$$$ Money $$$
So I started working the big four-oh two weeks ago and have made about 800 dollars to date. I gotta tell ya, I never knew how much money mattered until I started earning a good chunk of it and thinking about my future. I get these customers coming into the beanery and, as corny as it sounds, we somehow get into talking about what their dreams were as young adults. Some wanted to be professional photographers making the big bucks. Others wanted to be screenplay writers. All of them had dreams and yet, like a majority of Americans out there, are working about 50 hours a week.
I see them and refuse to become comfortable with working 50 hours a week for the rest of my life. It's scary, because at first I couldn't stand working 40 hours a week. I find working 40, even 50 hours a week easier as the weeks go by and this is unsettling. If I'm going to be working that much, it better be for a ridiculous amount of money. Let me put things in perspective for you so that you can begin to understand the amount of outrage I feel about being employed for anything less than half a million a year.
One third of my life will be spent sleeping. That is approximately eight hours in a 24 hour span; maybe even more considering how often I sleep in on sundays. That means that the other eight hours would be spent working, but anyone who has read up on recent trends will find Americans working more than that on a daily basis. Now, I know all of you like to coddle and tell yourselves that you'll find that dream job that you'll love to do every day, making work seem like play. Let me be the one to do this, since we are such good friends and all.
Cut out the bullshit, all the euphemisms and anything else that may be blinding you from the truth. The truth is that when you get out into the job market you'll be taking anything you can get for the first ten years. After that you'll have the opportunity to be more selective, but even then I sincerely doubt you'll land that "dream job." However, let's say that you manage to theoretically land the job of your dreams and ask this one, simple question: is it really everything you had imagined?
I don't care who you are - working 40 hours a week will suck. Be honest with yourself, the only reason why we like to think there's some sort of dream job out there is because a majority of us will be working 40 hours a week and will have to come to accept that as a fact. If you walked into work everyday with the realization of how much it sucked, you'd probably cut yourself and bleed to death because you would be thinking about how you are dead for about 2/3 of your day. Working eight hours sucks. Period. It'll never be a "dream job" because I'm pretty sure everyone's dream job is sitting on there ass for eight hours and getting paid 100+ dollars an hour.
At least I know that's my dream job.
Of course I wouldn't be spending it just sitting on my ass, but I am an individual that believes that the thing that defines a person isn't their car, their job, or their home...but is inherently found within their hobbies. Work and sleep leave me with very little time for my hobbies, which means that one of them has to go (or suck a lot less, which means an increase in pay). Work is not living. Sleep is not living. You cannot live working forty hours a week, let me explain why.
So you work from eight to five because your employer doesn't feel like paying you to eat lunch in the backroom for an hour. It takes an hour to commute one way (believe me when I say that isn't generous by any means), which really means you're doing something for work between the hours of seven and six pm. Assuming that you are an eligible bachelor or bachelorette, that gives you about two hours to do chores and take care of miscellaneous business. Most likely you've eaten dinner while paying for your bill which brings you to 8:30 pm. You now have time to indulge in your hobbies, but wait, if you want that eight hours of sleep you should really be going to bed by ten because you've got to wake up at 6 am to get ready for work. Even if you wanted to suffer through the work day on a pitiful amount of sleep, that still gives you about two to three hours of actual free time.
Just imagine this shit while raising a family; a time when you should be with your kid 24/7.
"But Andrew, money isn't important. What matters is happiness, spirit, and all the stuff you can't buy with money!" And what I'm telling you is that you're kidding yourself if you think money isn't important. You're a damn fool and you'll probably go to your grave in denial.
Money can facilitate happiness. Believe me. Got student loans that are bogging you down? Are your friends and family working two jobs to try and sustain your lifestyle? Is your ex-wife taking a third of your paycheck for child support when the bitch is making about four times more than you? Let's see, what could MONEY do in situations like these...
