5 ms·

I encourage everyone to read his actual blogpost linked in the article, it’s pretty good. https://blog.codinghorror.com/stay-gold-america/ https://blog.codingh

I encourage everyone to read his actual blogpost linked in the article, it’s pretty good. https://blog.codinghorror.com/stay-gold-america/ https://blog.codinghorror.com/stay-gold-america/

ofrzeta 2y ago
It's great. I'd suggest to make it an HN submission on its own.
- salviati 2y ago
  What do you mean "suggest"? To whom? You should do it yourself if you think it's a good idea.
  - r0mboCom 2y ago
    [dead]
  - ofrzeta 2y ago
    Obviously my suggestion was targeted at the person "Toutouxc" who has posted a comment I replied to.
- unwind 2y ago
  It has been submitted five times [1] already, so that's covered. :) [1]: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=pastMonth&page=0&prefix=false&query=gold%20america&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=pastMonth&page=0&prefix=fa...
suraci 2y ago
Interesting In the article: > 34% of adults in America did not exercise their right to vote. Why? In the referenced news: > ... “Currently my biggest issue with U.S. politics is the response to the Palestinian genocide," Rojas said. ... Back to the article: > I think many of the Americans who did vote are telling us they no longer believe our government is effectively keeping America fair for everyone. Our status as the world's leading democracy is in question. > We should make it easier for more eligible Americans to vote, such as making election day a national holiday, universal mail in voting, and adopting ranked choice voting so all votes carry more weight. Is there any serious polls show how many Americans choose not to vote for the same reason? is it a number so small that it can be ignored?
- uludag 2y ago
  There is a poll about this that was recently released: https://www.imeupolicyproject.org/postelection-polling https://www.imeupolicyproject.org/postelection-polling Here's a quote from the poll: When Biden 2020 voters cast a ballot for someone besides Harris in 2024 were asked “Which one of the following issues was MOST important in deciding your vote?” they selected: 29% - Ending Israel’s violence in Gaza 24% - The economy 12% - Medicare and Social Security 11% - Immigration and border security 10% - Healthcare 9% - Abortion policy 5% - Don’t know
  - Larrikin 2y ago
    So completely unrelated poll to the question?
    - uludag 2y ago
      Yeah, not directly related. Interesting though that most people who abstained from voting did have a issue they could name, and only 5% put down "Don't know" so this particular demographic may fall in this category (probably more complicated though).
      - ericjmorey 2y ago
        That data is about people who voted in both elections, it's not about people who didn't vote in 2024.
      - BeetleB 2y ago
        > Interesting though that most people who abstained from voting did have a issue they could name, and only 5% put down Nope. The poll is about people who did vote - not those who abstained.
  - pbiggar 2y ago
    Good Drop Site News article about the poll providing context https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/kamala-harris-gaza-israel-biden-election-poll https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/kamala-harris-gaza-israel-bid...
hnthrow90348765 2y ago
>These huge cost increases for healthcare, education, and housing are not compatible with the American Dream. Yep, it's dead. Someone please make it official already. Don't worry about the autopsy or time/date of death - just get the death certificate already and let's move on. Whether they want to replace it with something equivalent is frankly up to the rich people, college institutions, and home owners/sellers. Just guessing based on the trend, but that will also be a No. Right now, it's really called "The American Survival Games". This isn't just fear mongering, you have to change your mindset. The American Dream meant you were assured some level of survival in exchange for work. Now that is not the case and you constantly have to reassess what your work trajectory is going to get you and if it will be enough to survive the next day, but also survive the volatility of a very polarized nation changing its policies on a whim. You also need a backup plan for your job in case you just get laid off due to no fault of your own. And a backup plan for the backup plan because the hiring landscape might change.
- ericjmorey 2y ago
  > "The American Dream meant you were assured some level of survival in exchange for work." I've never thought that was a common interpretation of the American Dream.
  - titusjohnson 2y ago
    I've never thought it was anything but that. Work hard and be rewarded, that's the American Dream.
    - Zanni 2y ago
      The distinction that ericjmorey is making (I believe) is that the reward is not guaranteed, only the opportunity.
  - at_a_remove 2y ago
    That's close to what I have gleaned. You'll recall in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, HST goes on and on about the American Dream, as if the duo could locate it in a physical place, like finding the source of a river. In this case, Las Vegas. I do not believe that was a selection based on convenience. The American Dream has a sense of social and/or financial mobility to it, but most of all, from what I can extract, it is about an ever-present opportunity to "make it." Fail miserably? Try again. Bankrupt? Maybe you'll make a go of it this time. Effort is part of it, yes, but an acceptance of the role of pure luck is also a vital component. You can bust your ass and it will likely turn out better for you than not busting your ass, but there are no guarantees. You can only approach the table and go again. Another role of the dice or the hope that you haven't drawn a bad beat. I will not bore you with how that works into the novel, but one point to take away was the sense that the Dream was moribund, if not already dead. A sense that credit scores, background checks, and "I hope you know that this will go down on your permanent record" mentality is a noose slowly drawing shut. No more second chances, or third, or fourth. You screw up, bucko, that's it. The American Dream is now a taxidermied carcass whose silhouette we can see in the window of a house on a hill: referenced as if it were still alive, but never met. Now, we see people who have made it big, but some section of them are products lifted from the mud and polished for public consumption. Others, when investigated, come from surprisingly fortunate backgrounds. Sons of senators' sons, as Jello Biafra put it. This has been sensed on an unconscious level since perhaps the mid-eighties.

