how we have a right to our empire because we overthrew the Mede, or are now attacking you because of wrong that you have done us—and make a long speech which would not be believed; and in return we hope that you, instead of thinking to influence us by saying that you did not join the Lacedaemonians, although their colonists, or that you have done us no wrong, will aim at what is feasible, holding in view the real sentiments of us both; since you know as well as we do that right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must."
  - resource_waste 2y ago
    Yeah... That hits pretty much the spot that makes me fear/sad. Thanks for sending the whole quote, I don't think I read it.
- badpun 2y ago
  > Nature is brutal, and if I am not among the best, I'm going to experience pain. Working so hard to get into the 1% is also very painful. Looks like, in your philosophy, pain is inevitable, and you only get to choose which form of it you take.
  - resource_waste 2y ago
    I get to choose the pain of working hard. This is in contrast to being weak, and letting the strong decide my pain.
TacticalCoder 2y ago
> There will be hundreds of people here that fit this perfectly, or am I wrong about the demographics of HN? Why would there be people on HN not wanting people earning less than them to have leisure? People are free to bicycle, hike, rock-climb, and do whatever the fuck they want. The only thing I don't want is wage-earner longing for my savings through taxes so they can buy Luis Vitton man purses. And I want to be free to buy whatever the fuck I want with my hard-earned money: be it luxury cars or audiophile (audiofool, I don't care) audio gear. But I don't give a crap what others do.

by kubb 2y ago

resource_waste 2y ago

"The strong do what they can, the weak suffer as they must" There is a reason we work constantly and always. Nature is brutal, and if I am not among the best, I'm going to experience pain. Or at least that is what my 'trauma' pushes me to do. I'm literally afraid not to be a 1%er. And if you lived my life, have my experiences, you'd probably come to the same conclusion.

sameoldtune 2y ago
Trading pain for fear is one approach I guess. I don’t know a lot of 1%ers without coin sickness.
dambi0 2y ago
What are you scared of? Why 1%? Why not the 0.5% or the 2%? It all seems rather arbitrary.
- j7ake 2y ago
  OP didn’t mean literally 1 percent. They meant as close to number 1 as possible, and never stopping even if they are number one. They are afraid that they would be discarded by society if they fall too far behind.
  - matwood 2y ago
    I don't care about being discarded, but I do care about financial security. I grew up with near nothing, and I'll fight and claw to never end up there again.
programjames 2y ago
"The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must." Source: Thuc. 5.89, justification for Athen's invasion of Melos, 416 BC. The full quote is even more brutal: "We shall not trouble you with specious pretences—either of how we have a right to our empire because we overthrew the Mede, or are now attacking you because of wrong that you have done us—and make a long speech which would not be believed; and in return we hope that you, instead of thinking to influence us by saying that you did not join the Lacedaemonians, although their colonists, or that you have done us no wrong, will aim at what is feasible, holding in view the real sentiments of us both; since you know as well as we do that right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must."
- resource_waste 2y ago
  Yeah... That hits pretty much the spot that makes me fear/sad. Thanks for sending the whole quote, I don't think I read it.
badpun 2y ago
> Nature is brutal, and if I am not among the best, I'm going to experience pain. Working so hard to get into the 1% is also very painful. Looks like, in your philosophy, pain is inevitable, and you only get to choose which form of it you take.
- resource_waste 2y ago
  I get to choose the pain of working hard. This is in contrast to being weak, and letting the strong decide my pain.

TacticalCoder 2y ago

> There will be hundreds of people here that fit this perfectly, or am I wrong about the demographics of HN? Why would there be people on HN not wanting people earning less than them to have leisure? People are free to bicycle, hike, rock-climb, and do whatever the fuck they want. The only thing I don't want is wage-earner longing for my savings through taxes so they can buy Luis Vitton man purses. And I want to be free to buy whatever the fuck I want with my hard-earned money: be it luxury cars or audiophile (audiofool, I don't care) audio gear. But I don't give a crap what others do.