And everyone is a grinder?
I am big in that work life. I worked a hell of a lot of OT, but the truth is it is wrong. I can't recall the company name that was huge 25 years ago that sold domain names. They had a letter from their CEO on the website. He said his company did not allow calling people at home to come in and help. They weren't to be asked to stay after. He paid people for 24x7x365 and if the people at 4AM can't do the job, he would rather fire them and hire someone who can than lose a great employee to burnout.
It strikes me that is the way companies should work. Companies built on giving employees coronaries by 50 shouldn't be who we are.
Somehow Scandinavians are happier than Americans. They don't make what we make, so simply having money isn't the sole determination. We are missing something.
@arthur-dent when did I say Reagan and Bush weren't for it? Also, we've never had free trade. Recognizing the trade offs of the system we have and making adjustments to the tax code to benefit the working class is a good idea after they have been on the short end of it for several decades. If we had sound money the system would automatically correct itself, but we don't have sound money. The Bushes and Obamas got greedy and instead focused on wars, the top 10%, and bottom 10%.
You have a choice. You can be a grinder or not.And everyone is a grinder?
I am big in that work life. I worked a hell of a lot of OT, but the truth is it is wrong. I can't recall the company name that was huge 25 years ago that sold domain names. They had a letter from their CEO on the website. He said his company did not allow calling people at home to come in and help. They weren't to be asked to stay after. He paid people for 24x7x365 and if the people at 4AM can't do the job, he would rather fire them and hire someone who can than lose a great employee to burnout.
It strikes me that is the way companies should work. Companies built on giving employees coronaries by 50 shouldn't be who we are.
Somehow Scandinavians are happier than Americans. They don't make what we make, so simply having money isn't the sole determination. We are missing something.
Although, I do wonder if it's really even a choice. Some people are just wired differently.
@arthur-dent I have no idea what you’re going on about. Gates says he didn’t take a day off in all of his 20s. Bezos worked nonstop. Musk. If you want money you have to work your ass off. If you don’t care about money great. Don’t work your ass off. But don’t expect people who do to subsidize you. That’s not their responsibility
Its hard to imagine a person who works that hard who cannot make enough money to be super comfortable.@arthur-dent I have no idea what you’re going on about. Gates says he didn’t take a day off in all of his 20s. Bezos worked nonstop. Musk. If you want money you have to work your ass off. If you don’t care about money great. Don’t work your ass off. But don’t expect people who do to subsidize you. That’s not their responsibility
But I don’t think most people who make hundreds of thousands a year, for example, work as hard as that. Most of the people I know who make bank admit they don’t really work all that hard.
That said, I don’t think that fact detracts much from the argument you’re making.
but you can’t have winners without losers. It just doesn’t work. No one wins the Super Bowl by beating nobody. Another team has to lose. If you’re going to get rich, someone else had to not get rich to make it possible. That’s just how the zero-sum game works.
No!
First of all the Super Bowl is a competition for a single trophy. There can be only a single winner. That is not how capitalism works. Your analogy doesn’t hold up.
Wealth is not a set sum to be divided up among competitors. Wealth is created by those who have the knowledge, fortitude, ambition, etc. to get off of their butt and create something. That something is usually your own talent stack. Yeah, capitalism has winners and losers, and they are not always the same people. Individuals can be either or both. Wasniac and Jobs didn’t become gazilionaires by making others poor.
Take practicing law. The “home run” @bradstevens and @mcm666 talked about is not about knocking down a million dollar fee in my view. The home run is having confidence, ability, experience, reputation, etc. to know you can make a living now and in the future and then be able to retire. This doesn’t only apply to practicing law. Blue collar, white collar, and lace collars can do the same. Right now, trades are screaming for workers and the shortage is worsening. You don’t get those things by taking them from others.
