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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 7th, 2023

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  • Most of the folks I talk to hear agree with me that things are going wrong

    That’s not surprising, though be careful on what the definition of “going wrong” is. For example, Emerson College recently put out the results of some polling part of which found that 67% of voters think the US is on the wrong track. It’s highly likely that 67% includes voters from all over the political map. But, while both a hardcore Trump/MAGA voter and a Bernie Bro voter might each say that the US is on the “wrong track”, we’d probably have trouble getting those two voters to reconcile on the color of the sky, let alone what the “right track” would be. Also, be wary of coworkers who actually just want to be left alone and will “go along to get along”. They will tacitly nod and agree with just about anything, so long as you go away and let them get back to work.

    or that x,y, or z is a problem, but not enough to do anything about it.

    Ok, but what is the ask? What are you expecting them to do? And why do you believe that they should be the ones doing it? Again, going back to my previous comment:
    Maybe they do care about your thing, but they have their own “most important thing” and if your thing and their thing are in contention, they are going to pick their thing.

    You may view things as so bad that everyone should be out in the streets protesting 24x7. They may not see it that way. They may put “protecting themselves” at a higher priority than protesting whatever it is you are upset about. This might be especially true if they have families to care for and that can drastically change how people prioritize things.

    Once again, I’d go back to understanding their beliefs and priorities. Why won’t they do the thing you want them to do? It probably comes down to those beliefs and priorities being more important to them than whatever it is you are promoting. And again, I would note your complete dismissal of their point of view. They have given you some insight as to why they aren’t taking action:
    " I want to do something, but I have to protect myself."

    It’s clear they prioritize their personal well-being over the perceived value of whatever you are asking them to do. Why is that? What is it that you are asking them to do that they see it as risky? If your goal is to organize something, can you work to provide them the perceived safety that would get them over that hump? Do they have other issues and their answer is just a proxy to avoid an argument? I’m afraid I’m just repeating myself here; but, you need to really understand them if you want them to change their minds.


  • The first thing I would ask is, have you made any attempts to really understand what motivates them and why they believe as they do? Given your flippant dismissal of their belief systems, I suspect you have just mentally bucketed them and, instead of really trying to understand them, you fall back on your per-conceived notions of what you think they believe. Without that understanding, you will never be able to “make people care”, because you are not treating them as fully formed people with their own beliefs and priorities. You expect that, if you just yell at them loudly enough, they will come around. They won’t and, if anything, they will just dig their heels in further. To them, you’re this guy:

    Not everyone has the same priorities you do. What you see as “the most important thing in the world” may fall much further down the list for someone else. They may not even see it in the same framing you do. Maybe they do care about your thing, but they have their own “most important thing” and if your thing and their thing are in contention, they are going to pick their thing. This is part of the reason we have politics in the first place, once you start dealing with other people and trying to decide what and how things should be prioritized and run, you are going to run into differing beliefs and priorities. It’s why most government polices generally suck and don’t get everything done. Because those policies are the result of compromise between people with different and often competing priorities. And yes, it may be that some of those other priorities come from bad information, though more often they will come from radically different base beliefs. And not understanding what those beliefs actually are means that you will not have any sort of basis for convincing them of anything.

    Changing peoples’ minds is hard. But, it starts from a place of understanding people and not dismissing their beliefs. Step back from your outrage for a moment and try to really get in their heads. You may not agree with their position, but you need to understand how they got there before you have any chance of getting them out of it. And, maybe you can’t. It may just be that they have some foundational beliefs which are completely at odds with what you want to convince them of. But, if you know and understand that, it becomes much easier to walk away from the situation and not waste time and energy on a hopeless fight. And while it feels good to yell at people, that basically never works and only serves to push them further away.



    • The Boomers expected to take the reigns of power and fix everything. Some things got better, many didn’t.
      • Remember, this was the generation of Free Love, Woodstock and the peace movement.
    • Gen X expected to take power and fix everything. They never fully did take power, but some things got better many didn’t.
      • Musk is part of this generation, he’s certainly on track to start “fixing” things. His definition of “fix” probably doesn’t line up with yours.
    • Millennials expected to take power and fix everything. Kinda a work in progress, but it’s not really happening.
    • And here you are, Gen Z, expecting to take power and fix everything. Maybe you’ll be the generation to break the cycle. And maybe your just as young, dumb and full of cum as all of the previous generations were as teenagers and young adults. I wish you luck. I also don’t see any reason to expect anything different.

    I think one of the major problems was best summed up by Douglas Adams:

    it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.

    Gen Z has those individuals in it. The narcissistic, charismatic power seeks who will tell you all the things you want to hear to get them elected, and then turn around and do whatever the fuck they want. And while our current system of Democracy isn’t doing a lot to fix that, it’s also better than a lot of the systems which have come before. The previous systems of “I have the biggest army, therefore I’m in charge” made for pretty terrible governments. Especially when supreme executive power was then vested in a baby because the previous guy in charge shot is load in the right woman and she popped out a boy nine months later. And that sort of system is always waiting in the wings to rear it’s ugly head again. Anytime someone talks about a “revolution”, bear in mind that they are talking about rolling the dice on that becoming the dominant system again. Moreover, the people talking about “revolution” are very often the same people who would implement said system. This is why people are watching Ahmed al-Sharaa in Syria closely. Maybe he’s going to be the guy who hands power to the people in some sort of democratic fashion. And maybe he’s just playing nice with Western media until he’s in a position to be the next Assad of Syria.

