http://www.beezone.com/AdiDa/dawnhorsetestament/chapter44.html
To Seek Happiness (Rather Than To Realize It Inherently) Is To Be Possessed By the self-Contraction and To Be Motivated By it. Because Of the self-Contraction, What Is Inherent Ceases To Be Obvious, and, As A Result, the ego-"I" Seeks Among objects and others (and Even In the body-mind itself) For What Can Only Be Found or Realized Inherently, In Place, In The Well Of Transcendental (and Inherently Spiritual, or Love-Blissful) Divine Being. Indeed, the ego-"I" Is Always Stressfully At Effort, In The Absurd Quest For Happiness and Consciousness.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Civilisations only last 200 years? +-
evidently an old snopes myth
http://www.snopes.com/politics/ballot/athenian.asp
"1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinborough,
had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:
"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.
From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship." "The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/ballot/athenian.asp
"1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinborough,
had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:
"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.
From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship." "The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
News Flash - Lower Taxes Mean Less Jobs!
.Missing the main point of higher corporate and investment taxes twistedasp — 8/15/11 2:34pm As a small business owner for a "long" time, here's the real story on high corporate, business and investment taxes.
http://twistedasp.com/2011/08/funny-thing-happened-on-way-to-bank-to.html
Simply put, the higher the corporate, business and investment taxes are the higher the incentive to reinvest in a business rather than cashing out and investing in the market.
In my business, when tax rates are high, I always look at how to reinvest the money in my business to reduce the overall tax. Investing in the business means I am hiring new people, buying new equipment, expanding or renovating buildings...all of which add to the overall economy. When the tax rates are lower I just cash out and invest in personal wealth growth.
He's right....raising corporate, business and investments will build the overall economy.
more ▼.Left out the word "tax" in the last sentence. twistedasp — 8/15/11 2:38pm He's right....raising corporate, business and investments taxes will build the overall economy.
more ▼.This is an amazingly good metman — 8/15/11 2:47pm This is an amazingly good point.
http://twistedasp.com/2011/08/funny-thing-happened-on-way-to-bank-to.html
Simply put, the higher the corporate, business and investment taxes are the higher the incentive to reinvest in a business rather than cashing out and investing in the market.
In my business, when tax rates are high, I always look at how to reinvest the money in my business to reduce the overall tax. Investing in the business means I am hiring new people, buying new equipment, expanding or renovating buildings...all of which add to the overall economy. When the tax rates are lower I just cash out and invest in personal wealth growth.
He's right....raising corporate, business and investments will build the overall economy.
more ▼.Left out the word "tax" in the last sentence. twistedasp — 8/15/11 2:38pm He's right....raising corporate, business and investments taxes will build the overall economy.
more ▼.This is an amazingly good metman — 8/15/11 2:47pm This is an amazingly good point.
2008 Prediction of Republican Strategy to Defeat Obama comes true
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/party-hoover-indeed
The sad part is... Tyler Durden — 12/12/08 10:45am the democrats inability to frame the party of the Great Depression, The Watergate, the Iran-Contra, the S&L scandal, the stock crash of the 80s, the recession of the early 90s, 9/11, Iraq war, Enron, Katrina, et al... for the disastrous group of treasonous bastards they are.
After Hoover, and the fascist plot by republicans like Prescott Bush in the 30s, the GOP should have been made such a stigma, they would have gone out of business faster than Paris Hilton at a Mensa meetup.
.The sad part is... Pericles — 12/12/08 10:59am No, the sad part is that in 2016 their election slogan is going to be:
"Hoover caused the great depression of 1929. Bush caused the great depression of 2009. Vote Republican because lightning never strikes THREE TIMES in the same place."
And they'll probably WIN on that.
▼.No Tyler Durden — 12/12/08 11:28am What will most likely happen, and they seem to be moving towards that strategy, is that they will interfere with Obama so much. That by 2010 the crisis will be of such proportions that they will blame it on Obama.
There will be exactly ZERO mentions of Bush, as if he had never existed.
And Obama will be a lame duck by 2010. Not saying that it will happen, but it seems that is the intent of the GOP with all the apparent obstructionism being set in motion.
The sad part is... Tyler Durden — 12/12/08 10:45am the democrats inability to frame the party of the Great Depression, The Watergate, the Iran-Contra, the S&L scandal, the stock crash of the 80s, the recession of the early 90s, 9/11, Iraq war, Enron, Katrina, et al... for the disastrous group of treasonous bastards they are.
After Hoover, and the fascist plot by republicans like Prescott Bush in the 30s, the GOP should have been made such a stigma, they would have gone out of business faster than Paris Hilton at a Mensa meetup.
.The sad part is... Pericles — 12/12/08 10:59am No, the sad part is that in 2016 their election slogan is going to be:
"Hoover caused the great depression of 1929. Bush caused the great depression of 2009. Vote Republican because lightning never strikes THREE TIMES in the same place."
And they'll probably WIN on that.
▼.No Tyler Durden — 12/12/08 11:28am What will most likely happen, and they seem to be moving towards that strategy, is that they will interfere with Obama so much. That by 2010 the crisis will be of such proportions that they will blame it on Obama.
There will be exactly ZERO mentions of Bush, as if he had never existed.
And Obama will be a lame duck by 2010. Not saying that it will happen, but it seems that is the intent of the GOP with all the apparent obstructionism being set in motion.
