Do you foresee a massive upsurge in racism then? I hope not, and that over time people will become more sensible about seeing those who look different from them as simply "other people". In the UK, some of the most racist people are dying out and being replaced with people who are used to growing up in a multi-ethnic society and having friends that look different. There was some hoo-hah a couple years back when politicians wanted to stir up racism and the England football team was having none if it, they are a bunch of young lads of many colours who value each other equally, as it should be. OTOH unfortunately we now have right-wing politicians who themselves are non-white who are trying to stir up racism against people the same colour as them.
I was thinking of countries more like India and Nigeria, both of which, despite becoming richer and having lower fertility themselves, have populations projected to exceed China's, and both projected to become too hot to live in without big problems. Its not literally an "endless" supply, but its easily enough to cover gaps in the west. If fertility fell 75% in the west, could probably fill it with people from those countries. And that might be a win-win in certain ways. The west then doesn't have an aging population. People in too hot countries get to move. The suffering happens to old people left in poor hot countries, which is a sad thing. In the end yes you are correct its not endless, but this must be a very long way off.
An old joke: Q: What's the difference between a contractor and a permie? A: The contractor KNOWS they have no job security. IMHO after working years in tech - your only real job security is your skillset. OTOH, working in public sector can be quite secure, and a good idea while kids are growing up.
Couple of thoughts. (1) To me, immigration can indeed fill the gap. An endless supply of people wish to leave poorer , or hotter (which is a problem with climate change) countries, for richer ones. This will hurt the poorer countries that end up with an ageing population. OTOH if those poorer countries are becoming too hot to live in, that's a good move for people , although awful for those left behind. (2) Cost of raising kids - in my experience the richer people are the more they seem to worry. Maybe those of us raised on less are simply used to being creative about getting by on less, and unfazed by the prospect. To use your 2 examples- music lessons can be had in many ways, often cheap/almost free such as joining a community music group where people will pass on skills. Disneyland - hardly essential, or any form of hardship for a child to miss out on that, IMHO. There are many ways to have a meaningful life, get plenty of education etc, without spending a fortune. While housing has gone up a lot, my parents' generation will say that in the past there were housing booms too, followed by super high interest rates, and everything else used to take relatively more of income, including food and clothes. A difference then was public transport was better in many ways and cheaper, so a car not as essential. I think the main difference now is peoples' expectations. Since the planet can't sustain ever-increasing consumption habits, probably its a good thing people are having less kids.
Peter Gibbons: The thing is, Bob, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care.
Bob Porter: Don't... don't care?
Peter Gibbons: It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now if I work my ass off and Initech ships a few extra units, I don't see another dime, so where's the motivation?
Installing Linux may indeed be the safest thing. If the OP's aim is to get at some old files, running Linux off a live CD (i:e without actually installing it) might be a good option. I've lost track of what's the best distro these days for old hardware - maybe someone else might comment to that.
When I started out programming in the 90s the KISS principle was mentioned, but I don't hear it so much these days. Maybe we all ought to start talking about it more.
Having been a developer for ages, ridiculous over-complexity of software has always been a problem. It comes and goes I think.
Indeed, "up or out" turns friends into rivals, prevents teamwork. Coworkers hoard info to prevent you looking too good compared to them. As result you can struggle to learn anything without being pushy or playing politics. If someone's doing a great job at work and they want to "coast" and do the same great job next year, seems good to me. But apparently not allowed in those up or out places. To anyone that finds that happening at work, my advice is GTFO. ;). ( I worked at place like this once. Happily managed to find a much nicer place to work after a year-and-a-half of it)
Ha ha thanks for the kind comment. :) Well I ought to know some things, been in the industry that long. BTW, despite the above tactics I haven't become financially rich from Tech - probably could have done if that was a priority, but , that's my other piece of advice to people, prioritise happiness, fulfilment and relationships with others especially family and friends, over money, 'cos "You can't take it when you go" , and people matter more. The wonderful luxury of working in tech is, salaries being what they are, you can take the middle path, balance life and work, while no-one's gonna starve. :)
20 yrs ago, when living in N America, I owned a 1987 Subaru GL wagon (so car was 16 yrs old at the time). Had low-range 4wd which would go through anything. Did 32 mpg highway I seem to recall. Very reliable. Japanese import, probably better built than later US models. I believe those cars last for ever. Mechanic had one with 700k on the clock. Still a few on ebay probably. Think it had a tape deck not even a CD player, that's the only thing. ;)
"It’s obvious the game has changed" - it's obvious you haven't been in tech all that long. ;) that was a joke answer - no offence intended :) But seriously, I've heard "the game has changed" many, many, many times over the last few decades. Its true. The game is constantly changing. :)
"what you all are focusing on to stay employed in tech". - Same answer as its always been. Be reliable, show up, get stories in the Done column. Be friendly, nice, help others when they're stuck, ask for help when you're stuck, do a mixture of work, some with new tech you wanna learn, some on old legacy stuff or things other people don't like so they're grateful you did so they didn't have to and want to hang onto you 'cos you know the codebase. Look after your boss :) People forget to do this. (not being a sycophant, just genuinely making their life easier and trying to be not too much of a PITA to manage). If a job ends up being stressful / non-fun, or you're locked into all old tech with no future, then ask for a change to the role, or move jobs internally or externally.
