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What I like is when I tell people what I do and they realize it has a direct impact on the economic recovery of the United States, and then suddenly they feel s

What I like is when I tell people what I do and they realize it has a direct impact on the economic recovery of the United States, and then suddenly they feel silly for making fun of me for not using decorators in python. At that moment, they realize that their sub-culture, while enjoyable in itself, is not 42. I liken it to this (perhaps badly translated, perhaps misappropriated) Chinese saying: "If your philosophy does not wash rice, I'm not interested." In 2003, ESR wrote of this in "The Art of UNIX Programming" (which I have on my desk): http://catb.org/esr/writings/unix-koans/end-user.html http://catb.org/esr/writings/unix-koans/end-user.html

sanderjd 14y ago
Maybe I missed this somewhere else in the thread but ... what do you do? I feel like I can't quite grok your comment without that context.
- chris_mahan 14y ago
  I write software automation for the team at a very large bank that processes repurchase requests for mortgage loans issued prior to 2008, aka toxic assets. Our work allows for clarity and resolution of the aftermath of the mortgage crisis. This has a direct impact in the ability of lenders to establish more accurate risk models and re-enter the mortgage lending business. This allows more funds to be available to mortgage-seekers, which theoretically lowers lending rates, allowing more people to refinance and purchase homes, which, arguably, is a major factor in the current economic recovery in the United States. Does that help?
  - ams6110 14y ago
    "allowing more people to refinance and purchase homes" is a big part of what got us into this mess.
    - spiffytech 14y ago
      That's an oversimplistic evaluation of the situation. We didn't get into the financial crisis simply because people bought homes, we got into it because banks found clever ways to issue mortgages to unqualified borrowers and pass the risk off on someone else.
      - LekkoscPiwa 14y ago
        They didn't find "clever ways to issue mortgages to unqualified borrowers". Simply put the US government guaranteed all the mortgages via Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by law. The law passed by Congress in 1990s to increase number of homeowners among minorities was to guarantee all the bad loans by the Government. So from a banker perspective it didn't matter if a borrower will repay. Because if he doesn't than the tax payer will by the law. So, ultimately, it's government fault. And democracy fallacy that voters vote for idiotisms like this and then complain that "banks are greedy".

sanderjd 14y ago

Maybe I missed this somewhere else in the thread but ... what do you do? I feel like I can't quite grok your comment without that context.

chris_mahan 14y ago
I write software automation for the team at a very large bank that processes repurchase requests for mortgage loans issued prior to 2008, aka toxic assets. Our work allows for clarity and resolution of the aftermath of the mortgage crisis. This has a direct impact in the ability of lenders to establish more accurate risk models and re-enter the mortgage lending business. This allows more funds to be available to mortgage-seekers, which theoretically lowers lending rates, allowing more people to refinance and purchase homes, which, arguably, is a major factor in the current economic recovery in the United States. Does that help?
- ams6110 14y ago
  "allowing more people to refinance and purchase homes" is a big part of what got us into this mess.
  - spiffytech 14y ago
    That's an oversimplistic evaluation of the situation. We didn't get into the financial crisis simply because people bought homes, we got into it because banks found clever ways to issue mortgages to unqualified borrowers and pass the risk off on someone else.
    - LekkoscPiwa 14y ago
      They didn't find "clever ways to issue mortgages to unqualified borrowers". Simply put the US government guaranteed all the mortgages via Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by law. The law passed by Congress in 1990s to increase number of homeowners among minorities was to guarantee all the bad loans by the Government. So from a banker perspective it didn't matter if a borrower will repay. Because if he doesn't than the tax payer will by the law. So, ultimately, it's government fault. And democracy fallacy that voters vote for idiotisms like this and then complain that "banks are greedy".