News Flash! Karl Marx was Right! - Roubini
Karl Marx was right - left to its own unregulated devices, capitalism will destroy itself in the process of making all of us debt slaves, well duhhh
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/14-4
"Karl Marx had it right," Roubini said in an interview with wsj.com. "At some point capitalism can self-destroy itself. That's because you can not keep on shifting income from labor to capital without not having an excess capacity and a lack of aggregate demand. We thought that markets work. They are not working. What's individually rational...is a self-destructive process."
Roubini added absent organic, strong GDP growth -- which can increase wages and consumer spending -- what's needed is large fiscal stimulus, agreeing with another high-profile economist, Nobel Prize-winner Paul Krugman, that, in the case of the United States, the $786 billion fiscal stimulus approved by Congress in 2009 was too small to create the aggregate demand necessary to advance the U.S. economic recovery to a self-sustaining expansion.
Absent additional fiscal stimulus, or unexpected strong GDP growth, the only solution is a universal debt restructuring for banks, homes (essentially households/families), and governments, Roubini said. However, no such universal restructuring has occurred, Roubini said.
Without that additional fiscal stimulus, that lack of restructuring has led to "zombie houses, zombie banks, and zombie governments," he said.
No Good Choices Outside of Fiscal Stimulus or Debt Restructuring
The United States, Roubini said, can in theory: a) grow itself out of the current problem (but the economy is currently growing too slowly, hence the need for more fiscal stimulus); or b) save itself out of the problem (but if too many companies and citizens save, the flaw Marx identified is magnified); or c) inflate itself out of the problem (but that has extensive collateral damage, he said).
However, Roubini said he did not think the U.S. or the world are now at the point where capitalism in self destructing.
"We're not there yet," Roubini said, but he did add that the current trend, if it continues, "runs the risk of repeating the second leg of the Great Depression" -- the 'mistake of 1937.'
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/14-4
"Karl Marx had it right," Roubini said in an interview with wsj.com. "At some point capitalism can self-destroy itself. That's because you can not keep on shifting income from labor to capital without not having an excess capacity and a lack of aggregate demand. We thought that markets work. They are not working. What's individually rational...is a self-destructive process."
Roubini added absent organic, strong GDP growth -- which can increase wages and consumer spending -- what's needed is large fiscal stimulus, agreeing with another high-profile economist, Nobel Prize-winner Paul Krugman, that, in the case of the United States, the $786 billion fiscal stimulus approved by Congress in 2009 was too small to create the aggregate demand necessary to advance the U.S. economic recovery to a self-sustaining expansion.
Absent additional fiscal stimulus, or unexpected strong GDP growth, the only solution is a universal debt restructuring for banks, homes (essentially households/families), and governments, Roubini said. However, no such universal restructuring has occurred, Roubini said.
Without that additional fiscal stimulus, that lack of restructuring has led to "zombie houses, zombie banks, and zombie governments," he said.
No Good Choices Outside of Fiscal Stimulus or Debt Restructuring
The United States, Roubini said, can in theory: a) grow itself out of the current problem (but the economy is currently growing too slowly, hence the need for more fiscal stimulus); or b) save itself out of the problem (but if too many companies and citizens save, the flaw Marx identified is magnified); or c) inflate itself out of the problem (but that has extensive collateral damage, he said).
However, Roubini said he did not think the U.S. or the world are now at the point where capitalism in self destructing.
"We're not there yet," Roubini said, but he did add that the current trend, if it continues, "runs the risk of repeating the second leg of the Great Depression" -- the 'mistake of 1937.'
Monday, August 15, 2011
Warren Buffett - Conservatives Protect the Super Rich like they are Spotted Owls
Warren Buffett puts out a great sound bite in service to the country
I wish Buffett would put out a sound bite quoting Karl Marx, that would be great, something like: "Financialization is the end-stage of capitalism", or "Wage suppression of the labor and middle class by the corporate class creates an inevitable depression as consumers lose spending power and growth stagnates".
----------
Warren Buffett: The ‘mega-rich’ shouldn’t get treated like ‘spotted owls’
By John Tomasic | 08.15.11 | 3:04 pm | More from The Colorado Independent
Warren Buffett, an icon of American super wealth, skewers the anti-tax political theocracy dominating Republican politics in a New York Times op-ed today. GOP justifications for refusing to raise taxes for billionaire Americans at a time of record deficits are preposterous, he writes, adding that taxes have never stopped wealthy people from investing. He points out that Clinton-era tax rates were clearly more effective in adding jobs than the slashed rates of the Bush years. He adds that most of the mega wealthy only pay taxes on investment income, whereas lower- and middle-class Americans pay payroll taxes, too. He says the game has been rigged in his favor by the country’s billionaire-friendly Congress and that the country’s fiscal policy is unethical and absurd.
“While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks,” he writes. “These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.”
Buffett, chairman and CEO of giant-conglomerate holding company Berkshire Hathaway, reports that he paid nearly $7 million in taxes last year, but that, given the special tax rate lawmakers have bestowed upon him, that was half of what he would have paid if he were less wealthy.
“What I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.”
Buffett joins a growing list of super-rich Americans who have come out against the tax policies pushed by Republican leaders and their conservative think-tank researchers. Dozens of top-earning Americans have banded together this year in a group called Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength to plead with lawmakers to end the disastrous experiment in tax cuts always that persists regardless of how many wars the country is fighting and how imbalanced the budget grows. So far, the millionaires have made little headway in Washington.
