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Comment by reactordev | Hacker News Reader

Who else is responsible for you?

You have two options. Continue to point fingers and complain and be broke, or start putting $100/mo in VOO and save what little money you have for your future?

I know it sucks. I know income inequality is huge. I know the only way out of this is to put in sweat equity. I know the only way to put food on the table is to have a second job at a gas station. I’ve been there. However, as much as you DON’T want to hear it - the only way out of your mess is by you working your way out of your mess.

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As I said, I agree with taking personal responsibility - I'm not sure why you're still trying to fight me on that.

> You have two options. Continue to point fingers and complain and be broke, or start putting $100/mo in VOO and save what little money you have for your future?

The imaginary person you're trying to give this advice to graduated from university eighteen months ago and has been living in their parents' house ever since, applying for jobs non-stop. Their income is $0 per month. They are entirely unable to apply your advice; applying your advice is something they aspire to.

If my child was living with me for 18 months post graduation, they would have any job that pays > $0. I don't care if it's McDonalds, but they would be working.

Yup. At 17 I worked temp agencies, factory floors, making bricks, plastic injection molding, data entry, anything that put money in my account.

It’s not a career. It’s just a job.

save and invest only makes sense if you can afford to not pull all savings every 3-5 years due to some unfortunate life event I feel like.

I'm pretty well off but my friends are in that siutation

And how would they have fared without the money?

Some folks I know died in those situations.

That is why it is so important to save and invest.

$100/month in VOO isn’t going to do anything (except help people like me who already own a lot).

> the only way out of your mess is by you working your way out of your mess.

Third option is revolution. Could be violent, could be passive like not starting families, complaining on the internet, scrolling tiktok as long as the benefits and body allow, and suicide if necessary.

It is possible for too much of the benefits of working having too high of a likelihood of being captured by rent seekers to not make the work worth it. In old times, the lack of birth control made people have to work more due to needing to support kids, but if I didn’t have kids, I could get by with a much lower standard of living.

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