This country is manipulated by and for money. Politicians can all be bought by money. A deal can be bought with money. The laws that are passed? Bought with money, no doubt in my mind. I'm not saying that this is necessarily right, but it's the truth and one I won't have to be impeded by if I have money.
I think if people had the amount of free time an endless flow of cash would provide, they would eventually go insane. Work provides a mundane security in the average life that is comforting due to its unchanging nature. People love what is familiar and expected and often cringe at the unexpected. I find that the standard for "spontaneous" is built upon whether someone jumps up at will on the weekend and decides to go to the mall as a crowd behind the man gasps in awe at his spontaneity. That is pathetic.
You want spontaneous? How about booking a flight the next morning to Hawaii and spending a week traveling to all of the different volcanoes? Or deciding that maybe you'll purchase that in-ground pool that you've always wanted. Your family's debts? Paid for; at a whim. Want to donate to a cause you really believe in? Do it, you have the money. Good things can come out of money...a lot of good and happy things.
So where do you come out on all of this mess? For me, I really need a way out. I need to find out how I can either make a lot of money working forty hours a week or make so much money that I can retire at a young age, live life to its fullest and never worry about the financial side of life ever again. The former will be the least satisfying of the two. The next few years will be about experimenting and finding out about what works and what doesn't, trials and tribulations, joys and sorrows, but all of this for the one goal of alleviating at least one major burden: money.
You do not become what I am talking about through a law degree. You do not become what I am talking about through an engineering degree. These are all ways of getting the initial money used to invest in what I am talking about; it takes time and it's painfully annoying, but it's the only way I can think of going about investment besides winning the lottery. Becoming an entrepeneur and finding your niche is the only way of earning enough money.
Maybe after accomplishing this dream I'll be able to move on to studying for the rest of my life, after all, school has provided some of the most interesting moments in my life. Put it this way: i'll be able to do whatever I want with enough money and that in itself is the greatest amount of freedom to be obtained by any individual.
Let me leave you with this thought: cherry coke tastes a lot like doctor pepper but is my new crack. Random, I know, but more or less what is on my mind as I leave you this evening.
I see them and refuse to become comfortable with working 50 hours a week for the rest of my life. It's scary, because at first I couldn't stand working 40 hours a week. I find working 40, even 50 hours a week easier as the weeks go by and this is unsettling. If I'm going to be working that much, it better be for a ridiculous amount of money. Let me put things in perspective for you so that you can begin to understand the amount of outrage I feel about being employed for anything less than half a million a year.
One third of my life will be spent sleeping. That is approximately eight hours in a 24 hour span; maybe even more considering how often I sleep in on sundays. That means that the other eight hours would be spent working, but anyone who has read up on recent trends will find Americans working more than that on a daily basis. Now, I know all of you like to coddle and tell yourselves that you'll find that dream job that you'll love to do every day, making work seem like play. Let me be the one to do this, since we are such good friends and all.
Cut out the bullshit, all the euphemisms and anything else that may be blinding you from the truth. The truth is that when you get out into the job market you'll be taking anything you can get for the first ten years. After that you'll have the opportunity to be more selective, but even then I sincerely doubt you'll land that "dream job." However, let's say that you manage to theoretically land the job of your dreams and ask this one, simple question: is it really everything you had imagined?
I don't care who you are - working 40 hours a week will suck. Be honest with yourself, the only reason why we like to think there's some sort of dream job out there is because a majority of us will be working 40 hours a week and will have to come to accept that as a fact. If you walked into work everyday with the realization of how much it sucked, you'd probably cut yourself and bleed to death because you would be thinking about how you are dead for about 2/3 of your day. Working eight hours sucks. Period. It'll never be a "dream job" because I'm pretty sure everyone's dream job is sitting on there ass for eight hours and getting paid 100+ dollars an hour.
At least I know that's my dream job.