"but how does that translate into actionable advice?"
Perhaps, be aware of what you need in coworkers / end-users, and look for that?
Something that many in the tech industry completely neglect, thinking it's all about tech.
I think your comment is gold dust BTW, basically all of us need to figure out how to be HAPPY. And you've clearly stated what you need, which I think a lot of us need but don't always realise we do, which is to be important/helpful to other people. Much more important than making huge $$$$$$$$/ ££££££££££££ or being an expert in mega-cool-language-or-framework-X-which-will-inevitably-one-day-be-oboslete-however-much-we-pretend-it-wont
Apparently, many people feel that way. ;) What's that old saying about a marriage being "something everyone not in one wants to get into, and everyone in one wants to get out of". ;) Yeah, one does lose a lot of freedom particularly once kids arrive, but then, it seems totally worth it to me. I'd be bored and lonely without my lovely family that's for sure (despite some pretty full-on over-and-above and restrictive caring responsibilities). I hope you can be happy :) I see frustration with your life in your posts sometimes, and just hope that people on here are saying helpful and kind things.
Doesn't hurt to ask yourself WHY career progress is important. If it is to be fulfilled, fine. Or perhaps at least temporarily to earn money so retirement is less of a worry and/or you have freedom in your career due to chunks of mortgage paid off early. However, plenty of people who progress far in their career become unhappy, and others who feel a failure because they didn't get promoted or have a glamorous job, are likely actually happier than they would have been if promoted. (more time with family etc). I have things in my life I wish I could have done, but nearly all of them, there were clear obstacles to doing them, not something I could have done a lot about. So I don't have many regrets. "No use crying over spilt milk" anyway. My advice is don't worry too much. Also don't develop expensive habits. Living frugally is very free-ing and less stressful, than having to have a high income to support high expectations. A lot of people talk about fitness. Obsessively so , IMHO. ITs become this massive industry. Really -don't eat too much junk food, try to walk or cycle places where possible, possibly find some sport you enjoy and do it reasonably often - seems to do the trick.
You really wish you didn't get married and have kids? Or is that depression talking, which you might need to get some help with? Do you love your family? And do they love you back? Most likely yes and yes? ;)
Good comment. I worked in USA 25 yrs ago and experienced this. The key thing I think, as you alluded to, is do it for a limited time. If you're in a country which makes it hard to stay for good, or you deep down know you wouldn't want to if you could, then it's a temporary adventure and in the end the need to go "back home" or else feel rootless. In my case probably working abroad delayed meeting "the one", getting married and having kids. So now I'm an older Dad than ideally I would've been for our kids. Its not the end of the world, there are some advantages of being an older parent, but some downsides too. Also some people may delay life to the point where they don't manage to marry and have kids, which is sad if that was something they would've wanted. OTOH if you've got the itch, not going to work abroad is no good either ;). I wouldn't have missed that adventure for the world :)
As someone dabbling in Go, still a n00b really, but experienced in many other languages, I find this too, why's there stuff that's just standard in e:g Python, yet missing in Go? Apparently a thought-out, deliberate decision by the language designers. But then, since many people feel this way about Go, I'm mystified that 3rd-party libraries haven't evolved to cover "missing features" of Go. One would think, someone will scratch an itch, release it, then everyone uses that. Seems to have happened in other languages. Weirdly, there are indeed 3rd-party libs for Go that do more sophisticated things, web frameworks etc. Its almost as though 3rd-party devs don't dare touch the lower level stuff cos that's "against the spirit" of Go, but do make reusable libs for higher level things. Well, this comment may reflect my naiveté / ignorance of the language. Maybe someone else will clarify this? ;)
Music groups such as amateur orchestras, brass bands etc are still a bit of community. Admittedly quite niche, you need to know about them, find a way and have the ability to learn an instrument. There are informal ad-hoc communities e:g at my local leisure centre the regular swimmers chat to each other quite a lot. Kept a lot of people going mentally through lockdown I think. (swimming was allowed subject to restricted numbers and booking ahead)