The point is those folks who make bank (minus the lucky ones, which are few) AT SOME POINT ground themselves down like a motherfucker. Or they still are. Or they built a team/org that does their grinding for them. Which, again, took grinding to do.Its hard to imagine a person who works that hard who cannot make enough money to be super comfortable.@arthur-dent I have no idea what you’re going on about. Gates says he didn’t take a day off in all of his 20s. Bezos worked nonstop. Musk. If you want money you have to work your ass off. If you don’t care about money great. Don’t work your ass off. But don’t expect people who do to subsidize you. That’s not their responsibility
But I don’t think most people who make hundreds of thousands a year, for example, work as hard as that. Most of the people I know who make bank admit they don’t really work all that hard.
That said, I don’t think that fact detracts much from the argument you’re making.
I see @arthur-dent (Marv's) point here. I think @spartans9312 's point is most valid. Why does everything cost so much more today than it did 40-50 years ago? And while I don't want to get @snarlcakes excited, I do thikn it has something to do with the value of the US dollar.
@larsiu yep. if you work hard in this country you will be fine. and to brad's point you don't have to be bezos maniacal about and still make a comfortable living. but you do have to work. and people don't want to. and it's not fair to take from those who do to give to those who don't.
as to your bit about the value of the us dollar i don't really know about that stuff. what i do know with certainty is that once prices go up they are largely baked in. companies ain't lowering unless it's a last resort. so we need to be very very careful about the politicians we elect. that 40 year spike in inflation we saw is now built in forever.
i was watching this show about appalachia last night. this old mountain man was saying he retired with his trailer paid for and the land and 100k in savings. he was going to piddle "junking" but that $100k was it for him. he said that inflation was the worst thing could have happened to him. his $100k was worth $70k in buying power in a year. it takes gas and all the rest to drive ot where he needs to buy stuff etc.
@arthur-dent when did I say Reagan and Bush weren't for it? Also, we've never had free trade. Recognizing the trade offs of the system we have and making adjustments to the tax code to benefit the working class is a good idea after they have been on the short end of it for several decades. If we had sound money the system would automatically correct itself, but we don't have sound money. The Bushes and Obamas got greedy and instead focused on wars, the top 10%, and bottom 10%.
Again, if I search your house and cars, will I see everything you buy is made in America? You have choices, how often do you choose to buy something made elsewhere?
You have a choice. You can be a grinder or not.
Although, I do wonder if it’s really even a choice. Some people are just wired differently.
I think you hit it. Many conservatives here go with the, "if everyone lived as I do we would be perfect." I lack the narcissism to go with that. Evolution has dictated that we are wired differently. Some people have to be risk takers, for example. So they learn tomatoes aren't poisonous. Others are risk averse, so some of humanity survived when pufferfish were first caught.
@arthur-dent again wrong. no one is saying everyone should live like the conservatives you mention. they are saying they can live anyway they choose. but don't make others who live differently pay for them. there's no right or wrong. however you choose to live is for you and the right choice. what's wrong is expecting someone else to subsidize it
if you work hard in this country you will be fine. and to brad’s point you don’t have to be bezos maniacal about and still make a comfortable living. but you do have to work. and people don’t want to. and it’s not fair to take from those who do to give to those who don’t.
as to your bit about the value of the us dollar i don’t really know about that stuff. what i do know with certainty is that once prices go up they are largely baked in. companies ain’t lowering unless it’s a last resort. so we need to be very very careful about the politicians we elect. that 40 year spike in inflation we saw is now built in forever.
i was watching this show about appalachia last night. this old mountain man was saying he retired with his trailer paid for and the land and 100k in savings. he was going to piddle “junking” but that $100k was it for him. he said that inflation was the worst thing could have happened to him. his $100k was worth $70k in buying power in a year. it takes gas and all the rest to drive ot where he needs to buy stuff etc.
There are people who don't want to work, I won't deny that. I think you are accepting that everyone working as a night watchman, fast food, administrative assistant, etc, just are lazy and don't want to work. I think that is completely wrong.
In 2024, the median EMT salary was $41000 in America. So two EMTs make $82,000. That isn't poverty, but it isn't wealthy. And that is as respectable of a profession as any.
