I go back to this HN post every once in a while because it's just so honest and poignant. When I read this, my heart sank, because I could relate. To be fair, this epiphany didn't have to be bitcoin-related; it should speak equally to gold bugs, democratic socialists who support a UBI, etc. What all of these people have in common is that they feel it in their bones that something is fucked up in our society in a way that is totally self-inflicted.
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100 sats \ 1 reply \ @hades 18 Jun 2023
I would offer this to the original poster:
These feelings will overwhelm you if left to ruminate. The world has always been difficult. People once died from the flu or diarrhea. No one ever realizes how good they have it. You largely do not fear a local clan taking your wives and daughters anymore. Find good men, older and wiser, and fellowship with them. Maybe a fraternal organization or community group. They will show you where true happiness is. To be a good father and husband. To bless the world with good children and future leaders. You will learn to not seek happiness in labor, but you will labor to bring happiness to your family. The ant does not quit making hills because someone stepped on it. He toils to make another because he is an ant and his work is needed. Your type of work does not define you, but how you work does.
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2 sats \ 0 replies \ @mudbloodvonfrei OP 19 Jun 2023
Those are very wise words! Family and community will always be more fulfilling than most jobs.
At the same time, I do think a few decades ago jobs had more meaning than today, and the OP is taking a very brave first step in saying "okay, most jobs are bullshit anyway so let me find the easiest one so I can have money for what truly matters".
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12 sats \ 2 replies \ @siggy47 18 Jun 2023
For a boomer like me that post is really sad. I didn't feel that way in my 20s or 30s. I wasn't jumping for joy all the time, but I wanted to work hard and "make something of myself." I really think covid destroyed something, but I hate sounding like an old guy preaching about how things were when he was a kid.
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2 sats \ 1 reply \ @mudbloodvonfrei OP 18 Jun 2023
I think Covid maybe accelerated things, but I think the post accurately describes most of the period starting with the Great Recession. I think boomers complain because shit really went downhill.
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2 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 18 Jun 2023
I agree100%. In fact, I would even take it a step further. I may sound like a crazy conspiracy theorist, but covid lock downs were a last hurrah to keep this financial mess afloat. I was 12 years old when Nixon made that horrible decision. The beginning of the end.
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @gnilma 19 Jun 2023
That post on HN and that line of thinking is pathetic. Really typical weak men / 4th turning shit. It’s far from what I would call “orange pilling”, which in my mind, means understanding bitcoin. Bitcoin teaches ultimate personal responsibility; in its simplest terms, you lose your keys you’re fucked. Bitcoin teaches you to become the best version of yourself. Wanting to work the minimal, just enough to get by is the very opposite of taking on personal responsibility nor becoming the best version of yourself.
Men don’t work hard just for themselves. Men work hard for the ones they love.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @mudbloodvonfrei OP 19 Jun 2023
Or, alternatively, we have a bullshit economy inflated by a fiat fire hose and people are seeing various side effects of that, and responding the best way they can to the incentive structure around them. The guy isn't avoiding personal responsibility, he's looking for a job that provides the bare minimum so that he can provide value to himself, and maybe society, in other ways.
In a hard currency world, he'd probably work hard for a while (i.e. provide real value to others, because people won't easily part with hard currency), save up some coin and live off of it while finding meaning in other ways.
If I had my way, I'd have a market garden to feed my family and provide nutritious food to my neighbors. Maybe you view that as doing the bare minimum, maybe not. Instead, given the fiat treadmill incentive structure, I write code for a living.
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