Of course I wouldn't be spending it just sitting on my ass, but I am an individual that believes that the thing that defines a person isn't their car, their job, or their home...but is inherently found within their hobbies. Work and sleep leave me with very little time for my hobbies, which means that one of them has to go (or suck a lot less, which means an increase in pay). Work is not living. Sleep is not living. You cannot live working forty hours a week, let me explain why.
So you work from eight to five because your employer doesn't feel like paying you to eat lunch in the backroom for an hour. It takes an hour to commute one way (believe me when I say that isn't generous by any means), which really means you're doing something for work between the hours of seven and six pm. Assuming that you are an eligible bachelor or bachelorette, that gives you about two hours to do chores and take care of miscellaneous business. Most likely you've eaten dinner while paying for your bill which brings you to 8:30 pm. You now have time to indulge in your hobbies, but wait, if you want that eight hours of sleep you should really be going to bed by ten because you've got to wake up at 6 am to get ready for work. Even if you wanted to suffer through the work day on a pitiful amount of sleep, that still gives you about two to three hours of actual free time.
Just imagine this shit while raising a family; a time when you should be with your kid 24/7.
"But Andrew, money isn't important. What matters is happiness, spirit, and all the stuff you can't buy with money!" And what I'm telling you is that you're kidding yourself if you think money isn't important. You're a damn fool and you'll probably go to your grave in denial.
Money can facilitate happiness. Believe me. Got student loans that are bogging you down? Are your friends and family working two jobs to try and sustain your lifestyle? Is your ex-wife taking a third of your paycheck for child support when the bitch is making about four times more than you? Let's see, what could MONEY do in situations like these...
This country is manipulated by and for money. Politicians can all be bought by money. A deal can be bought with money. The laws that are passed? Bought with money, no doubt in my mind. I'm not saying that this is necessarily right, but it's the truth and one I won't have to be impeded by if I have money.
I think if people had the amount of free time an endless flow of cash would provide, they would eventually go insane. Work provides a mundane security in the average life that is comforting due to its unchanging nature. People love what is familiar and expected and often cringe at the unexpected. I find that the standard for "spontaneous" is built upon whether someone jumps up at will on the weekend and decides to go to the mall as a crowd behind the man gasps in awe at his spontaneity. That is pathetic.
You want spontaneous? How about booking a flight the next morning to Hawaii and spending a week traveling to all of the different volcanoes? Or deciding that maybe you'll purchase that in-ground pool that you've always wanted. Your family's debts? Paid for; at a whim. Want to donate to a cause you really believe in? Do it, you have the money. Good things can come out of money...a lot of good and happy things.
So where do you come out on all of this mess? For me, I really need a way out. I need to find out how I can either make a lot of money working forty hours a week or make so much money that I can retire at a young age, live life to its fullest and never worry about the financial side of life ever again. The former will be the least satisfying of the two. The next few years will be about experimenting and finding out about what works and what doesn't, trials and tribulations, joys and sorrows, but all of this for the one goal of alleviating at least one major burden: money.
You do not become what I am talking about through a law degree. You do not become what I am talking about through an engineering degree. These are all ways of getting the initial money used to invest in what I am talking about; it takes time and it's painfully annoying, but it's the only way I can think of going about investment besides winning the lottery. Becoming an entrepeneur and finding your niche is the only way of earning enough money.
Maybe after accomplishing this dream I'll be able to move on to studying for the rest of my life, after all, school has provided some of the most interesting moments in my life. Put it this way: i'll be able to do whatever I want with enough money and that in itself is the greatest amount of freedom to be obtained by any individual.
Let me leave you with this thought: cherry coke tastes a lot like doctor pepper but is my new crack. Random, I know, but more or less what is on my mind as I leave you this evening.
2: a weak or sham argument set up to be easily refuted [syn: straw man]
I sincerely doubt that statement is a strawman.
Clark, the beanery is enjoyable because it's all I have for now. I have to think it's enjoyable because if I went in thinking it was misery everyday it would be just that: misery. If I had a choice of sitting on my ass and making rolling millions from one account to the other, I would do that over making millions at the beanery ANY DAY OF THE WEEK.