In today’s op-ed, however, Buffett is persuasive, in part, for laying out a tax-policy problem voters who earn their money mostly by working and not by investing aren’t likely to hear wealthy GOP presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney, for example, nor any of his GOP rivals, detail on the stump in places like Ottumwa or Des Moines.
“If you make money with money, as some of my super-rich friends do,” Buffet explains, “[the percentage of your taxable income] may be a bit lower than mine. But if you earn money from a job, your percentage will surely exceed mine — most likely by a lot.”
The spectacle during last week’s GOP presidential primary debate, where every one of the major candidates vowed out of hand essentially to reject any budget proposal that included tax hikes, underlined how the party is now ruled by dogma and talking points and unwilling to accept problem-solving as the main task of leadership and government.
Buffet mocks the GOP no-tax-ever stance as unserious fiscal policy and proposes a simple alternative. Make big cuts in federal spending but also hike taxes on millionaires and hike taxes higher on the super-rich.
“My friends and I have been coddled long enough…. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.”
I wish Buffett would put out a sound bite quoting Karl Marx, that would be great, something like: "Financialization is the end-stage of capitalism", or "Wage suppression of the labor and middle class by the corporate class creates an inevitable depression as consumers lose spending power and growth stagnates".
----------
Warren Buffett: The ‘mega-rich’ shouldn’t get treated like ‘spotted owls’
By John Tomasic | 08.15.11 | 3:04 pm | More from The Colorado Independent
Warren Buffett, an icon of American super wealth, skewers the anti-tax political theocracy dominating Republican politics in a New York Times op-ed today. GOP justifications for refusing to raise taxes for billionaire Americans at a time of record deficits are preposterous, he writes, adding that taxes have never stopped wealthy people from investing. He points out that Clinton-era tax rates were clearly more effective in adding jobs than the slashed rates of the Bush years. He adds that most of the mega wealthy only pay taxes on investment income, whereas lower- and middle-class Americans pay payroll taxes, too. He says the game has been rigged in his favor by the country’s billionaire-friendly Congress and that the country’s fiscal policy is unethical and absurd.
“While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks,” he writes. “These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.”
Buffett, chairman and CEO of giant-conglomerate holding company Berkshire Hathaway, reports that he paid nearly $7 million in taxes last year, but that, given the special tax rate lawmakers have bestowed upon him, that was half of what he would have paid if he were less wealthy.
“What I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.”
Buffett joins a growing list of super-rich Americans who have come out against the tax policies pushed by Republican leaders and their conservative think-tank researchers. Dozens of top-earning Americans have banded together this year in a group called Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength to plead with lawmakers to end the disastrous experiment in tax cuts always that persists regardless of how many wars the country is fighting and how imbalanced the budget grows. So far, the millionaires have made little headway in Washington.
In today’s op-ed, however, Buffett is persuasive, in part, for laying out a tax-policy problem voters who earn their money mostly by working and not by investing aren’t likely to hear wealthy GOP presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney, for example, nor any of his GOP rivals, detail on the stump in places like Ottumwa or Des Moines.
“If you make money with money, as some of my super-rich friends do,” Buffet explains, “[the percentage of your taxable income] may be a bit lower than mine. But if you earn money from a job, your percentage will surely exceed mine — most likely by a lot.”
The spectacle during last week’s GOP presidential primary debate, where every one of the major candidates vowed out of hand essentially to reject any budget proposal that included tax hikes, underlined how the party is now ruled by dogma and talking points and unwilling to accept problem-solving as the main task of leadership and government.
Buffet mocks the GOP no-tax-ever stance as unserious fiscal policy and proposes a simple alternative. Make big cuts in federal spending but also hike taxes on millionaires and hike taxes higher on the super-rich.
“My friends and I have been coddled long enough…. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.”
Friday, August 12, 2011
Advice from Slashdot for a 50 Year Old Programmer - Learn New Coding or Stay in Management or Retirement?
http://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/08/12/1433239/Ask-Slashdot-Am-I-Too-Old-To-Learn-New-Programming-Languages
Stay Put (Score:5, Insightful)
by Number6.2 (71553) * writes: on Friday August 12, @10:57AM (#37068336) Homepage Journal
I'm 55, a programmer, and I've been out of work for two years. I've had plenty of interviews, but no job offers. Here's my take on all of this: I'm too old to be a programmer. I'll put my "management hat" on and tell you why:
1. I'm old. One 5 hour energy drink revvs up your basic 20 year old code monkey all day. I need a saline drip with caffeine in it all day to keep going.
2. I'm expensive. I have 30 years of experience in the 'biz and a masters degree in CS. I'm not cheap. You could hire two 25 year olds for what I'm asking.
3. (and what I consider to be my greatest failing in the corporate world) I've seen all the tricks. I've been exposed to every nasty little mindgame management has at it's disposal. And sometimes I have the bad manners to call people on it. This is called "having a bad attitude".
So when I compete against 20-somethings in the worst economy since 1929 (I hesitate to say the worst economy ever), I lose. I should have made the leap to management when I had the chance, not because I would have loved management (I would have had to manage assholes like me, after all ;), but because at 40 you have TWENTY YEARS LEFT. The years go by really, really fast. You should really start thinking about a soft place to land when you're 60 now, because if you aren't in line to be a VP or a Director you ain't gonna make it at this point.
