Many techies want Biden. Others want Trump. Many would probably prefer someone else. But very, very few would see the integrity of this election as more than an intern-level joke.
If you've ever worked in an environment where money was changing hands (banking, trading, etc) or where security was the real deal (three-letter agencies), or even in the insurance industry, you know that election integrity controls are a half-baked freshman project by comparison.
(For myself, I don't care who wins. I don't believe it matters. But don't piss on me and tell me it's raining.)
Politics is a realm the average person has no power in, yet many adhere to tribal, cargo cult fashions and canards that divide-and-conquer people into atomized groups of one. Is that political or apolitical? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Throw politics out the window and get behind policies individually.
I've been thinking of making sure that my age is clear on my LinkedIn/resume/etc., for just this reason. Even then, it's clear that quite a few interviews I've gone on have been "fake", in the sense of being useful for EEOC stats, but with no bona fide intention to hire. Which is frustrating, because at the end of the day, interviews are themselves unpaid work.
These days, I've "solved" the problem by just taking lower-paying jobs. No one I work with really understands what I do--they just know that when they bring me the harder problems, they generally get solved. It's kind of nice in a way to be king, even if it is in a puddle.
Fair or not, the market always wins. And if the market tells you that you're not wanted, best to go elsewhere.
You're not wrong. But I might put that as, "Looks matter to most people, because they haven't yet discovered that looks don't matter, and in fact conventional attractiveness can be a noxious poison.".
I met my current (and last) wife on OKCupid. Only messaged two or three women, she the last. We've been married now for four years and get along like two peas in a pod. Luck, I guess. (I certainly had it coming.)
Although no kids were involved in my case, "mere" alimony can be crushing. I spent a several years living on $625/mo (the residue after alimony and payroll taxes). And no, I wasn't particularly well off to begin with, left with maybe $500K net worth after the split.
So, beware. On the other hand, being poor-ish makes you realize that possession don't matter so much after all. And drinking will pave over a lot of unhappiness.
As for sex toys and porn, there's a lot to be said for them. We might actually be far happier if we reserved man/woman sex just for reproduction. And even then, maybe artificial insemination would be the way to go.
One of the best things about the Internet is that one can read literally thousands of tales of relationship woe if one cares to. If that had been available way back when, it would have saved me a lot of grief.
>We might actually be far happier if we reserved man/woman sex just for reproduction.
I think it'll be just the opposite.
Genetic engineering will evolve to the point where it will be irresponsible to rely on the random variation of sexual intercourse to reproduce. Instead, methods like IVF and the like will be the only way to responsibly (ethically/morally) reproduce. Sex will then be solely for pleasure/connection.
$500k net worth would put you nearly in the 20th percentile for US household wealth. The low post-alimony income, from your job I guess, does sound very difficult, but do you really consider that level of wealth to be "poor-ish"?
I'm well aware that I have nothing to complain about, money-wise, when considered on a global scale. (To say nothing of the historical scale.)
I've never missed a meal. And a precious person in my life gives me a roof over my head, use of her car, food, and most importantly, her support.
At the same time, all of my cash is gone. I've had to drain my retirement accounts, and it turns out that alimony/penury is not a valid excuse, so you pay the 10% penalty for early withdrawal. It's embarrassing to explain to HR why I'm taking 30 allowances on my W-4 when everyone else takes only a few. I can't take the company 401k matches, because I don't have the money to do so. More money lost. The deductions for alimony are mostly wasted, because if alimony takes most of your income, you didn't owe taxes anyway. You can't use it in a future year--you just lose the value of it.
A lot of "normal" financial/tax regimes are stacked against you when you're under alimony. Had to explain to family why a contribution to my 401k would cost me 10% of the contribution in taxes, right away. Seems inconceivable, but that's how it works out. Alimony? Fuck you, buddy.
If you want my lesson, don't get married. Nor live in any sort of common law situation.
I have nothing to say about kids. If you get someone pregnant, expect to pay for the next 20 years. I have no particular problem with that. Children are always the highest priority. (Better not to bring them into the world, though.)
