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Comment by DocTomoe | Hacker News Reader

> Because most of us don't have the luxury to take a break from work.

If you ask the 5 whys, you'll see that you actually can take a break from work, you are just unwilling to deal with a (potentially rapid) change in lifestyle.

I know enough IT people who at age 40 decided to become potters, or motorcycle repair folks, or blacksmiths. They immediately stopped earning six figures. They live in metropolitan areas no longer. But they all seem to be a lot happier now.

No one is going to applaud you for your money high score when you leave that body of yours. Life is about enjoying the dance, not racing to the end.

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> you actually can take a break from work, you are just unwilling to deal with a (potentially rapid) change in lifestyle.

A "change in lifestyle" can also mean becoming homeless and dying of starvation. In that case, true, I am quite unwilling to deal with such a change.

This is some fatalistic nonsense. There is a long way to go for an IT person to die of starvation. It would have to be intentional: wanting to die of starvation.

I don't understand a single thing you're talking about. The path is very simple:

    don't work -> run out of money -> unable to afford food and rent -> work again / die of starvation

Can you specify which part of the path is intentional? Why would anyone want to die of starvation?

If you are located in the US, anyone can get free food to avoid starvation. Food stamps and food banks are two of the most common options.

>work again / die of starvation

If you get to this step, the choice is yours. What do you estimate the chance of not being able to find work at? 1%,… 0.00001%?

The graph loops at "work again / die of starvation", which by definition means I cannot afford not to work.

> What do you estimate the chance of not being able to find work at?

How is that relevant? My point is that I cannot afford not to work.

>My point is that I cannot afford not to work

I think you are getting the skepticism from others because most of the time these limitations are artificial and self imposed.

I certainly have felt that way when I was severely depressed and fed up with my job/life.

I felt helpless and blamed my situation, when in reality I was simply refusing to take ownership of my choices. I could quit my job, I could leave my partner, I could abandon my kids and family. I could go sleep in a park, I could buy a van and travel the country.

Why do you think you cannot afford to not work?

> I felt helpless and blamed my situation, when in reality I was simply refusing to take ownership of my choices. I could quit my job, I could leave my partner, I could abandon my kids and family. I could go sleep in a park, I could buy a van and travel the country.

The fact that you have a hypothetical possibility to do whatever does not mean anything in the real world. Besides, I am not depressed and I do not want to change my life, I like my life, I just want to not have to work.

> Why do you think you cannot afford to not work?

Why is it so hard to imagine that there is a corner in this world where not everything is taken care of for you by the big daddy govt?

To answer your question - if I were to stop working, two simple things would happen:

- I would not be able to afford rent

- I would not be able to afford food

OK. I don't have much sympathy if your only point is that you want to have things but not work or pay for them.

OK. I don't care much for your sympathy.

You are the one that moved the goal posts all the way from:

"most of us don't have the luxury to take a break from work."

"I want to be taken care of and others to do all the work"

Why do you have to be so obnoxious?

The path is not realistic, there's a lot between "don't work -> run out of money", including using up savings that you had, taking up unemployment benefits, finding another kind of work or going for part time, getting help from a large number of charities... And finally, if you end up actually on the verge of starvation, as an IT person you most probably can get another job even with a gap in your resume.

The whole "if you don't work you die" is very dramatic but not very true in the west, and most people that die of poverty are dying from other reasons than starvation, mostly drugs and cold.

Strangely, I'd bet that the strongest link between poverty, food and dying is through obesity, not starvation

> there's a lot between "don't work -> run out of money", including using up savings that you had, taking up unemployment benefits, finding another kind of work or going for part time, getting help from a large number of charities... And finally, if you end up actually on the verge of starvation, as an IT person you most probably can get another job even with a gap in your resume.

So basically:

    don't work -> run out of money -> work again

?

That's not what I said.

I mentioned that one of the solution to stop a specific job is to pick a different line of work, and that even if worse comes to worse, the jump away from work is not that risky because you can come back.

But I also mentioned a lot of alternatives, including charity and government benefits, which are enough in most western countries to not starve.

> one of the solution to stop a specific job is to pick a different line of work

That does not count as "taking a break" from work.

> But I also mentioned a lot of alternatives, including charity and government benefits, which are enough in most western countries to not starve.

I see your point, but not all of us are lucky to be born in such a place. I do admit that my bitterness may come from the fact that I live in a country where the social program is... not really the greatest, to say the least.

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