Below is a link of careers with surprisingly low pay. Chefs grind, frankly there may not be a profession that grinds more. Median pay, $46,000. Chemists, requires at least a BS in chemistry, $77,000. Guess what, we need chemists to keep our technology lead.
My wife and I were pretty always just short of upper middle class. With three kids and childcare in a fairly inexpensive state, it was often very tight. We never had close to the reserve that was recommended. Home repairs were often deferred, dental procedures on us adults deferred. Your solution, everyone should work 80 hours per week, is ludicrous. They are much happier in Scandinavian and don't.
I wonder if Gates was happy while living at Microsoft.
I hate to give Limbaugh credit, but he often said do what you love. The catch is, one doesn't have a lot of time to try 300 professions to see which they love. I didn't love IT. Parts of it I did. Parts of it sucked. It is clear you don't love law.
And I don't think I could possibly grind enough to have been Larry Bird.
@arthur-dent when did I say Reagan and Bush weren't for it? Also, we've never had free trade. Recognizing the trade offs of the system we have and making adjustments to the tax code to benefit the working class is a good idea after they have been on the short end of it for several decades. If we had sound money the system would automatically correct itself, but we don't have sound money. The Bushes and Obamas got greedy and instead focused on wars, the top 10%, and bottom 10%.
Again, if I search your house and cars, will I see everything you buy is made in America? You have choices, how often do you choose to buy something made elsewhere?
This is the second time you have asked and there was never a need to ask once. I have an open door policy for you, Marv. You're always welcome in my house. My only two rules are stay away from my wife's panty drawer and my Bitcoin. I'll have beer, brisket, and cigars.
I don't have time to give a long answer, but I'm not against trade with other nations. I just recognize the trade offs of it when you're the world reserve currency.
if you work hard in this country you will be fine. and to brad’s point you don’t have to be bezos maniacal about and still make a comfortable living. but you do have to work. and people don’t want to. and it’s not fair to take from those who do to give to those who don’t.
as to your bit about the value of the us dollar i don’t really know about that stuff. what i do know with certainty is that once prices go up they are largely baked in. companies ain’t lowering unless it’s a last resort. so we need to be very very careful about the politicians we elect. that 40 year spike in inflation we saw is now built in forever.
i was watching this show about appalachia last night. this old mountain man was saying he retired with his trailer paid for and the land and 100k in savings. he was going to piddle “junking” but that $100k was it for him. he said that inflation was the worst thing could have happened to him. his $100k was worth $70k in buying power in a year. it takes gas and all the rest to drive ot where he needs to buy stuff etc.
There are people who don't want to work, I won't deny that. I think you are accepting that everyone working as a night watchman, fast food, administrative assistant, etc, just are lazy and don't want to work. I think that is completely wrong.
In 2024, the median EMT salary was $41000 in America. So two EMTs make $82,000. That isn't poverty, but it isn't wealthy. And that is as respectable of a profession as any.
Below is a link of careers with surprisingly low pay. Chefs grind, frankly there may not be a profession that grinds more. Median pay, $46,000. Chemists, requires at least a BS in chemistry, $77,000. Guess what, we need chemists to keep our technology lead.
My wife and I were pretty always just short of upper middle class. With three kids and childcare in a fairly inexpensive state, it was often very tight. We never had close to the reserve that was recommended. Home repairs were often deferred, dental procedures on us adults deferred. Your solution, everyone should work 80 hours per week, is ludicrous. They are much happier in Scandinavian and don't.
I wonder if Gates was happy while living at Microsoft.
I hate to give Limbaugh credit, but he often said do what you love. The catch is, one doesn't have a lot of time to try 300 professions to see which they love. I didn't love IT. Parts of it I did. Parts of it sucked. It is clear you don't love law.
And I don't think I could possibly grind enough to have been Larry Bird.
There's a reason why Scandinavian policies will never work here. I wonder why. I wonder what we have that they don't 🤔
You libs always do that. It works in Japan. Works in S Korea. Works in Sweden, Finland, Norway, etc. You're missing something.