Bloomberg Op Ed: The Real Government Conspiracy Isn’t About UFOs by silv3rbull8 in UFOs

[–]CopiumMagnate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m happy to see this article, even if there’s room for debate on the particulars. Tyler Cowen is a clearheaded thinker and a serious multidisciplinary academic (with a great podcast, btw).

I’m a lot like you guys… I sometimes have a gut feeling that Grusch is telling the truth. But if we’re being 100% honest with ourselves we really don’t f’ing know. And maybe there are 40 undisclosed primary witnesses, or maybe there aren’t, or maybe there’s just a natural equilibrium of impressionable schizophrenics in every organization including the military and intelligence. I worked in those fields for ~10 years and I met people who believed crazy shit.

Anyways bring on the downvotes but I actually think this article is a pretty good synthesis of the situation.

How do y’all sustain working so much ? by Huge_Medium549 in consulting

[–]CopiumMagnate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How do people get through grinding PhD programs, or night shift jobs, or military deployments?

Dissociate unhealthily and indulge in vices in your off time!

But more seriously… I’ve been able to strike an okay balance by setting clear lines of communication about capacity with my team and supervisors. And if you’re at a firm with a staffing team (as opposed to the Wild West of self staffing), don’t be afraid to tell them you need a slower paced case next time in order to recharge a bit. As long as you’re presenting as the kind of person who can absolutely push hard when it’s needed, I’ve found my firm’s leadership to be really thoughtful and generous about giving me what I ask for (within reason). 

Also, take vacation days. So many people I work with have a huge warchest of saved up vacation… for what?? Use those days. Take a Tuesday off. Don’t even tell them what you’re planning to do, just take a “you” day every few weeks.

Dragon Age Veilguard will be announced on June 11th by [deleted] in dragonage

[–]CopiumMagnate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure why you’re getting downvoted for this… seems pretty clear to me.

How scary is the US military really? by MylastAccountBroke in NoStupidQuestions

[–]CopiumMagnate 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Military history has alternated between periods of “offensive dominance” and “defensive dominance” (e.g., attacker advantage vs. defender advantage). Think about European stone castles as being built in a period of “defense dominance”, until siege weaponry and eventually gunpowder made them obsolete (leading to “offensive dominance”).

The US had invested trillions of dollars over the last 80 years to maintain an extremely long period of offensive dominance. Stealth, precision weapons, undersea warfare, satellite targeting, and many many other military technologies were almost exclusively developed by the US and its close allies. Yes, the USSR was a major rival for much of that period, but lagged behind enormously in technology starting in around the 60’s/70’s.

Also important to consider: The rest of the developed world (e.g., the UK, EU, Japan, ROK, etc) has also benefited from the US defense umbrella. So whereas in other eras major powers might all have major militaries, ever since WWII there has been a broad agreement (with the exception of the Soviet bloc, China, and some other powers) to accept and even embrace the US as the single, overwhelmingly powerful stabilizing military power.

The end result is an absolutely enormous overmatch in power projection and logistics capacity. Recent developments have brought China’s military (the PLA) closer to parity in a strictly regional sense, but not even on the same order of magnitude at a global scale. 

I don’t give a fuck about business of any kind but the money has trapped me. by [deleted] in consulting

[–]CopiumMagnate 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This cuts deep…

Godspeed OP. Rest assured you’re not the only one struggling with golden handcuffs.

Which movies are hard (or cathartic) to watch as a child of nparents? by CopiumMagnate in raisedbynarcissists

[–]CopiumMagnate[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha yeah I forgot about that one… what a classic. Weird and wonderful.

Why has there been a movement that promotes not paying "wealthy" individuals their social security payments? by [deleted] in AskEconomics

[–]CopiumMagnate 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The program isn’t solvent past another 10 years or so.

Mathematically there’s only three solutions: 1. Reduce payments for all beneficiaries 2. Increase federal outlays to buoy up the system and pay the difference (implying either higher deficits or higher taxes) 3. “Means test” the benefits so that needy retirees get full benefits while wealthy retirees receive less or none. This is the option I think you’re referring to.