Now walk up to your dad and ask him: if he could make just as much money rotating money between accounts for four hours a day, would he continue to work WHILE moving money from account to account even though he'd be making shit for cash at his job, or would he just stay at home and indulge in a hobby.
Sorry clark, I don't think it's as cut and dry as you make it out to be.
Jobs? Enjoyable? Yeah there are certainly enjoyable aspects - like the socializing and such. But I can socialize out of the job. In fact, socializing isn't inherent within the job's nature. Work is work. 40 hours a week sucks, and the only reason why the nature camp is remotely enjoyable is because you don't have bills hanging over your head because to be frank with you, 10 dollars an hour ain't gonna do shit for a normal lifestyle.
Let me set up a hypothetical situation. I have a choice, earn one million dollars playing the stock market for about 3 hours a day or work at the beanery for 8-10 hours a day for the same exact amount of money. According to you, I love my job soooo much that I would sacrifice the 3 hour work day for an eight hour work day because of the pure bliss I encounter when working at the beanery.
According to your reasoning, the same would work for you dad.
And what I'm saying is that this isn't the case. Your dad would drop his job in a heart beat because guess what, he can travel with the money he makes off of stock to the locations HE wants. Ask him how much free time he gets when he's traveling on business. A corporation doesn't pay for you to lolligagger around, they pay for you to do your damn job when you travel.
And if he wanted the social aspect of his job, he'd invite a few friends as well.
So no, I fail to see how that's a strawman argument. Not black and white. Not weak. Not attacking a point anyone has made as of yet, although now I am.
Posted by
Admin |
10:06 PM
Let me fix something:
"40 hours a week sucks, and the only reason why the nature camp is remotely enjoyable is because you don't have bills hanging over your head because to be frank with you, 10 dollars an hour ain't gonna do shit for a normal lifestyle."
Let me clarify this for a moment. You would enjoy the job, but there's no way in hell you're going to make a living working at a nature camp and if you somehow do, you'll be working that job and another one in order to sustain your lifestyle.
Posted by
Admin |
10:09 PM
Hell, I'm on a roll, let me add some more.
You point out that "if I can squeeze that even minimal enjoyment out of what I do for a living, I've won."
So if my job is to get punched in the face for 7 hours and 59 minutes a day, but in that last minute get jerked off by jessica simpson, I've technically won because I've managed to squeeze some minute enjoyment out of it?
You argue that one can find happiness in one's job and what I argue is that it is not the job itself that brings happiness, but the characteristics which correlate alongside the hobbies you enjoy that make it entertaining and enjoyable.
For instance, you enjoy teaching and helpings kids, which could easily be done through participating in youth programs, town events, nature camps (as you currently participate in for about two months) and other activities. With a large amount of money, you can *choose* your outlets for enjoyment, where as with a job you really don't have choice. You don't have freedom and in the end I don't find that too fulfilling.
Back to my beanery case: I enjoy developing relationships with people I only talk to for about five minutes you say...Well, I could easily do the same without a job at the beanery. In fact, I could have met the same people attending the book club at the beanery, getting to know them, and then taking them out on a saturday nite to a find japanese restaurant. Socializing. In fact, it'd be for more than 10 minutes, making the relationship more wholesome and a lot less shallow.
Dunno clark, I like the spontaneity and flexibility money grants an individual. You'd have to come up with a pretty strong rogerian argument in order to convince me otherwise. Maybe we should start a thread on the PA forums D:
Posted by
Admin |
10:20 PM
Uh, dude. "You said that simply because everyone wants to make a million dollars?" Wtf? That makes it a strawman argument?
I'm not calling anyone out. Clark, a lot of people would love to have a million dollars because they just say it - they don't do it. They want some bullshit like the lotto to come their way or some family inheritence. They also don't save and invest - instead they spend their money on little bullshit and tell themselves how much they love their damn job.