The suggestion to "Follow Your Bliss" only works in an economy that's not run by sociopaths. Hell, it only works in a country that's not run by sociopaths. Strike one strike two. Tighten your belt, put as much money away as you can, and make sure you keep your health up. Because the era of "company loyalty" is over, COBRA for a family costs as much as your mortgage, and finding a new job is going to be a real challenge.
Other than that, have a nice day! :D
Re:Stay Put (Score:5, Interesting)
by Lumpy (12016) writes: on Friday August 12, @11:31AM (#37068862) Homepage
Your problem is you keep looking down the same road.
You are a programmer, over the past 2 years you should have been looking at updating your skillset to slide to an industry that is desperate for people.
Embedded programming.
This is what I did 4 years ago when everything started to go sideways. While working as a Corperate Code Ape I started studying embedded systems. I found it was easy, you just cant be lazy and expect the system to have a 8 processor core with 22TB of ram. You get a 33mhz processor with 128Meg of ram to run your Linux OS and your app in. no you dont get Swap space...
SO I slid over to that, I applied at a job and was hired instantly because of my extensive experience in programming and have been headhunted monthly ever cince.
Stop trying to do what you are used to. Find a CS career that is hit and heavy demand and slide into it. Programming detonators for Cruise Missiles or lighting systems for hospitals is far more lucrative than anything you will find in a corporate CS job reformatting TPS reports for the Accounting department.
Learn Industrial control, you know interfacing with real hardware.. The cool part is a bug can kill someone so they actually encourage you to take your time to test and fix bugs! It's refreshing!
Reply to This Parent
Re:Stay Put (Score:5, Insightful)
by TrailerTrash (91309) * writes: on Friday August 12, @11:58AM (#37069246)
I started out as a developer, then 25+ years ago got pulled into the "business side". Now I'm a VP in a really, really huge company. So my perspective will be a bit non-Slashdot-traditional.
If the OP has a job in project management, stay there. It may not be what you love, but's a regular job, and you are more able to help others avoid the snake pits you've encountered over the years than if you were pounding code. Display a positive attitude, and see if maangement is an option. It may be safer, but is more boring (trust me). You make that call, you can ask your boss to job shadow a manager, perhaps. But this will never happen if you don't have a good attitude, which incluides not ripping on stupid management decisions. If you disagree, keep your mouth shut, unless it's an ethics or compliance violation. Demonstrating that you see through the management BS and calling them on it will NEVER help your career, will NEVER reverse a bad decision, and WILL drag down team morale when the 20-somethings see that the veterans are opposed. You may feel smug, but it will never make things any better. No one will think you're smart, worldly, or wise.
As a "business partner" here are some things never to forget:
OF COURSE the business requirements are fuzzy. If the business side wrote very detailed, very clear, actionable, testable, realistic requirements, we wouldn't need half as many tech people. Our job is to figure out what needs to be done - not to have thought through every edge-case before calling you. Please help us through that.
I dread walking into an IT meeting and seeing a bunch of 50+ people. Bear in mind I'm really close to that myself. I want to see people who WANT to get my project done. Most of the 50+ programmers I encounter are chiefly concerned with demonstrating they know more about technology than I do (rarely true), with telling me why a project CAN'T be done, why this isn't how WE do things around here, and that I'm not "following the process". Maybe my project is stupid, it's true - I've been there many times, on both sides. Or maybe you don't know as much about my job as you think you do, and don't have the perspective to effectively judge.
Every career stalls. There is one CEO - or maybe one a year - but it won't be you, statistically speaking. So you'll top out somewhere. When you near 50, and find yourself in a boring job that either isn't what you love, or you've done it hundreds of times and can do it in your sleep, then start thinking about how you'll spend your retirement, and begin prepping. Give the company 8-9-?? good hours a day, then focus on building your future. Retirement is often 30 years long. How will you spend it? Is now the time to buy a small cabin down by the lake? Start a hobby that you love? Volunteer in the community? Go back to school? Even with 10 years left, most of the rest of your life will be post-work. Don't wait for your last year to plan.
No matter what your job is, whom you work for, what industry you work in, or what country you live in, people want to work with other people who are positive and try to be helpful. Is your attitude, demeanor, and work product demonstrating that? If not, you can be sure you'll always get the crap jobs - working with the irritating business partner who has just as bad an attitude as you, most often.
just some thoughts.
A coding team is like a baseball team (Score:3)
by Registered Coward v2 (447531) writes: on Friday August 12, @11:26AM (#37068776) Can you learn a new language - sure. As another poster pointed out - is it worth it? Unless you want to compete in price with a bunch of newbies; probably not.
A development team or shop is like a baseball team
There is the rare superstar that gets top dollar because they can do things nobody else can' which is why they are rare and expensive.
There are a few solid players who have decent careers because they have a good skill set and can be depended on to deliver. they make a decent wage but no where near the superstars. They stick around.
The biggest group is the journeymen players - they hang around a few years but there is always a crop of younger, cheaper players coming up to replace them. they never get serious money. They get churned to control costs.
Then there are the managers and coaches. They are valued for their experience; they know the game, seen all the tricks and can guide a team to victory. The may not make superstar money but they are paid well and they have longevity (as long as they perform) and options to move if they do well. They stay up on the game but don't try to play. Plus they decide who gets to play, where they play and who stays and who leaves.