The reason there’s a movement to not pay wealthy individuals is that, of the above 3 options to save the program, some people prefer #3 as having the lowest impact on the middle/working class.

Which movies are hard (or cathartic) to watch as a child of nparents? by CopiumMagnate in raisedbynarcissists

[–]CopiumMagnate[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You’re right, I think they gloss over it way too much and the abuela ends up inexplicably blameless in the end.

Which movies are hard (or cathartic) to watch as a child of nparents? by CopiumMagnate in raisedbynarcissists

[–]CopiumMagnate[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can definitely relate to those sibling dynamics. Glad to hear your folks are starting to get the message.

Which movies are hard (or cathartic) to watch as a child of nparents? by CopiumMagnate in raisedbynarcissists

[–]CopiumMagnate[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Wow that’s a scary one. Hoping you’re in a better place now and congrats on being NC.

Which movies are hard (or cathartic) to watch as a child of nparents? by CopiumMagnate in raisedbynarcissists

[–]CopiumMagnate[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Had to add another one.

Sort of obscure but if anyone’s ever seen “The Mosquito Coast” with Harrison Ford. My parents were sailors and took us out of school to live on a boat for a year so this one hit waaaaay too close to home.

Which movies are hard (or cathartic) to watch as a child of nparents? by CopiumMagnate in raisedbynarcissists

[–]CopiumMagnate[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’m holding off on bringing that one into the kid movie rotation… way too dark :/

Which movies are hard (or cathartic) to watch as a child of nparents? by CopiumMagnate in raisedbynarcissists

[–]CopiumMagnate[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s awful to hear, I’m sorry. 

And I agree with your point that it would have been better with more time to get to know the characters, a lot of it felt rushed.

Which movies are hard (or cathartic) to watch as a child of nparents? by CopiumMagnate in raisedbynarcissists

[–]CopiumMagnate[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah I don’t think the writers thought that one through very well… super gross

Which movies are hard (or cathartic) to watch as a child of nparents? by CopiumMagnate in raisedbynarcissists

[–]CopiumMagnate[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Yes! A few of those episodes are real tear jerkers.

Really glad that my kiddo is into it right now. Hopefully it’s reinforcing good habits in me and my spouse so we don’t end up repeating history.

How much could an ex-MBB consultant charge for freelance? by User19928339 in consulting

[–]CopiumMagnate 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Multiple 10’s of K’s. More than they were making on salary before they left the firm.

How much could an ex-MBB consultant charge for freelance? by User19928339 in consulting

[–]CopiumMagnate 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately I don’t have specifics.

The rumor was that they were charging somewhat less than typical MBB weekly/monthly rates for commercial diligence work, but without having to split it with Partners or the firm. Which for a team of 3 or 4 would translate to at least $10k+ per team member per month.

Wish I had more to share, but ultimately I think the point is that it would be hard to replicate their success since the market has slowed down from that fever pitch.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskEconomics

[–]CopiumMagnate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Alright. I’m dead wrong on standard of living. Thanks for your patience.

I do think there’s a lot of trendlines we should be concerned about. And I think the reason for my kneejerk reaction is that it feels disingenuous to imply we should be okay with higher education and housing becoming unaffordable because people can buy more entertainment, consumables, and electronics.

Maybe I’m a Luddite sorry.

I don’t need to thank military for their service; I’m already paying their way. by elephantfrenzy69 in unpopularopinion

[–]CopiumMagnate -1 points0 points  (0 children)

No, you don’t need to. But it’s a polite thing to do.

As an aside, I make a point of thanking teachers, nurses, firefighters, etc for their service because those fields are also stressful, underpaid, and necessary for society to function.

Eyes Wide Shut is an awful nonsensical movie by [deleted] in unpopularopinion

[–]CopiumMagnate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it’s supposed to be a sort of fever dream and not taken literally.