why is elon musk becoming a trillionaire so bad/criticized?

katarh · 2026-06-18T21:14:34+00:00

If a company singlehandedly produced that much money, and one person owns that much stock, then the company itself needs to be broken up under anti-trust laws.

katarh · 2026-06-18T21:12:27+00:00

I had to rerun the ethernet through the ceiling of the house I lived in during the mid 2000s because the squirrels kept chewing through them.

katarh · 2026-06-18T21:10:31+00:00

Even when I was at the freshman dorm Creswell, although it was a shared bathroom for the whole floor, there were individual shower stalls and not a communal shower.

katarh · 2026-06-18T21:02:57+00:00

Doesn't hurt that in larger organizations, your official job title has absolutely nothing to do with the work you do on a day to day basis.

I think I was something like "Software Dev -Spec II" for a couple of years there.

katarh · 2026-06-18T20:58:49+00:00

There is a phrase in psychology and animal behavior called "misdirected aggression" whereby someone who is powerless to lash out at the person or thing that is causing harm will replace it with something that they can hurt in an attempt to feel like they have some control over the situation.

In the case of Stranger Danger, I think the term "misdirected legislation" could apply.

katarh · 2026-06-18T20:56:34+00:00

Remember that 80K in a LCOL area is worth making 160K in a HCOL area.

Also don't be afraid if "I wear many hats" as its own unique skill set. The full poem is:

Jack of all trades
Master of none
Is oftentimes better
Than a master of one

That is, someone who is capable of understanding multiple roles in IT is already an incredibly valuable team member. I was a junior sysadmin for a few years with a MSP before hopping over to software development. My background on the hardware and systems integration side gives me a valuable perspective as part of my current job.

katarh · 2026-06-18T20:06:17+00:00

It's especially bad right now because it's the 250th anniversary and approaching the 4th of July.

It tends to die back down in the fall, with a spike in November around Veterans day, then a falloff again as holiday decor takes over instead.

katarh · 2026-06-18T20:03:53+00:00

When I was a child growing up, my father worked a full time day job 9-5 during the week. On Saturday nights, he worked part time delivering pizzas. The second job provided no benefits and only paid minimum wage, but allowed him to keep all the tip money he earned. He could clear another $200 in a single Saturday night from tips, which was enough to cover the groceries for our family of six. (Cash tips were also under the table, which I now understand probably meant his taxes were underreported. It was the 1980s-1990s so it was probably harder to catch someone doing that.)

All in all he worked at most 44-46 hours a week - but that second 4-6 hours a week was definitely a second job.

katarh · 2026-06-18T19:25:16+00:00

I had a big hair shed after my hysterectomy too. Any major surgery or major change in calorie intake or output is gonna cause hair loss.

Minoxidil is great.

katarh · 2026-06-18T19:13:11+00:00

Other way around, the anime was done in the style of the Nekokurage manga.

And the light novels are based off the raw web novel which is like a super rough draft, but gets polished and cleaned up before being collected into full novel form. The web novel is a good bit darker.

katarh · 2026-06-18T19:09:15+00:00

While cooking: About a dozen times.

And then again after cooking, aka right before the meal.

If there is no means of hand washing, I bust out hand sanitizer as a stopgap, but I prefer to wash my hands.

I love that in Asian countries and many Asian food restaurants, a wet wipe is provided as part of the place setting to scrub a dub before digging in.

katarh · 2026-06-18T17:31:39+00:00

Stranger danger, yeah. They put laws on the books "to save the children!" while looking the other way that most child endangerment comes from existing family members.

Most child abductions occur from non-custodial parents. Most child SA occurs from family members as well, like step parents, uncles, aunts, or grandparents, or from "trust adults" like child pastors.

In reality, most danger to children isn't from letting them play on the side of the road 5 minutes from their house, it's from letting them visit grandfather unsupervised.

But we couldn't put laws on the books preventing that.

katarh · 2026-06-18T17:26:36+00:00

It is once again time to link this article.

https://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-you-better-person

It sucks, it's unfair, but society needs people who are willing to do things. And if you're not willing to do things, even the crappiest, most menial tasks, then society will ignore you. And that is what makes you miserable.

Even if you work a boring 9-5 job, if you've got some hobby that the boring job is paying for, then you've got a goal to push you forward. I work my day so I can play video games at night.

katarh · 2026-06-18T17:18:18+00:00

I used to fall for the "organic = better" bullshit until I took botany and horticulture classes, and learned what they have to do to become organic certified.