As others have pointed out, there's always someone whose cheaper or wiling to work for less when it's a pretty generic skill set. I'd use your experiences to move to a place where your knowledge and experience is what is valued; rather than try to build a new skill set. Learn new languages to be able to identify good vs. bad programming; but base your value on being able to identify problems before they hurt you or solve them as they come up.
I can't code a line (unless it is Fortran) but I can manage a team and clients to get the job done on schedule and budget. It can even be fun -I've never believed you need to be a jerk to be a manager.
Stay Put (Score:5, Insightful)
by Number6.2 (71553) * writes: on Friday August 12, @10:57AM (#37068336) Homepage Journal
I'm 55, a programmer, and I've been out of work for two years. I've had plenty of interviews, but no job offers. Here's my take on all of this: I'm too old to be a programmer. I'll put my "management hat" on and tell you why:
1. I'm old. One 5 hour energy drink revvs up your basic 20 year old code monkey all day. I need a saline drip with caffeine in it all day to keep going.
2. I'm expensive. I have 30 years of experience in the 'biz and a masters degree in CS. I'm not cheap. You could hire two 25 year olds for what I'm asking.
3. (and what I consider to be my greatest failing in the corporate world) I've seen all the tricks. I've been exposed to every nasty little mindgame management has at it's disposal. And sometimes I have the bad manners to call people on it. This is called "having a bad attitude".
So when I compete against 20-somethings in the worst economy since 1929 (I hesitate to say the worst economy ever), I lose. I should have made the leap to management when I had the chance, not because I would have loved management (I would have had to manage assholes like me, after all ;), but because at 40 you have TWENTY YEARS LEFT. The years go by really, really fast. You should really start thinking about a soft place to land when you're 60 now, because if you aren't in line to be a VP or a Director you ain't gonna make it at this point.
The suggestion to "Follow Your Bliss" only works in an economy that's not run by sociopaths. Hell, it only works in a country that's not run by sociopaths. Strike one strike two. Tighten your belt, put as much money away as you can, and make sure you keep your health up. Because the era of "company loyalty" is over, COBRA for a family costs as much as your mortgage, and finding a new job is going to be a real challenge.
Other than that, have a nice day! :D
Re:Stay Put (Score:5, Interesting)
by Lumpy (12016) writes: on Friday August 12, @11:31AM (#37068862) Homepage
Your problem is you keep looking down the same road.
You are a programmer, over the past 2 years you should have been looking at updating your skillset to slide to an industry that is desperate for people.
Embedded programming.
This is what I did 4 years ago when everything started to go sideways. While working as a Corperate Code Ape I started studying embedded systems. I found it was easy, you just cant be lazy and expect the system to have a 8 processor core with 22TB of ram. You get a 33mhz processor with 128Meg of ram to run your Linux OS and your app in. no you dont get Swap space...
SO I slid over to that, I applied at a job and was hired instantly because of my extensive experience in programming and have been headhunted monthly ever cince.
Stop trying to do what you are used to. Find a CS career that is hit and heavy demand and slide into it. Programming detonators for Cruise Missiles or lighting systems for hospitals is far more lucrative than anything you will find in a corporate CS job reformatting TPS reports for the Accounting department.
Learn Industrial control, you know interfacing with real hardware.. The cool part is a bug can kill someone so they actually encourage you to take your time to test and fix bugs! It's refreshing!
Reply to This Parent
Re:Stay Put (Score:5, Insightful)
by TrailerTrash (91309) * writes: on Friday August 12, @11:58AM (#37069246)
I started out as a developer, then 25+ years ago got pulled into the "business side". Now I'm a VP in a really, really huge company. So my perspective will be a bit non-Slashdot-traditional.
If the OP has a job in project management, stay there. It may not be what you love, but's a regular job, and you are more able to help others avoid the snake pits you've encountered over the years than if you were pounding code. Display a positive attitude, and see if maangement is an option. It may be safer, but is more boring (trust me). You make that call, you can ask your boss to job shadow a manager, perhaps. But this will never happen if you don't have a good attitude, which incluides not ripping on stupid management decisions. If you disagree, keep your mouth shut, unless it's an ethics or compliance violation. Demonstrating that you see through the management BS and calling them on it will NEVER help your career, will NEVER reverse a bad decision, and WILL drag down team morale when the 20-somethings see that the veterans are opposed. You may feel smug, but it will never make things any better. No one will think you're smart, worldly, or wise.
As a "business partner" here are some things never to forget:
OF COURSE the business requirements are fuzzy. If the business side wrote very detailed, very clear, actionable, testable, realistic requirements, we wouldn't need half as many tech people. Our job is to figure out what needs to be done - not to have thought through every edge-case before calling you. Please help us through that.
I dread walking into an IT meeting and seeing a bunch of 50+ people. Bear in mind I'm really close to that myself. I want to see people who WANT to get my project done. Most of the 50+ programmers I encounter are chiefly concerned with demonstrating they know more about technology than I do (rarely true), with telling me why a project CAN'T be done, why this isn't how WE do things around here, and that I'm not "following the process". Maybe my project is stupid, it's true - I've been there many times, on both sides. Or maybe you don't know as much about my job as you think you do, and don't have the perspective to effectively judge.
