I actually do work only 40 to 50 hours a week (usually no more than 40), make around $45k a year, and have time to enjoy life. It helps that my parents are well-off and generous with their money. I also live in Los Angeles.
I don't believe that people should have to get lucky, move to a small town or the Midwest, or settle for an old house to have more leisure. The entire country's goal should be to achieve more money and more leisure, with work approaching zero as much as possible. (Intelligent robots, anyone?) That's called progress, and it makes modernization worthwhile.
I also happen to be a woman in IT who would leave the profession entirely if I could make money by myself on the Internet or through investments, though I would probably still do software and web development on the side just to keep my skills sharp.
I agree with you. I'm a single childless woman who would not want to work exorbitant hours or be constantly on-call. I'm not sure why men would be any more willing unless they're desperate for money. As it happens, my job sort of does require me to be constantly on-call, but because the part of the system I maintain is fairly small and non-critical in the short term, I seldom have to do anything on weekends or after hours.
IMO, modern American society is a failure in terms of work ethic. As society progresses, people should be working less for more money and more leisure, not the other way around.
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I actually do work only 40 to 50 hours a week (usually no more than 40), make around $45k a year, and have time to enjoy life. It helps that my parents are well-off and generous with their money. I also live in Los Angeles.
I don't believe that people should have to get lucky, move to a small town or the Midwest, or settle for an old house to have more leisure. The entire country's goal should be to achieve more money and more leisure, with work approaching zero as much as possible. (Intelligent robots, anyone?) That's called progress, and it makes modernization worthwhile.
I also happen to be a woman in IT who would leave the profession entirely if I could make money by myself on the Internet or through investments, though I would probably still do software and web development on the side just to keep my skills sharp.
I agree with you. I'm a single childless woman who would not want to work exorbitant hours or be constantly on-call. I'm not sure why men would be any more willing unless they're desperate for money. As it happens, my job sort of does require me to be constantly on-call, but because the part of the system I maintain is fairly small and non-critical in the short term, I seldom have to do anything on weekends or after hours.
IMO, modern American society is a failure in terms of work ethic. As society progresses, people should be working less for more money and more leisure, not the other way around.