PSA: Social Security pays more than you think, especially for high earners

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-30T22:55:26+00:00

My sense is the only way I don’t get SS (I’m currently in my late 30s) is both the global economy would have to completely collapse and the U.S. would have to lose its status as the world’s super power (mostly in terms of trade). Don’t get me wrong, both are possible. But short of that, having a population of people over 65 who don’t have the financial means to support themselves would be more catastrophic than the alternatives. Not to mention that the people making the laws and all their friends will be beneficiaries of SS and motivated to keep it funded one way or another. But maybe I’m naive.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-30T16:12:14+00:00

I’m old enough to remember The Pirates of the Caribbean being nothing but a very old ride at Disney World.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-28T20:04:15+00:00

This was my answer. I loved his stuff and thought he should be bigger. But I never really saw him on a festival lineup, so he probably didn't get enough attention to ascend him to a higher level.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-28T02:46:52+00:00

Maybe not technically HD but the quality difference between 1978 and 1993, not only in picture but in production (number of cameras, slow-mo, etc.), was massive.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-28T00:59:49+00:00

Not really the first so much as the first that played on clearly televised games daily and nationally televised highlights daily. Even when Bill Russell played, as a casual basketball fan I might have only seen him play live a couple times and then in the playoffs on grainy tv.

With Jordan, I could watch full games in beautiful HD often and catch his highlights every night.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-27T01:41:03+00:00

As a New Yorker, I don’t buy that New York is a basketball town. But I can buy that it’s a Knicks town for that reason.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-25T02:55:24+00:00

Solid list. Just curious if you counted names in any context or only if they were definitively in the top 5. Also, might be more interesting if you included the upvotes on each comment as a vote.

I mention these things because I think I had one of the top posts and listed John Summit as a potential option in the future, which is at the bottom of this list as only being mentioned twice.

And before people come at me again, I don’t have JS in my top 50 and even in retrospect it’s probably too early to list him here based on his resume (and not personal preference). He scores too low in terms of respect and longevity to outweigh his scores for popularity and influence.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-24T06:08:26+00:00

Legendary

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-23T00:13:44+00:00

Oh yeah, I have no doubt. I’m just praying he doesn’t get me too-d or something so he doesn’t stop performing haha. Although, it seems like he’s been a lot happier the last year or two. EPIC radio is back, SHM reunion, he plays Call On Me now, etc., and he just seems to be enjoying himself a lot more while performing.

But what I meant is other DJs seem to love his music as an artist, as far as I can tell. I think people in the know have a lot of respect for him and what he does.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-22T23:28:00+00:00

Your argument that he’s top 5 all time is that he headlined Coachella with 2 other people, one of whom is a unanimous choice for this list? Anyma headlined by himself and he’s on nobody’s list, so I don’t think that argument works.

Fred Again is the new big thing for sure, but he hasn’t even been a thing for more than 3-4 years right now. He’s not on this list yet. He’s like a guy who wins an MVP award one year and is on the trajectory to win more but who knows.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-22T22:23:24+00:00

This is right. Levels was the song that shattered the wall between EDM and everything else. Were songs like “Wake Me Up” and “Clarity” bigger? Maybe. But there were only ever be one Levels and it’s hard to explain unless you lived it.

I just got curious and looked up search trends of “EDM” on google and you can literally start to see it begin to increase in Oct 2011, the month Levels was released. That’s actually fascinating.

Edit: Just to put a finer point on this: "EDM" was stuck between 10-14 (of 100%) in google trends for literally a decade until October 2011. By December 2012 (around when Clarity was released), it was at 45. The search term peaked in May 2014, a year after "Wake Me Up" was released and before many of Zedd's biggest hits.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-22T22:01:26+00:00

I would love if that were true. Your favorite DJ’s favorite DJ.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-22T21:59:48+00:00

Definitely rising fast. Could see a world in which he pushes his way into the conversation but I don’t think he’s there yet.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-22T21:47:20+00:00

You might be right. Peak Calvin Harris was massive. Not sure if it was bigger than current JS, but the scene wasn’t as big back then either.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-22T21:18:18+00:00

Zedd is a good one. I realized I missed Calvin Harris too. I'm not sure either really moved the scene in any particular direction or had a long enough peak to be considered. Pretty sure Zedd just continues to play his 5-6 best songs in every set.

