DISQUS

I think about money a lot too, especially now that I am pretty much on a cash system (soooo weird, by the way). I think maybe there is some benefit in it, but at the same time, it makes me worry about things I have no control over (ie, exchange rates). I don't know how to *not* think about money though!

I just noticed my comments are not posting - am I hitting your spam filter? Anyway, I had a nice long comment earlier, and no time to recreate, just enough to say that this is a great series, and I don't see this one as a failure at all. :)

An improved society leads to improved individuals. If a person is made wealthy while living in society, I feel there is a certain obligation towards acknowledging the opportunities available to that person.
Even for those who succeed in spite of societal convention, there must be some sense of wanting to give back so that it's not so hard for the next person.

But, at the risk of sounding super communist, I think that individuals benefit when societies benefit.

I could see this... but I could also see that smart people imagine more possibilities, and therefore might be willing to take more risks.

Regardless, I'm 1000% in agreement on the smart people stupids thing. Welcome to my job!

I am a satisficer. There is a lot of evidence to show that we are just as happy with our less analyzed decisions than our more analyzed decisions...

It helps when your "belief" is that you are not your beliefs. :)

i am hopeful that we will see clearer skies ahead. but as obama said in his speech, this isn't just his (and his adminstration's job), it's *our* job. i think we all need to step up and make some positive changes, instead of sitting back and waiting to say "i told you" when the dream pops.
i'm disappointed when i see how much value my investments have lost, but what can you do? i never expected i could time the markets. at least i have other things i know i'm doing right (saving, etc).

so true. i actually think that people overestimate #1. just because you are smart and interested and have some skills, doesn't mean you have all that is required for that job. i think if people were more self-aware about the combo of skills required, they'd realize that some of the unhappiness comes from fitting a square peg in a round hole.

Steve, I have a solution for you that will make you feel a lot better about this whole thing:
let it go. :)

(I think it was great that you posted it though, since it was bothering you. I hope you found this cathartic)

You were wrong. And I don't say that out of any sense of moral authority, but the mere fact that you wrote a post about your thoughts on this.

When we do the right thing, we do it and move on, and don't look back at it (not even to think about how right we are).

That all being said.... so?

I must be very selfish, because I always take the road most gratifying (even if it's long term gratification). :)

As far as I know, those I've "left behind" have been perfectly fine.

I love this post. I think there are a lot of what-ifs and regrets in our lives. But ultimately, we have to ask ourselves, are we happy now? It might have been the best journey, but it got us somewhere nice (I hope).

You have so inspired a post. :)

maybe we should buy gold and store it in safe deposit boxes in other countries. :)

i took the citizenship test (distinctly remember being asked 'what is the constitution?') to be naturalized. now i live in a 'state' with no vote. taxation without representation indeed. it's a sad joke.

I'm frustrated by lack of accountability too. i don't think anyone would have objected to loans with draconian terms, either for detroit or wall street. which just makes me more annoyed that our politicians make political decisions and not sensible ones. :)

and yes, agree on the health care issue. also very frustrating. the only thing that doesn't annoy me (much) is that everytime we talk bailout, the dow goes up. :)

i think you are being disingenuous (and you know it) in comparing bennigans and circuit city to citibank and gm. but controversy aside, i too am disappointed in how the auto bailout is being handled - it's the worst of all worlds. a loan with some conditions would have been the best option, but i thought the same with the other bailouts. we seem to keep ending up at the lowest common denominator and the solution no one seems to want.

honda makes a nice car. they don't take as good care of their american employees though. granted, gm only does it because they have to, but then it makes me think that unions are really not all bad.

I think I might have to disagree with Bubelah on what "frugal" means, but then again, it's always the definitions of things that spawn discussion, no?

I don't think frugality involves deprivation - that, to me, is more crossing the line into 'cheap'. I think frugality is more along the lines of having what you need (and some of what you want), without letting your stuff claim you. So in a way, it's similar to 'simplicity' and 'decluttering' but for me is slightly different. I guess in the Venn diagram of my life, all three would be very overlapping circles. I think of frugality as a mindset, decluttering as a process, and simplicity as the goal.

i'm pretty sure this comes up in stumbling towards happiness, but i think he draws the conclusion that kids don't make you as happy as you think. it's not quite that clear cut, more along the lines of expectation vs reality not being the same, and also that we have faulty memories and tend to paint rosier pictures of what happened than we do in the moment.

all that being said, you can cut down on some costs by adopting! which would also address some of those overpopulation issues. and speaking of, smart parents don't always have smart biological kids. it has more to do with the environment in which they are raised, than the random assignment of genetic matter.

and i'm sure i've said this before, but i disagree on the paying for college thing, though i really have no issues with the position of finding the best bang for the buck. that being said, who knows how i would have turned out if my parents had done that. :)

what's the difference between elite and elitist? i'm thinking the first is the real deal, and the second is simply displaying the trappings...

personally, i'm all for plato's philosopher-kings...

and as someone who had to take the citizenship test, i absolutely agree that everyone should have to take it to vote. i had to, why shouldn't someone who is a citizen by accident of birth?