Sorry to hear this. If you're now making the most you ever have, and continue to do so, hopefully if you live somewhat frugally and save, you ought to be OK in the long-term? Speaking as someone who for various reasons, mostly the need to support family members, doesn't have the big bucks a lot of tech workers have. I've no prospect of owning land or a boat. ;) Or a fancy car. But I don't really care. :) Vacations - well ours are fine, we go to nice countryside, but doesn't involve flights, hotels, eating out or anything fancy. Seems to me in the West, many expect a high standard of living and feel a failure if we don't achieve that. But people in poorer countries are happy with much less. When I worked in the USA, I noticed many immigrants lived very happy lives on a fraction of resources of their American coworkers/ peers. They hadn't got used to expecting that standard of living. Possibly their kids would be more "American" and feel like that had to have more. * Caveat : US healthcare system is a mess and can cause huge bills , for some people frugality and saving is outweighed by health costs. This system needs fixing IMHO
I agree that hyper-individualism is a big part of the problem. People need friendship and connection to be happy. If everyone is "doing their own thing" and looking after their own needs first, its a barrier to that. If you're depressed, going and helping someone else who is in need is often a good way to snap out of that depression (assuming its situational more than clinical depression). Even if the other person isn't obviously grateful, simply seeing that you made their life a bit better can put things in perspective, give yourself a purpose etc. Its often really low effort, e:g just actually bother to talk to someone , give them a cup of tea whatever. But people often fail to see this option that can make 2 people happy, because individualism gets in the way. People are almost embarrassed to offer or receive help and friendship, particularly in the US I feel ...
Interesting article. Seems weird to me, as a Brit, why there isn't more pressure from American parents against guns. One might expect them to think "OK, I like having the right to own a gun, but I don't want kids entire lives to revolve (pardon the pun!) around the threat of gun violence, so there needs to be some kind of control". But apparently not... I know someone (British) who's engaged to an American and in the process of moving there and planning to have kid(s), who intends to homeschool her kid(s) because she doesn't think 5-yr-olds having to be given training in case a shooter enters their school is healthy. I mean, I agree with her, but having to homeschool them to avoid this... it's madness.
In USA decent food (not full of cr*p and gonna wreck your health) cost, in my experience, twice as much as UK 20 yrs ago, might be 3x now. If you need healthcare, expect big bills, even if you're insured. Many parts of USA you gotta drive everywhere, which is costly. A family might need 2 cars. Seems to me a fair proportion of the larger US salaries get swallowed up. And don't forget you have to work 40 hrs a week vs 37.5 which amounts to 2 weeks extra a year, and Americans generally get 2 weeks vacation vs in UK 4 weeks legal min, often 5 weeks or more. And US employment law is often you can get fired at the drop of a hat. Having no security like that would be called a "contractor" in UK, and compensated accordingly ;)
I've done this for 12 years now, at 3 different employers, first and current one for proportionally less pay, middle one was full hours compressed into 4 (not as good). Its a no-brainer. We tech workers are well rewarded. Most white collar westerners are more starved of time than of money. Extra day off means more time to spend with family, do hobbies etc. Employer definitely gets more than 80% out of me as I'm more rested. Pay hit is less than you might think because the last 20% is taxed more heavily than the first 20%. (due to the first X amount being tax free). Can save money by cooking from scratch more, shopping around for things. I'm not very practical or good at fixing things - if I was I'd probably save even more.
I once had a kind, capable and hard-working boss, who hinted that a few years previously he'd been on a PIP due to being out of his depth in the role, and had managed to claw his way out of it. While I was in his team, he got a, IMHO, well deserved promotion. To my mind, the company basically mistreated him, made him wait years longer than he should to get the promotion. The reason he probably couldn't was lack of formal academic qualifications to job hop with, and possibly risk averse because his wife had walked out and left him with 2 kids. Its seems to me in this case, a bunch of game-playing which helps nobody. Also other people will have noticed how this guy was treated, and responded with the amount of "loyalty" that that employer deserved back.
