I previously worked with a young woman who would hop jobs every 2-3y. She told me that the first thing she’d do after being at a job for 90 days is put in for her old job and see how much they’d pay to have her back.
Now, when she left us, I can assuredly say that she wouldn’t have gotten an offer to return because of pseudo-regulatory reasons and red tape, but the sheer hustle-mindedness struck me as impressive.
I’m sure she makes much more than I do now, and I clear a quarter mil doing 1099 work and have several decades of experience to sell.
In todays world and particularly in America, the game is entirely rigged for those who have money. In that regard I find it disingenuous to fault those who pursue the money therefore, being the only true security in this country.
"the game is entirely rigged for those who have money. "
I'd say the game's outcome for an individual is determined by whether or not that individual puts in the effort to grow an in-demand skillset (i.e. development of competency), followed by marketing their skillset.
I used to live in a tent. But during that time I began teaching myself software development skills. Now I make nearly $200k, 100% remotely.
The only reason my career worked out:
- I went to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and saw SWE as a top 20 fastest growing occupation, and as a field with a very high amount of job openings & among the highest pay rate. Yet requires no degree.
- While living in a tent in the US, and later got sick of living in a tent and drove into the developing country next door where I survived on a $5/day food budget (got malnourished, health declined a bit), I sat at a table and built my skills daily. Once I had decent skills, I marketed my skillset via open source projects, a web portfolio, and a linkedin presence
I literally just had a strategy which I knew was foolproof, and I knew the outcome was guaranteed because the data demonstrated such.
Now that you have earned such an amount, I’m sure you’ve put an amount of money away for safekeeping.
Let’s say something catastrophic happened. Doesn’t matter what exactly, the question is this: Is there ANY likelihood that you wouldn’t be able to secure a decent standard of living based on your in-hand capital? Can you see yourself in a tent ever again?
Once you have acquired a certain amount to provide for yourself, it’s easier to take risks. It’s easier to make moves. For people caught in wage traps with kids and debts, it’s not so easy.
I respect what you’ve done and I’m very proud for you. I know your future must be very bright if momentum counts for anything, because you’ve done wonderful work already. With that being said, it’s reductionist at best to say that your path is just freely replicable by anybody living in poverty. Particularly those who aren’t gifted towards computers. How’s a teacher supposed to make their way in America? Probably half of them are either living off food stamps or close to doing so. Should they give it up and just write Vue/React all day and take home their six figures?
This is far deeper an issue than can be discussed in HN comments anyhow. I hope you can see where I’m coming from.
Now, when she left us, I can assuredly say that she wouldn’t have gotten an offer to return because of pseudo-regulatory reasons and red tape, but the sheer hustle-mindedness struck me as impressive.
I’m sure she makes much more than I do now, and I clear a quarter mil doing 1099 work and have several decades of experience to sell.
In todays world and particularly in America, the game is entirely rigged for those who have money. In that regard I find it disingenuous to fault those who pursue the money therefore, being the only true security in this country.