    And while I think a complete fix is impossible, so long as humans are involved, it is good for each generation to keep trying to make things better. So ya, go for it, try to save the world. But, also keep in mind that your elders aren’t really the problem, you need to look deeper than that and try to root the terrible people out, regardless of their age. You’ll fail, as there will always be another terrible person seeking power. But, maybe you can fail a bit closer and make the systems more robust to corruption than they currently are.


  • foreign intelligence partners … will curtail what they share with the US

    Wouldn’t be surprised if domestic intelligence agencies start curtailing what they share. The fact is that a TS/SCI isn’t that hard to get, if you aren’t a complete fuck up. And even folks who have been a complete fuck up in the past can still get one, if they stopped being a fuck up long enough ago. That many of the folks in Trump’s cabinet would be denied a clearance speaks to the level of fuck uppery that they have been up to recently. Gonna be an interesting four years with the Felon in Chief.


  • My friends know, and we usually get together and play games on a day designated as my birthday. It’s usually on the weekend before or after the actual day. As for remembering, if you know someone well enough to be present at their birthday, just write it down. You all have phones, don’t you? Honestly though, the older I get, the less it has mattered. It’s really just an excuse for us to get together. My wife gets me something sweet (usually a cinnamon roll), everyone sings “happy birthday” and we go back to whatever game is on the table. It’s nice to be thought of, but mostly I just want to be with friends and family.


  • Your graph is missing the more important factor: demand.
    I’m guessing you weren’t born into money, which is what most ultra wealthy people do. So failing that, you need to cultivate a skillset which includes doing something that other people want and are willing to pay for. And yes, that often means learning specialized, or dangerous skills. Take something like a high voltage electrician, they can make good moeny but they need a specific skillset, certifications, and fucking up can mean dying very quickly. Construction divers or underwater welders can earn good money as well. Though again, specific skillsets, certifications, and risks. On the less risky side, programmers can make good money, though that usually does require a lot of learning. IT and cybersecurity also fit this bill, though they do tend to follow your graph.

    In short, businesses pay for people because they have a need for something to get done. No need, no money. You can be the most knowledgeable person in the world about flaking stone tools, and you are going to be struggling. Another route to income is starting your own business, but this has similar pitfalls. Start a business which people aren’t interested in and you’re going to flounder. Also, running a business does take it’s own skillset, beyond the skillset involved in whatever the business’s focus area is. Though, done right, you can focus on running the business and hire people to do the other stuff.

    You are falling into a trap a lot of young, smart people do. You are assuming that knowledge and intelligence is what you need to succeed. It’s not your fault, you’ve been fed that line for the last 12-ish years of your life by schools and society. It’s bullshit. They do help, but knowing the right people, luck and the ability to socialize are more important. In short, go to business school and go into management. If that doesn’t appeal to you (and that is perfectly valid) then you need to find and learn skills that businesses are willing to pay for. At the moment, that probably means a trade, like electrician or welder; or, a technical role such as engineering, IT or programming. If your interest is in the Humanities, sorry you’re probably fucked.



  • I join at exactly the designated time. If you wanted me there five minutes earlier, then schedule the meeting five minutes earlier. Don’t jerk me around with some expectation that I’m going to do anything other than what you asked for. Also, most of the folks I work with tend to be booked with lots of back to back meetings; so, no one is showing up early anyway. We all show up at the designated time and anyone late can catch up when they show up.

    The “early is on time” mentality makes some sense for physical meetings and appointments. For virtual meetings, it just demonstrates that the person has no understanding of how technology works.



  • the FDA actually has less than 10 employees. Everyone else is an outside contractor.

    You can search for FDA employees here (the US Government has a lot of transparency around employees). Also, it wouldn’t surprise me to find a lot of contractors in scientific and technical roles in the FDA, the FedGov uses a lot of contractors. I actually spent time, at a site, first as a contractor and then as a direct employee. The only thing that materially changed was whether or not my badge said “contractor” on it. I literally sat in the same seat and did the same job. Pay was pretty close, but the benefits were way better. The line between contractor and govie was pretty blury and more of a running joke than a real wall. Maybe that was just the departments I worked for, but I suspect my experience was more typical.



  • First off: time you enjoy is not time wasted. So, while gaming and watching TV (not just sports) may not be activities which provide some sort of self-improvement, they can be useful activities in providing for relaxation and stress relief. Humans generally don’t do well when forced to be “on” every waking minute of the day. We need downtime to decompress and allow our brains to relax. “Play time” is a useful thing. Don’t just abandon your enjoyed activities because they are looked down upon by some segments of society. Like all things though, they can be taken to an extreme. If you find that those activities were interfering with work, socializing or getting things done, which need to be done (e.g. home maintenance, self-care, etc.) that’s when you should start worrying about addiction.

    That said, if you are looking for other “play time” activities you can take up in the comfort of your own home, there are quite a few:

    • Reading - find books you enjoy and read them.
    • Model building - hit a hobby store and find models you find interesting, buy and build one.
    • Model rocketry - Similar to model building, but you get to shoot them into the sky.
    • Home brewing - It’s like chemistry, but you get to drink the end products. Check your local laws before starting.
    • Home distilling - As brewing, except the results are even more fun. Again, check you local laws.
    • Painting/Drawing/Art - Why not make something you like to look at?
    • 3d Printing - Learn to hate first layers. Maybe make something cool.
    • Wood working - Build stuff, enjoy the smell of sawdust.
    • Metal working - Whether blacksmithing or welding.

    If you are willing to get out and “touch grass”, instead of watching sports, you could do some. Though, this often costs money and means dealing with people. On the upshot, you might meet some nice people and improve your health.

    In short, find something you enjoy doing and don’t be ashamed of doing it. Just don’t let it interfere with the things in life you need to get done.