Even if you are a "wage slave" its perfectly possible to sock away a considerable amount of money if you don't eat out, don't smoke/drink, buy/lease a new car all the time, buy a smaller house, don't do trendy things, or rent out rooms, find a hobby that pays etc.
So, if you choose to devote your whole life to the acquisition of money, then you will probably end up with quite a lot of money? Who cares about actually living and enjoying your life, as long as you're a good little capitalist?
And on a similar theme, there is nothing to stop anyone getting as rich as Bill Gates or Warren Buffet. So if you're not a multi-billionaire, you're just a fucking slacker and little better than a welfare cheat.
America has long been, and still is, a country where anyone has a chance to make something of themselves. Yes, it isn't a big chance
Exactly. The problem is that you can be intelligent, honest, hard-working, god-fearing (or whatever you consider to be good qualities) and still not make it. Just because some people make it doesn't mean that everyone is master of their destiny.
While in general I agree that America has much less social mobility than it pretends to, Bill Clinton came from a middle-class background (at best) and did go on to become president and a multimillionaire based of his talent and ability.
I suggest you look up the currently fashionable term "outlier" or the old-fashioned "exception that proves the rule".
The outcome of ones life is by-and-large a result of the choices one makes.
Not really. There are too many external and internal factors over which you have little or no control. Life is far from pre-destined, but it is equally far from the entirely self-determined result of the exercise of unfettered free will that some people like to think it is. Especially if they're rich and "successful."
Staying where your parents were, let alone upward mobility is gone in America.
In what America was that ever true? For most, setting aside luck, regardless of what you do, the class you were born in is the class you die in. You might move a little upwards within your class, but it was rare to find someone in middle class breaking out into the upper class. They would never have allowed it. Even those of us with better incomes are 'nouveau' and are never truly accepted.
Here in the UK they always used to say it takes three generations to make a gentleman: first generation made the money, the next one was brought up with still socially unacceptable parents who talked and dressed funny, third generation was posh as anyone else.
There is always some form of social mobility, or else no one would bother trying to get rich. It's just very limited. Sport analogy: it's a bit like any football team being allowed to enter the FA Cup here. In theory, a minor team can win it, but in practice it happens quite rarely (and never if you're a non-League club, as far as I remember). But it's still better than just having the competition for Premier Leqague clubs only by law.
Each system has their merits, one that I see commonly used to push metric temperatures is "Hey Americans, what temperature does water freeze at? It's easy, 0!" while glossing over what salt water freezes at.
That is a rubbish counter-argument, since the temperature sea water freezes at is variable according to its salt content.
It's a bit like saying that, because water boils at a lower temperature at the top of a tall mountain, there's no advantage in having the normal boiling point at 100 degrees celsius.
So, I'll admit, I know what a pound is. I can estimate a pound, ten pounds, fifty pounds, pretty closely just by hefting it. Kilos? I'm a little lost. I've never picked up weights measured in kilos. But, that wouldn't stop me for long - I'd just start hefting those 500 gram bags of flour to see what a 1/2 kilo feels like, and kilo bags of corn meal, etc
For most practical situations, 500g is close enough to a pound (454g). If you need to be more accurate than +/- 10% you should probably be using scales anyway.
Here in the UK, we old-timers still use hundredweights (and especially half-hundredweights for things like bags of potatoes). A UK half hundredweight is 56 lbs and therefore very close to 25Kg, so the new metric 25kg bags of sand or whatever are nice and easy to judge.
Hi everyone, I'm coming to this thread a bit late but just wondered whether Windows 7 64 bit had an XP compatibility mode to let you run 32 or even 16 bit software?
The shortage of doctors in the U.S. is due to the AMA cartel's control over university accreditation and corresponding rent-seeking state laws requiring accreditation.
Yes, clearly the better alternative is to allow anyone to practise as a doctor and let the market sort it out. Because it's so much more satisfying to sue a quack after he's butchered one of your loved ones, rather than letting the government interfere in advance.
Here in the UK lawyers and accountants have a similar set up. You leave college, sign a contract to be trained and get your qualifications paid for by the firm, then at the end it's up to you either to stay or go.
It's only two generations ago that the professions worked on the basis of you (or rather your parents) paying the partners for the privelege of joining the firm and getting trained. You do at least get a reasonable salary nowadays.
In case you're wondering why the firms bother, they do get a lot of chargeable hours out of you while you're learning/studying too.
