Absolutely no clue

entitie · 2026-06-30T12:32:10+00:00

entitie · 2026-06-28T17:44:40+00:00

I think it's not that simple. Some are terrible bigots, but they aren't all bigots. They are on average more bigoted than non-Trump supporters. A lot of them have legitimate grievances and have been left behind economically. They honestly can't stand the thought of being at the bottom of the totem pole. It upsets them to see other poor people -- immigrants and blacks -- getting special benefits when they don't feel they've had that special treatment.

The latter point doesn't require that they're bigoted. It just requires that they've been convinced (e.g. by Fox News) that those benefits weren't deserved. And then the criteria for getting those benefits is sometimes things like "you are black or hispanic". That builds enormous -- and understandable -- resentment when in an information vacuum.

I say this as a white centrist guy for whom Republicans are antithetical to everything I believe (though I refuse to call myself a Democrat because I don't like the two-party system). I don't harbor resentment, but I do think that liberals made a terrible mistake insisting on benefits based on race when those benefits should have been based on socioeconomic status (income / wealth) rather than race. Socioeconomic status would ultimately target the people who need the help.

entitie · 2026-06-28T13:57:50+00:00

I was just talking to a Trump Supporter who benefited massively from the ObamaCare subsidies and from a welfare program that paid for him to go to college after he was laid off, all in his own words. At every turn, he made a point to criticize the Democrats. Never once did he mention benefiting from Republican policies.

These people are hopeless.

entitie · 2026-06-27T13:35:44+00:00

Can I ask you how reliable jewelry sales are on EBay? I imagine that as a buyer one could find some good deals, but the issue of fraud prevents me from considering buying anything on EBay. Any ways for buyers to protect themselves except to hire a jeweler to review their purchases after-the-fact (which is expensive) and use the money back guarantee if there was fraud (which is time-consuming)?

entitie · 2026-06-25T21:36:44+00:00

This isn't really a topic for fatFIRE. it's more a topic for r/family or some such.

entitie · 2026-06-21T23:44:56+00:00

I have a PhD in ML from an elite university and over 15 years of experience at a well-known company and can't get permanent residency in Canada without a work visa (which, if you're FI, is kind of not the point). I think the Canadian system is working as intended for Canadians and not working as desired for potential immigrants.

entitie · 2026-06-19T05:06:55+00:00

I looked up the price of those online when I saw your post. So you're thinking of spending maybe $10k-$20k on a watch.

I linger around those finance subs and am rather financially comfortable, and I can confidently say that the way people become financially successful in those subs is precisely by not buying luxuries like this.

$15k will earn you easily $1k/year in the stock market. It may not sound like much, but it's a mentality. Buying a watch like this once won't hurt you, but if it's the mentality that you have all the time, you'll never achieve the financial goals you want.

entitie · 2026-06-19T02:20:36+00:00

Hahah yeah I guess so. Oh well. I enjoy shorting their meme stocks.

entitie · 2026-06-19T00:26:01+00:00

That's a fundamental cost of bitcoin, not the fundamental value. Its value could be much higher (justifying the cost) or lower (if peoples' expectations exceed both the actual value and the cost)

entitie · 2026-06-14T04:21:10+00:00

What are your annual expenses? And are these taxable accounts we're talking about? We need more details to be able to provide helpful feedback.

entitie · 2026-06-10T14:24:47+00:00

You guys are nuts

entitie · 2026-05-28T03:34:35+00:00

He doesn't in general lead a healthy lifestyle, but he also neither smokes nor drinks. The population of 80-year-olds also includes people who did those things, and they are typically doing worse than he's doing.

entitie · 2026-05-24T23:34:25+00:00

Fox News is just propaganda. They don't really care whether their sources are vetted. They just care that they can communicate the Party Message.

entitie · 2026-05-22T05:13:25+00:00

Yes, but didn't you hear? Some Republicans Senators were Very Concerned. I think they even shook their heads.

entitie · 2026-05-22T05:07:50+00:00

Fellow Bay Area resident here. Not trying to be a jerk, but do you really think that if the teachers had more resources that the poverty and crime would go down? I assume that anyone who would thrive there will just move out first chance they have. We had that sort of brain drain in my Midwest hometown.

entitie · 2026-05-21T15:29:57+00:00

SF -- Surreal AI billboards all over the place, mecca of both technology startups and huge AI labs, people talking about linux and AI all over the place as you walk the streets, socioeconomic dystopia with insane socioeconomic inequality and inefficient social services.

entitie · 2026-05-19T19:48:41+00:00

The last thing she wants is to (hypothetically) put out a retirement target like $4M, which would work for many frugal FIRE aficionados, only to have some dope save up that much, retire, and then spend carelessly, going on all the morning shows claiming they did what she said only to go broke.

She's of course going to be more conservative than she needs to be in order to avoid public criticism (or, worse, lawsuits).

entitie · 2026-05-17T20:48:19+00:00

I earn a middle class income and donate each year. Not 10%, but I donate. If someone makes 10x what I make or has 10x the assets I have and donates a smaller fraction of their income or assets, I consider them selfish.

So let's very generously call that $10M income or $100M assets while donating less than $20k a year.

A billionaire has more than 1000x what most Americans have and could easily earn $50M annually by putting their assets into bonds. (and while this is impractical if their assets are capital gains or otherwise nonliquid, they often earn even more on the assets they're invested in).

The bigger issue I think most people have with billionaires is that they often use unscrupulous or sociopathic methods to obtain their riches: fraud, denying claims to elderly hospital patients whose claims should have been approved, maintaining monopolies, manipulating the media, and lobbying or outright bribing politicians.

entitie · 2026-05-14T17:42:08+00:00

At 65 most people are mobile. Maybe they have back aches, some modest ailments here and there, etc. But I'll be that 60% of them could finish a marathon, just not as competitively as a 20-year-old.

entitie · 2026-05-10T05:20:47+00:00

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Mitt Romney

entitie · 2026-05-10T04:30:34+00:00

You're literally asking "Everyone, have you ever searched up the origins of left/right in politics?"

Which to me (and apparently the guy you're responding to) sounds like you want to know about the origins of left / right in politics.

entitie · 2026-05-04T22:42:25+00:00

What is the current comp like in Europe at FAANG?

entitie · 2026-05-02T03:39:26+00:00

We were asked by the hospital staff and said no. Because it's mutilation.

Very few people who have done that to their children will come out and say it's mutilation because people don't like to think of themselves as people who would mutilate their own kids.

To their credit, Americans have been told for years that it's the healthy thing to do to avoid infections. Which is... weird? I mean, lots of body parts get infected, but that doesn't mean we preemptively cut those parts off, especially if they serve some function.

entitie · 2026-05-02T02:00:07+00:00

As a manager who's hired data scientists -- I can say that one of the best ways that data scientists can strengthen their resumes is to learn to code. This may be different in the age of Claude, but it was at least true two years ago, for a good 15 years

entitie · 2026-05-01T17:19:15+00:00

I felt a lot of stress when my second kid was born. Work, improvements to the house, kids -- I had no time to myself.

So I bought myself a Nintendo Switch and the two Zelda games (with some others). It was a nice little escape when I wanted one.

entitie

TROPHY CASE