Every career stalls. There is one CEO - or maybe one a year - but it won't be you, statistically speaking. So you'll top out somewhere. When you near 50, and find yourself in a boring job that either isn't what you love, or you've done it hundreds of times and can do it in your sleep, then start thinking about how you'll spend your retirement, and begin prepping. Give the company 8-9-?? good hours a day, then focus on building your future. Retirement is often 30 years long. How will you spend it? Is now the time to buy a small cabin down by the lake? Start a hobby that you love? Volunteer in the community? Go back to school? Even with 10 years left, most of the rest of your life will be post-work. Don't wait for your last year to plan.
No matter what your job is, whom you work for, what industry you work in, or what country you live in, people want to work with other people who are positive and try to be helpful. Is your attitude, demeanor, and work product demonstrating that? If not, you can be sure you'll always get the crap jobs - working with the irritating business partner who has just as bad an attitude as you, most often.
just some thoughts.
A coding team is like a baseball team (Score:3)
by Registered Coward v2 (447531) writes: on Friday August 12, @11:26AM (#37068776) Can you learn a new language - sure. As another poster pointed out - is it worth it? Unless you want to compete in price with a bunch of newbies; probably not.
A development team or shop is like a baseball team
There is the rare superstar that gets top dollar because they can do things nobody else can' which is why they are rare and expensive.
There are a few solid players who have decent careers because they have a good skill set and can be depended on to deliver. they make a decent wage but no where near the superstars. They stick around.
The biggest group is the journeymen players - they hang around a few years but there is always a crop of younger, cheaper players coming up to replace them. they never get serious money. They get churned to control costs.
Then there are the managers and coaches. They are valued for their experience; they know the game, seen all the tricks and can guide a team to victory. The may not make superstar money but they are paid well and they have longevity (as long as they perform) and options to move if they do well. They stay up on the game but don't try to play. Plus they decide who gets to play, where they play and who stays and who leaves.
As others have pointed out, there's always someone whose cheaper or wiling to work for less when it's a pretty generic skill set. I'd use your experiences to move to a place where your knowledge and experience is what is valued; rather than try to build a new skill set. Learn new languages to be able to identify good vs. bad programming; but base your value on being able to identify problems before they hurt you or solve them as they come up.
I can't code a line (unless it is Fortran) but I can manage a team and clients to get the job done on schedule and budget. It can even be fun -I've never believed you need to be a jerk to be a manager.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Adam Smith on the uselessness to society of the wealthy
"That portion of his revenue which a rich man annually spends, is, in most cases, consumed by idle guests and menial servants, who leave nothing behind them in return for their consumption. "
Smith, Adam (2004). Wealth of Nations (Optimized for Kindle) (Kindle Locations 6080-6081). Unknown. Kindle Edition
the greatest Faux News hoax - that tax cuts for the rich equals jobs - hahahahahahah - my 1975 high school textbook chapter 1 paragraph 1 on the Great Depression described how it proved that low tax rates on the rich only increase speculation and market volatility - why? because the rich are on average too lazy and stupid to use excess wealth for productive enterprise when it is 10 times easier and more profitable to throw it at Wall Street and their clever ponzi casino capitalism schemes of speculative bubble-nomics! duhhh. but will you ever hear that from any of the punditocracy idiocracy on any msm channel? nope. why? could it be the owners of said msm dont want the proles to know what is really yanking their economy around?
Smith, Adam (2004). Wealth of Nations (Optimized for Kindle) (Kindle Locations 6080-6081). Unknown. Kindle Edition
the greatest Faux News hoax - that tax cuts for the rich equals jobs - hahahahahahah - my 1975 high school textbook chapter 1 paragraph 1 on the Great Depression described how it proved that low tax rates on the rich only increase speculation and market volatility - why? because the rich are on average too lazy and stupid to use excess wealth for productive enterprise when it is 10 times easier and more profitable to throw it at Wall Street and their clever ponzi casino capitalism schemes of speculative bubble-nomics! duhhh. but will you ever hear that from any of the punditocracy idiocracy on any msm channel? nope. why? could it be the owners of said msm dont want the proles to know what is really yanking their economy around?
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Republican's Stellar Record on Economics
so, tell me again why Americans still think Republicans have any credibility at all about even the high-school level basics of economics? The party that gave us 3 Great Depressions in 130 years, now claimed victory in getting 98% of everything they wanted in the deficit 'negotiations', and the market responded with the largest point drop since the Sept 2008 crash.
Could it be that someone actually remembers where the debt actually came from, and then to hear the Republicans bragging about getting what they want in negotiating with Obama, could only mean one thing - another doubling of the debt!
Could it be that someone actually remembers where the debt actually came from, and then to hear the Republicans bragging about getting what they want in negotiating with Obama, could only mean one thing - another doubling of the debt!
"The debt was about $1 trillion when Reagan took office, and then: Reagan, $1.9 trillion; George H.W. Bush, $1.5 trillion (in just four years); Bill Clinton, $1.4 trillion; Obama, $2.4 trillion.
Oh, wait. I skipped someone. George W. Bush ran up $6.4 trillion. That’s nearly half—44.7 percent—of the $14.3 trillion total. We all know what did it—two massive tax cuts geared toward the rich (along with other similar measures, like slashing the capital gains and inheritance taxes), the off-the-books wars, the unfunded Medicare expansion, and so on. But the number is staggering and worth dwelling on. In a history covering 30 years, nearly half the debt was run up in eight. Even the allegedly socialist Obama at his most allegedly wanton doesn’t compare to Dubya; and Obama’s debt numbers, if he’s reelected, will surely not double or even come close as we gambol down Austerity Lane."