While that's better than a kick in the nuts with a pair of steelcapped boots, it's hardly riches beyond the dreams of avarice. Anyone capable of qualifying as an airline pilot and handling the stress of being responsible for the lives of several hundred people each time they put their working clothes on could quite easily handle a job as a lawyer, CFO, investment banker or something else much higher paying, standing on their head.
I came for an anti-government post and got it frosty piss.
Clearly, we should just let the free market sort it out. If airlines choose to use crappy pilots who have only ever "flown" in a WW2 combat flight simulator, and those airlines have lots of multi-death accidents, they will be sued out of existence by the deceased people's relatives, plus the good pilots will earn more money from the better airlines as they won't have to pay for ludicrous government-enforced standards.
I think of all responses to the apparent truth of AGW, the "there's nothing we can do about it anyway" one is the most depressing and dishonest.
I almost prefer the people who flat out deny the reality, since at least their refusal to do anything about it is logical (in the sense that a paranoid schizophrenic shooting himself in the face to silence the voices in his head is logical.)
I think it's sad when the first post is by an obvious oil company shill with the intellectual capacity of a Creationist saying "but evolution's not true, it's only a theory!"
On the other hand if the answer to the question was, "because I hate my manager." I'd agree with you completely about it being unprofessional.
You just need to spin it by saying that you have profound professional and ethical concerns about your manager, but because of your innate loyalty you don't feel happy about blowing the whistle on them. Or something.
Maybe he has more than enough money to retire and do something more interesting than project manage the release of a new version of a piece of software.
Slashdot Mirror
Even if you are a "wage slave" its perfectly possible to sock away a considerable amount of money if you don't eat out, don't smoke/drink, buy/lease a new car all the time, buy a smaller house, don't do trendy things, or rent out rooms, find a hobby that pays etc.
So, if you choose to devote your whole life to the acquisition of money, then you will probably end up with quite a lot of money? Who cares about actually living and enjoying your life, as long as you're a good little capitalist?
People like you make me weep
And on a similar theme, there is nothing to stop anyone getting as rich as Bill Gates or Warren Buffet. So if you're not a multi-billionaire, you're just a fucking slacker and little better than a welfare cheat.
America has long been, and still is, a country where anyone has a chance to make something of themselves. Yes, it isn't a big chance
Exactly. The problem is that you can be intelligent, honest, hard-working, god-fearing (or whatever you consider to be good qualities) and still not make it. Just because some people make it doesn't mean that everyone is master of their destiny.
While in general I agree that America has much less social mobility than it pretends to, Bill Clinton came from a middle-class background (at best) and did go on to become president and a multimillionaire based of his talent and ability.
I suggest you look up the currently fashionable term "outlier" or the old-fashioned "exception that proves the rule".
The outcome of ones life is by-and-large a result of the choices one makes.
Not really. There are too many external and internal factors over which you have little or no control. Life is far from pre-destined, but it is equally far from the entirely self-determined result of the exercise of unfettered free will that some people like to think it is. Especially if they're rich and "successful."
Staying where your parents were, let alone upward mobility is gone in America.
In what America was that ever true? For most, setting aside luck, regardless of what you do, the class you were born in is the class you die in. You might move a little upwards within your class, but it was rare to find someone in middle class breaking out into the upper class. They would never have allowed it. Even those of us with better incomes are 'nouveau' and are never truly accepted.
Here in the UK they always used to say it takes three generations to make a gentleman: first generation made the money, the next one was brought up with still socially unacceptable parents who talked and dressed funny, third generation was posh as anyone else.
There is always some form of social mobility, or else no one would bother trying to get rich. It's just very limited. Sport analogy: it's a bit like any football team being allowed to enter the FA Cup here. In theory, a minor team can win it, but in practice it happens quite rarely (and never if you're a non-League club, as far as I remember). But it's still better than just having the competition for Premier Leqague clubs only by law.
Yeah, because guys like you will only mate regardless of species.
The advantage of inter-species mating is that (as I understand it) you can't breed. So that's one less thing to worry about!
Each system has their merits, one that I see commonly used to push metric temperatures is "Hey Americans, what temperature does water freeze at? It's easy, 0!" while glossing over what salt water freezes at.
That is a rubbish counter-argument, since the temperature sea water freezes at is variable according to its salt content.
It's a bit like saying that, because water boils at a lower temperature at the top of a tall mountain, there's no advantage in having the normal boiling point at 100 degrees celsius.
