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When he doesn't write about politics or economics — topics on which he's outrageously incompetent — Ganesh makes excellent observations (e.g., here #874003). Here's one...one that I will confess I'm still slightly too young to fully embrace.
He's out traveling and marvels at how nice it is to be childless and no longer as poor/income constrained as he would have been earlier in his life.
"in my twenties, these tours would have been far beyond my means. Later in life, they might be beyond my physical capacity"
He says he'd happily choose 43, his current age, over either 28 or 70.
the equidistant age is when someone is likeliest to have the Goldilocks conditions of surplus income and the surplus energy with which to enjoy it.
Booze window too is better: at too elevated an age, it interferes with medication and hangovers are a biiiitch (my words, not his lol!); at too young age, there isn't usually enough dough to taste the good stuff.
He obviously suffers from what's now known as "the JD Vance attack": being a male cat lady (ie, no kids), his value judgements might not be properly aligned.
Whatcha think, Stackers?

Non-paywalled here: https://archive.md/cAMXS
Pitiful musings of a person with no pro-social obligations and no lasting legacy.
yes I'm feeling salty today
(also, don't mean to offend anyone... but as a parent struggling with kids, one does get tired of hearing from people without kids extolling the pleasantries of their life without obligations...)
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Exactly my feeling too.
I remember being younger and finding this sort of thing appealing. After having a kid, though, I look at people like this with a great deal of pity. I remember thinking "Oh my god, that's all her life is going to be." about a relative who chose not to have kids and is about that age. It really hit me in a deeply existential way.
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Even though my saltiness while writing the post were real, I kind of regret writing it. But not enough to delete.
It would be nice if people stopped judging each other for how we all live our lives. I think I was reacting in annoyance to the people without kids who like to rub their lifestyles in others faces... but I realize that parents can do that too when they say things like "your life is not meaningful," or "who will take care of you when you're older."
So, I repent of my saltiness... I am guilty of the very sin that drove me to that anger, haha. Something something about the log in my own eye.
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Nah, no worries. Saltiness is always welcome on my posts
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My reaction really isn't out of annoyance or anything. I just remember being in that place emotionally and I'm so much more fulfilled now that those folks make me sad.
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I've started to see that perspective too... like, "oh lord, these people don't get life. Like why we're here, what we're supposed to do."
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I was slow to the party, but I'm eternally grateful that I figured it out in time.
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Tell us how you really feel!
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As a fellow 43 year old with no children... yea, there's some pretty nice perks.
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What a coincidence of age! Lovely :)
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55 sats \ 4 replies \ @OT 14 Apr
I found out that having kids beats all the freedoms you get do have without them.
I don't regret anything about having kids late, but I think having kids in your 20's might be better. By the time they're ready to leave the house you will then have this kind of freedom in your 40's or 50's.
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I'm with you on that. Unfortunately, I didn't realize it in time. I'll just have to take care of my ~HealthAndFitness, so I'm still able to enjoy everything once the kid is off on her own.
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30 sats \ 0 replies \ @OT 15 Apr
Health definitely rises as a priority in the middle ages.
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That is the dream, eh.
If only I were more mature and insightful in my twenties
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @OT 15 Apr
I wasted too many years.... Anyway, no regrets
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Booze window has already happened to me and l am only 34. One beer is enough to knock me down.
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HAHAH, I know right...
Sometimes, though, I can drink an insane amount and still feel nothing
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I cant even imagine how bad it would be when mixing with medicine. My hangovers have become worse as l age.
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I think it is cope. There are a lot of childless 40 and 50 somethings that try to boast about their amazing lifestyles of wealth, travel and no child rearing obligations. I think deep down they are miserable. Probably why he likes booze so much.
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if we're picking ages, maybe 35 would be better but i mean, yeah, duh, having more money and freedom to do whatever is going to feel good.
Will his soul be less fulfilled? maybe, having kids adds a new demention to the human experiance for sure, but hey, if you're going to be a male cat lady, might as well enjoy the ride
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Ngl I love my weekly dose of alcohol, unlike some Stackers who are clearly teetotallers, but I feel that booze age is a trivial thing to zero in on n flex about in the grand scheme of things.
I’m around his age and saddled with two children. I used to be a hardcore traveller, but actually I don’t miss my jet-setting lifestyle so much. What bugs me most about parenting is the sheer mundaneness of it all. Every day unfolds like the other, and the adrenaline-craving part of me just yearns for some free will to do random stuff just because I can
I do think that middle age brings with it a serene, even if begrudging, acceptance about life. I am at peace with my current situation in life, granted that I worked my way through a lot of existentialist angst in my 20s. Quarter-life crisis survivor. I wish that he could have explored this aspect instead of booze
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The "I am at peace" thing is unbelievably important. Underappreciated somehow
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I will be able to answer only at the end of my journey... cause i can not know what will be my last years of living
BTW, each period of life is diferent (physicaly, knowledge, experiences, activities, location, friends/partner, brain activity.....) so it can not be compare
What? Younger is better. There was once upon a time societal advantage of being older, but with such a difference in young and old people with this is no longer the case. Younger is better always.
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A lot of it depends on your values, aspirations and luck. If you want to perpetuate your dna then middle age can be hard work. It also depends on your luck and past efforts, or lack thereof.
In my 60s now but feel a lot freer in most ways than anytime prior except perhaps 20s. Thanks in no small part to Bitcoin. Don't have to work, but still can. When there is no/less financial pressure, work becomes a lot more enjoyable!
Sure booze hits your body harder later in life so I have virtually stopped consuming it. Now I see booze as a poison that I nonetheless spent/squandered a lot of time and energy consuming...it does give a nice high but it is also largely a toxic delusion...like most drugs.
Body starts to make complaints too, which is not fun. And then comes death...the final release from all ego and materialism. Might take some sats with me, if there's any left...
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