This is what I preach to my kids. Get to work, live at home, save everything and invest. There is a huge difference between kids attitudes these days and those of the gen-x crowd. I loved my first jobs, they were so fun and people treated me very well. My children have dipped into the work force a bit and found it very nasty and hostile across various industries. My son trained as a machinist. A job that is very well suited to him. He asked for PPE (respirator, gloves) at his first job and was educating himself on the chemicals used in his area. After incurring chemical burns and respuratory issues he had them put the labels back on the barrels and again requested PPE. They threw him out on his ass, but not before attempting to humiliate and denigrate him. He is traumatized now and seeking disability benefits from the government. I don't have much to stand on when trying to convince him to keep trying.

> This is what I preach to my kids. Get to work, live at home, save everything and invest.

What are you telling them to invest in?

Strange to read, not my experience at all.

> it's about your rank in the social circles

It's among the most meritocratic I have a view into (from conversations with friends in.. mechanical engineering, entrepreneurship, academia, nonprofit, sales, education, ..)

All of those things are based overwhelmingly on social circles and politics. Not merit. If the world were based on merit we wouldn't be afraid of free markets and we wouldn't have mega corps. Yet, here we are.

> it's about your rank in the social circles

How is this relevant to programming?

You're not getting a job in programming without a social in. The people hiring you don't understand the job. That's what happens when things become big, bloated, and need to be popped. Tech has control of all modern nations down to the military and infrastructure. Nobody is tangibly regulating and pushing back on their power.

Planned by whom?

The tech cartel faang and adjacent. People talk to each other.

Them >_<