So, I'll admit, I know what a pound is. I can estimate a pound, ten pounds, fifty pounds, pretty closely just by hefting it. Kilos? I'm a little lost. I've never picked up weights measured in kilos. But, that wouldn't stop me for long - I'd just start hefting those 500 gram bags of flour to see what a 1/2 kilo feels like, and kilo bags of corn meal, etc
For most practical situations, 500g is close enough to a pound (454g). If you need to be more accurate than +/- 10% you should probably be using scales anyway.
Here in the UK, we old-timers still use hundredweights (and especially half-hundredweights for things like bags of potatoes). A UK half hundredweight is 56 lbs and therefore very close to 25Kg, so the new metric 25kg bags of sand or whatever are nice and easy to judge.
Hi everyone, I'm coming to this thread a bit late but just wondered whether Windows 7 64 bit had an XP compatibility mode to let you run 32 or even 16 bit software?
Thanks.
The shortage of doctors in the U.S. is due to the AMA cartel's control over university accreditation and corresponding rent-seeking state laws requiring accreditation.
Yes, clearly the better alternative is to allow anyone to practise as a doctor and let the market sort it out. Because it's so much more satisfying to sue a quack after he's butchered one of your loved ones, rather than letting the government interfere in advance.
Most of the upsides are:
You get to fly planes for a living.
You get to wear a pilot hat and put bars on your sleeves.
I always assumed that "you get to have sex with lots of attractive young women" was the main upside to being a pilot.
i'd rather fly on a fully automated. or remote operated plane, where human errors are less likely.
Do you really not think the airlines would be all over that like a rash if they thought they could get away with it?
What's the business case for high speed rail?
That not all journeys are for business?
Here in the UK lawyers and accountants have a similar set up. You leave college, sign a contract to be trained and get your qualifications paid for by the firm, then at the end it's up to you either to stay or go.
It's only two generations ago that the professions worked on the basis of you (or rather your parents) paying the partners for the privelege of joining the firm and getting trained. You do at least get a reasonable salary nowadays.
In case you're wondering why the firms bother, they do get a lot of chargeable hours out of you while you're learning/studying too.
Why am I not surprised that the libertarian with the malware download link completely glossed over the low pay and bad schedule?
When you're a nut every solution starts to look like a wrench coming to twist your head off..
captains top out at minimum salaries of $165,278
While that's better than a kick in the nuts with a pair of steelcapped boots, it's hardly riches beyond the dreams of avarice. Anyone capable of qualifying as an airline pilot and handling the stress of being responsible for the lives of several hundred people each time they put their working clothes on could quite easily handle a job as a lawyer, CFO, investment banker or something else much higher paying, standing on their head.
250 hours is the minimum for a commercial rating
So much for that geezer who said you had to practise something for 10,000 hours to be good at it.
*golfclap*
I came for an anti-government post and got it frosty piss.
Clearly, we should just let the free market sort it out. If airlines choose to use crappy pilots who have only ever "flown" in a WW2 combat flight simulator, and those airlines have lots of multi-death accidents, they will be sued out of existence by the deceased people's relatives, plus the good pilots will earn more money from the better airlines as they won't have to pay for ludicrous government-enforced standards.
Something like that.
I think of all responses to the apparent truth of AGW, the "there's nothing we can do about it anyway" one is the most depressing and dishonest.
I almost prefer the people who flat out deny the reality, since at least their refusal to do anything about it is logical (in the sense that a paranoid schizophrenic shooting himself in the face to silence the voices in his head is logical.)
I think it's sad when the first post is by an obvious oil company shill with the intellectual capacity of a Creationist saying "but evolution's not true, it's only a theory!"
On the other hand if the answer to the question was, "because I hate my manager." I'd agree with you completely about it being unprofessional.
You just need to spin it by saying that you have profound professional and ethical concerns about your manager, but because of your innate loyalty you don't feel happy about blowing the whistle on them. Or something.
Maybe he has more than enough money to retire and do something more interesting than project manage the release of a new version of a piece of software.
That is what General David Petraeus found the hard way. Wife is good. Girlfriend is good. But Wife && girlfriend is !good.
That depends very much on whether or not they are (a) bi-curious and (b) un-camera-shy.
Even if having a blonde wife OR a redhead girlfriend might be good, having a blonde wife AND a redhead girlfriend might not be good at all.
It's a risk I'd be prepared to take.