Sure, the homeless man wants a million bucks, but what does he do instead of working towards that goal? He wanders, buys booze, or feels as if he can't get out of that situation (in some cases he really can't).
But you hear that same sort of bullshit from the middle class family. They buy a fucken BMW and then bitch about car payments. "I wish i was a millionaire so I could afford this fucken car i bought!" How about you buy a goddamn toyota corolla, take the money you would have spent towards a BMW and invest it in something that will bring about a return.
Sorry clark, everyone *says* they want to be a millionaire but a lot of them don't know what they want. If they wanted it they would DO something about it.
Sit at home a jack off all day? That's what a fucken moron and most likely most americans would do. As I said, people need a job to give them some bullshit purpose in life. If given millions the lot of them would probably do just what you described, which is EXACTLY why they'll never have money.
I don't even think what we are discussing is a difference of opinion. I think you're having trouble grasping the point i'm trying to argue. A lot of people *say* they want millions, but feel as if they'll never earn it or are too lazy to do what they need to do to earn it. Instead, they become complacent with their shitty job and spend their money on frivolous bullshit like 42 inch tv's and expensive cars when THEY CANNOT AFFORD IT, or if they can it is because of extenuating circumstances (such as taking their child support and blowing it on a cell phone).
There is no money making scheme. It's savings, investment, understanding stock, and discovering what assets will help you in the long run. Better yet, start a business. You'll work a lot of sleepless nights, but the pay off is ridiculous. PC development group is making RIDICULOUS amounts of money right now. One owner. Own vision and a lot of movement behind it. How many americans would have the balls to start their own business and try to make it work? Exactly - they are complacent with their 40 hour work week. They don't want to be millionaires, they just say they want to have the $$$.
What you say and what you do are two different things, but the latter defines you the most.
Posted by
Admin |
11:45 AM
And BTW, I don't necessarily believe you are entirely wrong, but I'm certainly arguing that you are. But until you start throwing some counter-arguments my way there isn't going to be really any consensus.
Posted by
Admin |
4:22 PM
Dude, plenty of people dispute and reject the occurence of owning millions. My sister, for example. They aren't the only one's either - a lot of people see money as this evil thing when it's just a stupid tool. A lot of people also say "money doesn't matter, I don't need a million dollars" etc etc.
Fuck, everyone could use a million dollars.
But look at those facebook kids and a lot of e-business out there making decent mills...all below 30. People with property and stuff (although most likely older than 30) also have about a million in assets.
It's very possible with some smart investments.
Posted by
Admin |
1:27 AM
While you guys bicker lol, andrew, in your gg website, you mean your wisdom teeth? or your actual molars?
Posted by
J.Q. |
1:33 PM
I agree with what your saying Andy. I recently got some perspective from working with a professional that has put me farther away from my dreams than I thought I was. It is probably going to force me to get another degree and work shitty ass jobs for the next few years. Reaching your dreams is hard and finding that niche so that you can be comfortable for the rest of your life is one thing that not a lot of people accomplish. All I know now is a I have a better plan than I had last wednesday and I'm going to work toward that no matter what.
Posted by
Tj Dziedzinski |
4:44 PM
Josh: Not so much bickering as we are discussing. Bickering is useless banter - I like to think that we are talking about a lot of issues that people are afraid of thinking and talking about. So bickering...not so much. Learning and trying to discern? Yeah. Definately.
Tom: I hear ya. Nothing like running into someone that's been there to sort of...I don't know, hurt your momentum, but if you've got a dream don't be a noob. You know what you gotta do, and if you don't, figure it out and set up a plan. You've got such a finite amount of time in life...plan it out and get into gear - because in the end shit only hits the fan when you let it.
You gotta find out what you're content with. I'm not content with giving up and I assume that you aren't either, so let's chase our dreams until they become reality. It's possible - and better to get as close to it as possible than idle around and be another body walking around with out a clue.
Posted by
Admin |
4:19 PM
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Posted by
J.Q. |
12:18 AM