It was out there -- there were dead bedrooms in Dear Abby, divorce statistics in the Reader's Digest, differing male and female sex drive in the psychology textbooks. Commitment always looked like a lousy bet.
Maybe. I grossed around $300K at a JS competitor, but quit after a few years. These can be unpleasant places to work. High concentration of jerks. Highly secretive, which means it can be hard to find useful things to do. And they're rolling in dough, which means that there's very little motivation to do things right or care about retention.
On top of that, cost-of-living in NY is very high, taxes on high salaries are very high, and it makes you a target (e.g., divorce, lawsuits, etc.).
And as a final cherry, you'd be using OCaml all day, which while interesting, is a language you'll never see again in your career.
It's one thing to choose to suffer. It's another thing entirely to ask your loved ones to suffer.
The current cultural revolution we are living through is simply mowing people down, decent or not. Take a look at this letter from the MIT chaplain, who was fired for posting it. Although I am not religious, it is a simple statement of hard truths by an apparently decent man. There is simply nothing in here for a reasonable person to object to.
It is a sort of suffering, but I no longer post on the Internet, even in places like HN. It's just too dangerous. There are a lot of smart people out there, and if they want to find you, they will. And as we're seeing, violence is not off the table.
What was the crucible of Christianity? Caesar and Rome, the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin; an unreasonable man at the head of an unreasonable government, and unreasonable men at the head of an unreasonable assembly. The similarities are not coincidental.
The martyrs of early Christianity are recognized as saints because they were decent people who were killed for no reason but their witnessing of truths others refused to publicly acknowledge--truths that rejected the false authority of both tribal religion and the state.
You and your loved ones are going to suffer, regardless. If you will not take a stand for truth now, it will fall to your children or to the children of your loved ones.
I admire the saints, and in an abstract way, I admire you.
But I also take the counsel of Ecclesiastes, which says in essence, nothing that you do will matter. The earth will turn, the rivers will run to the sea, and it will be that way forever and ever. Victory does not come to the righteous, but rather horrors come to us all without discrimination.
Take what God has given for the moment, a few specks of relative happiness, and be happy with that.
Jackboots of whatever flavor may be coming, but there is little we can do. Prepare as you can. I hear hoofbeats.
Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart do you good in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and by the sight of your eyes, and know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. Put away anger from your heart, and put away evil from your body, for youth and lack of understanding are vanity.
Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years arrive in which you will say, “I have no wish for them.” Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain; in the day when the guards of the house shake and the strong men are twisted, and the women who grind ceased working, because they are few, and those who look through the windows will be dimmed, and they will lock the doors in the market, because of the weakness of the sound of the woman who grinds, and one will rise up at the sound of the sparrow, and all the daughters of song will be brought low.
Indeed, they will see from heights, and terrors will be in the road; when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper becomes fat, and the caper-berry is scattered, because mortals went to their eternal home, and the mourners circled in the market; before the cord of money is ruined and the blossom of gold is crushed and the pitcher is broken at the fountain and the wheel at the cistern races together and the dust returns to the earth as it was and the spirit returns to the God who gave it.
Vanity of vanities, said the Ecclesiast; all is vanity.
Beyond the fact that the Ecclesiast was wise, he also taught the people knowledge, and an ear will track out an arrangement of parables.
The Ecclesiast sought many ways to find the words he wanted, even something written of straight forwardness, words of truth.
The words of the wise are like ox-goads and like nails firmly planted; those from the collections were given from one shepherd and a surplus of them. My son, beware of making many books; there is no end, and much study is a wearying of the flesh.
The end of the message; all is heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments, for this is every person. For God will bring every work in judgment, in everything overlooked, whether good or whether evil.
If you've ever worked in an environment where money was changing hands (banking, trading, etc) or where security was the real deal (three-letter agencies), or even in the insurance industry, you know that election integrity controls are a half-baked freshman project by comparison.
(For myself, I don't care who wins. I don't believe it matters. But don't piss on me and tell me it's raining.)