I encourage everyone to read his actual blogpost linked in the article, it’s pretty good. https://blog.codinghorror.com/stay-gold-america/ https://blog.codinghorror.com/stay-gold-america/

ofrzeta 2y ago

It's great. I'd suggest to make it an HN submission on its own.

salviati 2y ago
What do you mean "suggest"? To whom? You should do it yourself if you think it's a good idea.
- r0mboCom 2y ago
  [dead]
- ofrzeta 2y ago
  Obviously my suggestion was targeted at the person "Toutouxc" who has posted a comment I replied to.
unwind 2y ago
It has been submitted five times [1] already, so that's covered. :) [1]: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=pastMonth&page=0&prefix=false&query=gold%20america&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=pastMonth&page=0&prefix=fa...

suraci 2y ago

Interesting In the article: > 34% of adults in America did not exercise their right to vote. Why? In the referenced news: > ... “Currently my biggest issue with U.S. politics is the response to the Palestinian genocide," Rojas said. ... Back to the article: > I think many of the Americans who did vote are telling us they no longer believe our government is effectively keeping America fair for everyone. Our status as the world's leading democracy is in question. > We should make it easier for more eligible Americans to vote, such as making election day a national holiday, universal mail in voting, and adopting ranked choice voting so all votes carry more weight. Is there any serious polls show how many Americans choose not to vote for the same reason? is it a number so small that it can be ignored?

uludag 2y ago
There is a poll about this that was recently released: https://www.imeupolicyproject.org/postelection-polling https://www.imeupolicyproject.org/postelection-polling Here's a quote from the poll: When Biden 2020 voters cast a ballot for someone besides Harris in 2024 were asked “Which one of the following issues was MOST important in deciding your vote?” they selected: 29% - Ending Israel’s violence in Gaza 24% - The economy 12% - Medicare and Social Security 11% - Immigration and border security 10% - Healthcare 9% - Abortion policy 5% - Don’t know
- Larrikin 2y ago
  So completely unrelated poll to the question?
  - uludag 2y ago
    Yeah, not directly related. Interesting though that most people who abstained from voting did have a issue they could name, and only 5% put down "Don't know" so this particular demographic may fall in this category (probably more complicated though).
    - ericjmorey 2y ago
      That data is about people who voted in both elections, it's not about people who didn't vote in 2024.
    - BeetleB 2y ago
      > Interesting though that most people who abstained from voting did have a issue they could name, and only 5% put down Nope. The poll is about people who did vote - not those who abstained.
- pbiggar 2y ago
  Good Drop Site News article about the poll providing context https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/kamala-harris-gaza-israel-biden-election-poll https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/kamala-harris-gaza-israel-bid...

hnthrow90348765 2y ago

>These huge cost increases for healthcare, education, and housing are not compatible with the American Dream. Yep, it's dead. Someone please make it official already. Don't worry about the autopsy or time/date of death - just get the death certificate already and let's move on. Whether they want to replace it with something equivalent is frankly up to the rich people, college institutions, and home owners/sellers. Just guessing based on the trend, but that will also be a No. Right now, it's really called "The American Survival Games". This isn't just fear mongering, you have to change your mindset. The American Dream meant you were assured some level of survival in exchange for work. Now that is not the case and you constantly have to reassess what your work trajectory is going to get you and if it will be enough to survive the next day, but also survive the volatility of a very polarized nation changing its policies on a whim. You also need a backup plan for your job in case you just get laid off due to no fault of your own. And a backup plan for the backup plan because the hiring landscape might change.

ericjmorey 2y ago
> "The American Dream meant you were assured some level of survival in exchange for work." I've never thought that was a common interpretation of the American Dream.
- titusjohnson 2y ago
  I've never thought it was anything but that. Work hard and be rewarded, that's the American Dream.
  - Zanni 2y ago
    The distinction that ericjmorey is making (I believe) is that the reward is not guaranteed, only the opportunity.
- at_a_remove 2y ago
  That's close to what I have gleaned. You'll recall in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, HST goes on and on about the American Dream, as if the duo could locate it in a physical place, like finding the source of a river. In this case, Las Vegas. I do not believe that was a selection based on convenience. The American Dream has a sense of social and/or financial mobility to it, but most of all, from what I can extract, it is about an ever-present opportunity to "make it." Fail miserably? Try again. Bankrupt? Maybe you'll make a go of it this time. Effort is part of it, yes, but an acceptance of the role of pure luck is also a vital component. You can bust your ass and it will likely turn out better for you than not busting your ass, but there are no guarantees. You can only approach the table and go again. Another role of the dice or the hope that you haven't drawn a bad beat. I will not bore you with how that works into the novel, but one point to take away was the sense that the Dream was moribund, if not already dead. A sense that credit scores, background checks, and "I hope you know that this will go down on your permanent record" mentality is a noose slowly drawing shut. No more second chances, or third, or fourth. You screw up, bucko, that's it. The American Dream is now a taxidermied carcass whose silhouette we can see in the window of a house on a hill: referenced as if it were still alive, but never met. Now, we see people who have made it big, but some section of them are products lifted from the mud and polished for public consumption. Others, when investigated, come from surprisingly fortunate backgrounds. Sons of senators' sons, as Jello Biafra put it. This has been sensed on an unconscious level since perhaps the mid-eighties.