this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2024
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[–] [email protected] 242 points 10 months ago (7 children)

Ah yes, the dream to have less fun and be less fulfilled but make a lot of money. And then do... What exactly was the goal again?

[–] [email protected] 166 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Your reason to live is to pursue happiness and self actualization. My reason to live is to increase quarterly profits and achieve greater market capitalization for a large company. We are not the same.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 10 months ago

It's much easier to pursue happiness, feel fulfilled, and get self actualization when you aren't poor, alcoholic, and on the bags with an entire friendgroup in the same situation while you browse Lemmy.

[–] [email protected] 86 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (4 children)

Friendly reminder (for everyone) from someone in the field that the vast majority of people who study law do not end up making millions of dollars a year at top firms. If you're just going into law to make money, there are much less expensive ways to do so.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 10 months ago

Yeap, and the ones who do make millions usually have to work 24/7 in an extremely high stress environment. Burnout at those firms are pretty extreme, most just do it for a couple years to pay off loans and to pad their CVs.

I do have a buddy who is making a killing working a pretty low stress position for a top firm, but he took a really odd career course. Hes got a PhD in organic chem and then got his JD from Berkeley.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago

TBF compare that to being a rockstar these days is basically becoming an indentured servant to Ticketmaster or beholden to the pity and grace of an independent record label.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

like insurance fraud :)

[–] [email protected] 65 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

This reminds me of a story about a fisherman and some twat businessman out on some tropical island. Fisherman dude just fishes a bit and rests on the beach, never making much money and the businessman tells him he could make a lot more money toiling in some other job for decades and the fisherman asks him what the point is and he says "well eventually youll have enough saved up to be able to retire to a tropical island..." and just lists off stuff the fisherman is already doing.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

That story is so old that the fisherman can no longer survive because his fish is undervalued, the water overfished, and polluted, the beach illegal to sleep on, and his property unaffordable.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago

Well yeah the twat businessman realized that was the only way to peel this guy away from his effective retirement and into a cubicle where the rich thinks he belongs.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (4 children)

I have been there. I studied hard, got into best colleges, got decent grades, but when I realized after my Master’s, when I got no job after months of trying, I have been depressed so long that I am still not okay. Even now, I feel like all that education is as pointless. If you can, chase after your dreams, but always be prepared for failure too. But failure should never be the reason to not chase your dreams. Take it from a failure like me.

As an addendum, don’t forget to have fun. Dreams are not end all be all of life. Fun is extremely important. And that fun is in the chase.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I say this without any sarcasm whatsoever: the world needs more life stories like yours. Hope you are having fun.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 10 months ago

Right? What's life worth living for if we don't seek out the things that bring us joy.

I've got two engineering degrees and have found myself miserable in every job I've had. Sitting in an office for 8 hours does not bring me joy.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Same. I worked my butt off to make a five digit income only to realize that I was profoundly unhappy and none of the shit I could afford to buy would ever fix it.

Turns out Fight Club was in fact a documentary.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

It is, but some people miss the point of the ending. Basically, according to the movie, finding friends and having relationships is what matters the most. Compared to taking out your frustrations by fighting each other. That is just another disaster waiting to happen. Even the writer of the novel said that he liked the movie ending better.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Yep, I wasted the first 30 years of my life doing what I was "supposed to do" on a career trajectory. I have basically nothing to show for it, except a lot of bad memories and emptiness. As I approach 40, I'm finally learning how to have fun, push my boundaries, make friends, embrace my creative side, take risks, all of which I should have done long ago.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago (1 children)

If you want to live the American Dream, you've got to be asleep.

George Carlin

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Just as a positive note... the American Dream isn't about getting a house and being rich... it's about the possibility of someone who is poor to be able(even allowed) to rise up to some measure of success in a way that just was not possible or very unlikely in other countries.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Probably, that's what it meant a hundred years ago ... but over the past many decades in popular culture, the American Dream has meant that everyone has a chance of becoming filthy rich and a multi millionaire

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Move out of moms house

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Screw over the poor! That is the fun part. Source: am being screwed over