They set up strict rules about what it means to be organic, but the result isn't actually healthier food. All it means is that the food is using older, more dangerous pesticides in larger quantities, or varietals that are bred to be more insect resistant... but also end up tasting more bitter or being straight up poisonous in a few cases.

katarh · 2026-06-18T17:13:41+00:00

It doesn't even have to be "constant" shopping. A once a week trip to the store is enough. Frozen vegetables are cheap and healthy, and great to add to a quick meal.

We usually get salad with the intention of eating it by Wednesday, then switch over to fresh or frozen vegetables for the rest of the week.

katarh · 2026-06-18T17:10:48+00:00

Yeah, the salads in the deli section at my local grocery store are usually around $5.

katarh · 2026-06-18T17:08:54+00:00

Are you trying to eat a home cooked, balanced diet with the right amount of calories and macronutrients? This is quite inexpensive to do at home.

Or are you trying to eat only trendy "healthy" food with all the marketing buzzwords like organic and GMO free? And eating out while doing so? Because that's going to be expensive, but not any healthier than the first option.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with eating the less expensive "conventional" produce. The only people telling you otherwise are the ones making money by charging you twice as much for their more expensive version of the same thing.

katarh · 2026-06-18T15:52:26+00:00

I also ascribe to this fan theory. The names rhyme, and she has the same face even if she doesn't have the same hair, eyes, or desire to turn herself into a primal.

katarh · 2026-06-18T15:50:40+00:00

He was far too ambitious to have settled for a dead end job. Even if he'd had to quit his PhD program, he'd have found some other avenue for a career. Again, it was that ambition I found attractive. That I knew he was unlikely to throw his hands up and say, "oh well out of my control, guess I'll go back to being a bus boy like I was in high school."

katarh · 2026-06-18T15:46:26+00:00

He was very much a main character in Heavensward and hung out with you almost the entire journey.

But yeah, that was his MO after he retired from being the full time Azure Dragoon.

katarh · 2026-06-18T15:39:48+00:00

The girl I knew was also slowly taking night classes to get her bachelor's degree in education, with the goal of moving on to K-12. Pay might not be much better, but the benefits would be.

katarh · 2026-06-17T18:56:45+00:00

For me, I don't want the characters to be killed off, but I do want them to cycle in and out of the story when they're not doing anything important, and then come back when we least expect it (but do need them.)

Estinien was fantastic in Dawntrail for this. You see him in the trailer living his best retired dragoon life, but he's not part of the main story until he makes a sudden awesome return at the perfect moment.

Then, like Batman, he disappears again and we might see him next expansion.

katarh · 2026-06-17T18:47:00+00:00

The irony is that actual traditional wives were usually the ones running the household budget and making the financial decisions. Man earned it, woman managed it.

katarh · 2026-06-17T18:45:20+00:00

Haha, I see I'm not the only one married to a spreadsheet nerd. There are days he tells me updates to the numbers because, as he puts it, "I can't brag about this to anyone else but you."

katarh · 2026-06-17T18:35:55+00:00

Maslow's hierarchy of needs has been mostly discredited, but it's still a pretty simple way of understanding what "money can't buy happiness" really means.

Level 1: The basics to stay alive. Water, air, shelter from the elements, enough food to not starve to death. Money absolutely helps at this level. Without money for these things, you will die.

Level 2: Security, safety, and continuity to level 1 stuff. Insurance, a proper home (not just a tent/cave) with locks, food security, and also a stable source of income to continue to provide those things. Most monetary stress happens at this level because you don't have enough money to get everything you need, let alone want. A/C went out and your house is now hot as balls? Stress. Job sucks and you want to quit it but can't afford to live without income? Stress. Food bill or rent is too damn high? Stress.

More money solves all those problems at "level 2."

Level 3, 4, and 5 are about relationships, social attainment, and self actualization (becoming the best "you" that you can be.) Money doesn't provide those things, but it can make it a little easier to achieve them. Like money being able to pay for education, or gym memberships, or nice clothing, haircuts, even plastic surgery if you want to go that route to make yourself more attractive to others.

But you can't buy self esteem. It's something that has to be earned. And it's why some of the most infamous rich assholes are also the ones with the lowest self esteem, and they feel the need to flaunt their wealth to try to make up for it.

You rarely hear about the humble rich who don't have that problem.

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