Oh, wait. I skipped someone. George W. Bush ran up $6.4 trillion. That’s nearly half—44.7 percent—of the $14.3 trillion total. We all know what did it—two massive tax cuts geared toward the rich (along with other similar measures, like slashing the capital gains and inheritance taxes), the off-the-books wars, the unfunded Medicare expansion, and so on. But the number is staggering and worth dwelling on. In a history covering 30 years, nearly half the debt was run up in eight. Even the allegedly socialist Obama at his most allegedly wanton doesn’t compare to Dubya; and Obama’s debt numbers, if he’s reelected, will surely not double or even come close as we gambol down Austerity Lane."
Rupert Murdoch gives himself a vacation from Page One
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2011/aug/09/michael-wolff-rupert-murdoch-video
Michael Wolff: 'This phone-hacking storm will sink Rupert Murdoch' - videoRupert Murdoch's biographer, Michael Wolff, discusses the media mogul's response to the phone-hacking scandal, his values, health and relationships with his inner circle
9 August 2011 1:39PM
Report from Murdoch HQ.....................
Murdoch under investigation.
Cameron and Coulson under investigation.
Police corruption under investigation.
Resignations, headlines, calls for change.
Global financial crisis.
Not looking good for the right.
Best to send politicians off on holiday until it all calms down.
How about a campaign for capital punishment?
Damn, that didn't work.
How about we shoot a gangster?
Hmm, might get us a headline for a day or two.
Shit, they're rioting!
Hang on, is there any way we can spin this?
How about if the police stand around for a few days?
Sell a few papers if there's rioting in the capital, won't we?
And then Cameron can ride in on a white horse and sort it out !!
Win back the right wingers who were starting to grumble. check.
Increase police powers. check.
Murdoch out the news. check.
Perfect.
Michael Wolff: 'This phone-hacking storm will sink Rupert Murdoch' - videoRupert Murdoch's biographer, Michael Wolff, discusses the media mogul's response to the phone-hacking scandal, his values, health and relationships with his inner circle
9 August 2011 1:39PM
Report from Murdoch HQ.....................
Murdoch under investigation.
Cameron and Coulson under investigation.
Police corruption under investigation.
Resignations, headlines, calls for change.
Global financial crisis.
Not looking good for the right.
Best to send politicians off on holiday until it all calms down.
How about a campaign for capital punishment?
Damn, that didn't work.
How about we shoot a gangster?
Hmm, might get us a headline for a day or two.
Shit, they're rioting!
Hang on, is there any way we can spin this?
How about if the police stand around for a few days?
Sell a few papers if there's rioting in the capital, won't we?
And then Cameron can ride in on a white horse and sort it out !!
Win back the right wingers who were starting to grumble. check.
Increase police powers. check.
Murdoch out the news. check.
Perfect.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Hillary Obama 2012!
Obama should run as the VP with Hillary as the presidential candidate in 2012 - could spin it as change we can believe in
Obama - the Great Disappointment - we needed an FDR or a TR or Hillary and got a lapdog
sigh ... I shoulda voted for Hillary ... somebody with balls like FDR or TR to stand up to the Murdoch Fox party fascists
one does not get a bankster-busting FDR or a trust-busting Teddy Roosevelt except from the ranks of the wealthy and privileged and white, and that is a rare and unlikely outcome indeed, so we got what we got, the only way Obama gets a spine is if millions take to the streets, and that aint gonna happen when American Idol or Dancing with the Stars is on FOX.
http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/opinion/sunday/what-happened-to-obamas-passion.html
9.Patricia Chang Indianapolis, IN August 7th, 2011 6:45 am
This article is a concise view of what has become a failure of leadership under Barack Obama. The old saw: "The proof is in the pudding",could not be more applicable than it is today. We are lurching between one crisis after another, each one looking darker than the last.Obama has reneged on so many promises, it is only the naive or his True Believers that continue to believe him. He used emotion-laden words like "hope" and "change" to lure us into voting for him. We have neither. He continues some of the worst of Bush's excesses, whether it be wars with indeterminate goals or tax cuts for billionaires. His healthcare reform helps some, but leaves 40+ million without assistance. It has been a big giveaway to insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies. When you scratch the surface of most of his accomplishments, you will find similar giveaways; or so many loopholes, they are not viable. He refuses to use the Bully Pulpit of the Presidency effectively. He gives in so often, it is a predictable pattern of behavior. I think he certainly did not have enough experience in governing. I believe that appeasement is a part of his personality. He should have been in the Senate longer before he sought his day in the sun. That, however is water under the bridge. If he truly cares about the average citizen, he would step down, as LBJ did. He would rest on his laurels as the first African-American President. His allegiances appear to be with Wall Street and the Military-Industrial Complex. Let him speak for them in the private sector. This country needs a strong, courageous, wise, ethical, compassionate individual, who speaks for all of us. Mr. Obama may have some of those traits, but he has not used them fully. Sadly, he presented himself quite differently, and the mask has fallen from his face. We are left with an enigma, that thousands of us do not trust.
Recommend Recommended by 142 Readers
8.ChloeZZZ Manhattan August 7th, 20116:45 am
No doubt, the conclusions of this column will become the story that will go down in history like that of the peanut farmer, the philanderer, and the silver spoon drunk.