I am so torn on this. On the one hand, Mitt Romney, whom I don't like, says let the auto makers figure it out themselves. On the other, Jeff Sachs, whom I admire, says bail them out. What to do? Both think this is the opportunity we need for restructuring and pushing towards sustainability and greening. Romney is trying to get rid of unions. Sachs thinks throwing money at the problem is the best solution. And I'm particularly interested as this is my hometown - when they collapse, they take an already embattled midwest with them. Detroit employs more than autoworkers - some of the best and brightest of the midwestern universities (and beyond) work for them.

On the other hand - I told you so. Those of us who got torn down for being treehuggers simply because environmentalism makes us think in the long-term are feeling our bitter satisfaction.

As for why GM and not Circuit City - I assume industry falling makes a bigger impact than a big box retailer....

And on being scared - that's not fear. That's fearlessness. :)

i think there's another message here too - about how you make trade-offs. was the experience of climbing the third peak more exciting than seeing the sunset? for me, it would be. seeing the sunset is always one of those things that sounds better on paper than in real life. climbing a mountain though... :)

but, to tie this back to an earlier post - this is a very buddhist message. too often we spend our lives striving, instead of being content where we are in the present moment. i think if there is one failing in my professional life, it's that i'm always looking forward to the next experience.

I love the idea of ROWE - it drives me nuts to have set hours. Of course, one doesn't have to go with ROWE to solve that problem - I could just work whatever 37.5 hours per week I wanted (instead of anything set).

That being said, it is quite inefficient to have me work a set number of hours per week, period. I am salaried, with a required # of hours per payperiod. It is frustrating to me to work more than that one pay period, and less another, and not be able to flex between the two (I end up working less than my "hourly" salary one pay period, and either billing for non-work or taking PPL for another pay period).

There is a variation on ROWE that works - pay for deliverable. A freelancer or consultant often provides a service with specific targets, if you paid on that time frame, then it is up to the freelancer to manage time and payment. I actually try to set up all my contracts with a fixed amount of $$ over a fixed amount of time for Items A-G.

I don't think it's a bad post - critical analysis is never a bad thing. But your fundamental assumptions about Buddhism are flawed. I think this is common in people with a Western-centric focus to religion and spirituality.
I also think it can be confusing to pick certain things and try and make them coherent - in the same way people get confused with contradictions in the Bible. You have to look at the larger picture.

I think Chris's comment basically sums up what I was going to say, and in a much better way. But I do want to emphasize his point on desire and suffering. There is another Buddhist saying that goes: "pain is inevitable. suffering is optional". The idea that desire is the cause of suffering is rooted in the idea that we grasp (and avoid) impermanence, and we can't deal with the idea that everything is always in flux. If instead we practiced acceptance (instead of yearning), we'd be free of a lot of suffering.

As for God in Buddhism - in eastern philosophy, we realize that that "God" is nothing (and everything) more than the sum of all things, and that in order for us to wrap our brains around this idea, we have to bring God down to our level. So we ascribe the inascribable (did I make that up?) with characteristics that we can understand. Eastern religions are never solely theology - they are philosophy and psychology as well.

can i wax philosophical? i think desperation arises when we think we can actually control anything beyond our actions. you are right that more choices is best, but as for whether it creates more stability is questionable. for some, too many choices is paralyzing.
i think stability comes from knowing you have options because you haven't closed any doors, and you've expanded your mind to think in possibilities. it comes from *not* seeking stability, because seeking puts you in a constant state of worry. instead, i think true stability comes from having a mindset of trusting in your ability to turn seemingly bad situations into opportunities.
but, i'm also an idealist who flirts dangerously with the law of attraction. so far so good, though!
and thanks for the link! i got a nice reminder of what it means to have a "good job" this week, when my colleagues rallied around during a difficult (work) situation. having a supportive environment (at the peer-level, but also in the hierarchy) is more important than making more money. :)
but, in 4 months, i'm leaving the cushy job to venture into places unknown. it's a wonderful opportunity, and yet another reminder of how i have it so good here - it would never have been within my reach if it weren't for the support here.

the freakonomics blog had a similar thought recently too - talking about a shift in our economy, how it shakes up the job market, etc. should be interesting to see how it all plays out.