One of the nice things about working in tech, as opposed to something like sales or marketing, is its possible to work surrounded by people who behave in a more intelligent and less shallow way, and appreciate others for who they actually are as a person, and appreciate their technical contribution, while looks doesn't really feature. Probably not every tech job, but a lot. Its refreshing working with a bunch of nerds who just don't judge people on how they look, and frankly have a lot more interesting things to think about. This study would seem to me to just reinforce what we all already know -that in certain fields/professions, looks are important for making money. Seems to me like fields to avoid working in!
It seems to me, that May was more honest than most other politicians about social care reform, saying "if you want decent social care, let's not pretend it doesn't need paying for. Here's a proposal for how to fund it". Which IIRC included siphoning off some £ that would have otherwise been inherited, which to me seems reasonably fair, because getting much of an inheritance is a luxury that only a privileged portion of people receive. And in return the electorate said "f* off we're not paying". No wonder we're at a stalemate. Later, the Tories brought in the 1.5% social care levy on income. Which I throughly agree with as again, a reasonably fair way to fund this. Labour at the time opposed that claiming it was taxing the poorest. What does Labour want instead? More money in poor people's pockets but cr*p or non-existent social care instead? What's their proposal instead then? The social care levy lasted a few months before Truss ditched it. It seems to me the main parties have both failed miserably overall on social care and that they need to work together. Over the last few decades no gov't of either stripe has a decent record on it. Better that they make this non-partisan, de-politicise it, and agree not to fight each other's policies on it. Because at the mo' , people are having awful lives and dying of neglect (massive number of deaths of people with learning disability for example during covid), due to lack of funding for the sector. And the people working in the sector are getting paid less than supermarket staff and having to use food banks despite having full time jobs. And any person may at some time in their life need social care or someone they care about need it. Which is why is is staggeringly short-sighted of anyone to whinge about paying more tax to fund this. But that's apparently the position of the electorate as a whole. I despair in people, I really do.
Someone downvoted you but it wasn't me. We possibly shouldn't carry this on too long in case people feel its gone way off topic, but.. these are important subjects. To address some of your points :). "if your religion needs 200 yr of theologians" ... its not the religion, its the Bible. Big difference. Its hardly surprising if a book written 2000 yrs ago, totally different time, culture etc, needs expertise to be understood , and going to it directly and trying to make sense of it cause confusion, right? Pretext for genocide etc... well, terrible things have been done in the name of religion, but terrible things happen with or without religion. Look at Russia/Ukraine. I'd argue its not religion causing it. People that want to hate will find something to fight about be it religion, resources, power, football teams etc. I do agree actually that where people's beliefs are incoherent this is the source of many ills. But I'd argue against that being the fundamental religion being incoherent. Regarding abuse by clerics, I do agree, and I think a lot of Christians would, that the rule of celibacy for priests is extremely unhelpful, and has led as you say, to deviant behaviour and abuse that has wrecked people's lives. The response by church(es) has been severely lacking, often appalling, and the main reason for that would seem to be that the hierarchy themselves are celibate, not having normal healthy relationships and haven't a clue how what to do. So I, like many others would advocate ditch the celibacy requirement ASAP. The hierarchy don't necessarily think they can do that though, they think they'll alienate churches in the developing world, cause a schism etc, its a mess. But, and you may think I'm an idiot to say this, I argue again, that's human failings, and doesn't mean that the religion should be thrown away as unworkable. I would believe, that's not what Jesus would have wanted. Now, maybe you don't believe, and that's absolutely fine. No-one should ever be pressured into having any beliefs or religion (yet another thing unhelpful people have done within the church, and again, nevertheless not a reason to disband it IMHO). But I would say, maybe stay away from the church if you don't believe, but if you have any hint of belief, try to fix these problems. By, like I say, challenging people. Regarding Judaism, Christianity and Islam being the source of oppression of women, that's certainly an interesting one, I'd have to go away and think about that. Gut feeling , its unlikely to be the only source of that, but I know what you're saying there's certainly been structural oppression of women within organised religion. To summarise I think a lot of things that anger you about the church its absolutely fair to be furious about, and these issues massively frustrate people inside it who still regularly go to church. Where we differ is indeed that you say people should stop being Christians whereas I do indeed say people should be better Christians. Hope you can find happiness and purpose anyway whatever route you take. :)