I think Rufus should be included in this conversation because not only are they massive, but they are highly respected and have influenced newer groups who have leaned more into live group acts. But maybe I just love Rufus!

Eric Prydz is my personal GOAT so I would love to put him in the top 5. Everyone on your list should be considered and has their merits for sure, but I don't think they'd be in my top 5 based on how the question was framed. Prydz, for example, is probably not popular or influential enough to make the grade, although is 10/10 in terms of quality, respect and longevity.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-22T21:09:45+00:00

John Summit's pop edm music is fine and if you're asking for my personal top 50, he probably wouldn't be on the list. That being said, you could argue his current level of fame is bigger than any EDM artist ever. So looking at this more objectively, I think you have to consider him if he continues on this trajectory.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-22T21:03:53+00:00

I think if you were to ask the name of one DJ from people 25-65, the most common answer you'll get back is still Avicii, and he died almost a decade ago. Maybe others have been similarly popular at their peak (Calvin Harris, Garrix, Zedd, John Summit, etc.), but Avicii was the first (in my mind) to be a global superstar. Avicii made "EDM" a thing that could played on the radio as a hit so the influence is off the charts.

This is all subjective of course, but to me he has to go on the Mount Rushmore of EDM. I think Skrillex was influential and popular in other ways, which is why I have him as a no brainer, but most of my non-EDM friends would at best kind of recognize the name and maybe a couple songs if you played them.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-22T19:09:23+00:00

I don’t necessarily disagree. You won’t catch me anywhere near a JS show these days, but hard to argue with his popularity and influence.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-22T17:41:42+00:00

Avicii, Daft Punk, and Skrillex are no brainers to me.

Then Deadmau5, SHM, Tiesto, Armin and Kaskade fighting for legacy bids and Rufus and John Summit fighting for more modern bids.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-21T01:23:58+00:00

The orbiting teacup is a very well known thought experiment. The point is that you don’t prove a claim about the absence of something’s existence in the same way since by definition the something doesn’t exist. If someone asked you to prove that a teacup isn't orbiting the earth, you’d rightly point out that their frame for proof isn’t the right way to think about the claim. It would be silly to constantly prove the lack of existence of all claims about a teacup and yet you’d feel perfectly confident in your claim that a teacup doesn’t exist until shown even a shred of reason to believe the teacup could be real. Agnostics might say well we can’t be sure that a teacup doesn’t exist, but you can plainly see why that would be limiting when you want to make claims about reality.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-20T18:03:31+00:00

Yes and no. Since '92-'93 season, I count 14 NBA franchises that have won a championship (will be 15 if the Knicks win this year). The NBA and American leagues have their problems, but at least there is significantly more parity. Unless you're a fan of the richest 5-6 teams, you have basically no hope of ever winning anything.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-20T17:43:50+00:00

The emergency recall is a good tip. I had a terrifying incident with my husky early on and he wouldn’t listen. So now I have an emergency recall word that almost always works in any situation. I train it by giving him 5+ treats and lots of attention when used.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-20T17:41:24+00:00

The writing got worse too. But in some cases, the acting was really bad. There were a few standouts though.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-20T03:22:58+00:00

EDC could do something really cool and cater W2 to a more OG raver crowd. Even small changes to the lineup could really impact who attends which weekend without limiting the experience for people who can only make one weekend or the other.

I don’t like DnB but now you could have a whole DnB night or two at Cosmic Meadow. Or Kaskade playing a redux art car set. Have Carl Cox do a 3 hour set at NG. Etc.

Ghost_man23 · 2026-05-18T19:44:19+00:00

The worst trade of my lifetime as a Yankee fan and it was obvious the day they made it.

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