The story that I keep returning to is the one of a black person on the Harvard Law review who forged a reputation for compromise to be able to stay at that table. The so called compromises Obama made there are what gave him the political capital to launch a bid for the presidency but also the model for how he would curry favor, use influence and power.
Having been the equivalent of "the help" in such rooms, I witnessed the abject capitulation there through straight forward channels of power, sheer social and financial advantage. I would liken it to a dog lying on its back in utter submission to the dominant dogs. This is the image I see Obama take again and again. It was what kept him on the Harvard Law Review, what allowed him to gain strength in the scrappy back of the yard elections of Chicago's South Side, and now as President.
The story that we need to hear now, though, is not of how to hang with the rich kids who do not realize they are thugs never having had to consider the damage their thoughtless exercise of power inflicts. When even the story of rags to riches is prostituted as with Boehner, the story we need to hear extolled, honored and cherished is the story of the mouse that roars. FDR, Lyndon Johnson on civil rights, even Nixon's championing of fair employment, protection of the people by strengthening the EPA, reaching a hand out to China, showed fortitude in the face of opposition.
All three were seriously flawed people who struggled and lost to their personal demons. Their legacy as leaders remains and gives hope to all Americans still. Leadership comes not from the luck to have no defects of character. The greatest leadership is about accomplishing something lasting in spite of then. A mouse can scare an elephant. Obama never heard that story.
Recommend Recommended by 133 Readers
.9.Patricia Chang Indianapolis, IN August 7th, 20116:45 am
This article is a concise view of what has become a failure of leadership under Barack Obama. The old saw: "The proof is in the pudding",could not be more applicable than it is today. We are lurching between one crisis after another, each one looking darker than the last.Obama has reneged on so many promises, it is only the naive or his True Believers that continue to believe him. He used emotion-laden words like "hope" and "change" to lure us into voting for him. We have neither. He continues some of the worst of Bush's excesses, whether it be wars with indeterminate goals or tax cuts for billionaires. His healthcare reform helps some, but leaves 40+ million without assistance. It has been a big giveaway to insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies. When you scratch the surface of most of his accomplishments, you will find similar giveaways; or so many loopholes, they are not viable. He refuses to use the Bully Pulpit of the Presidency effectively. He gives in so often, it is a predictable pattern of behavior. I think he certainly did not have enough experience in governing. I believe that appeasement is a part of his personality. He should have been in the Senate longer before he sought his day in the sun. That, however is water under the bridge. If he truly cares about the average citizen, he would step down, as LBJ did. He would rest on his laurels as the first African-American President. His allegiances appear to be with Wall Street and the Military-Industrial Complex. Let him speak for them in the private sector. This country needs a strong, courageous, wise, ethical, compassionate individual, who speaks for all of us. Mr. Obama may have some of those traits, but he has not used them fully. Sadly, he presented himself quite differently, and the mask has fallen from his face. We are left with an enigma, that thousands of us do not trust.
Recommend Recommended by 114 Readers .
one does not get a bankster-busting FDR or a trust-busting Teddy Roosevelt except from the ranks of the wealthy and privileged and white, and that is a rare and unlikely outcome indeed, so we got what we got, the only way Obama gets a spine is if millions take to the streets, and that aint gonna happen when American Idol or Dancing with the Stars is on FOX.
http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/opinion/sunday/what-happened-to-obamas-passion.html
9.Patricia Chang Indianapolis, IN August 7th, 2011 6:45 am
This article is a concise view of what has become a failure of leadership under Barack Obama. The old saw: "The proof is in the pudding",could not be more applicable than it is today. We are lurching between one crisis after another, each one looking darker than the last.Obama has reneged on so many promises, it is only the naive or his True Believers that continue to believe him. He used emotion-laden words like "hope" and "change" to lure us into voting for him. We have neither. He continues some of the worst of Bush's excesses, whether it be wars with indeterminate goals or tax cuts for billionaires. His healthcare reform helps some, but leaves 40+ million without assistance. It has been a big giveaway to insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies. When you scratch the surface of most of his accomplishments, you will find similar giveaways; or so many loopholes, they are not viable. He refuses to use the Bully Pulpit of the Presidency effectively. He gives in so often, it is a predictable pattern of behavior. I think he certainly did not have enough experience in governing. I believe that appeasement is a part of his personality. He should have been in the Senate longer before he sought his day in the sun. That, however is water under the bridge. If he truly cares about the average citizen, he would step down, as LBJ did. He would rest on his laurels as the first African-American President. His allegiances appear to be with Wall Street and the Military-Industrial Complex. Let him speak for them in the private sector. This country needs a strong, courageous, wise, ethical, compassionate individual, who speaks for all of us. Mr. Obama may have some of those traits, but he has not used them fully. Sadly, he presented himself quite differently, and the mask has fallen from his face. We are left with an enigma, that thousands of us do not trust.
Recommend Recommended by 142 Readers
8.ChloeZZZ Manhattan August 7th, 20116:45 am
No doubt, the conclusions of this column will become the story that will go down in history like that of the peanut farmer, the philanderer, and the silver spoon drunk.
The story that I keep returning to is the one of a black person on the Harvard Law review who forged a reputation for compromise to be able to stay at that table. The so called compromises Obama made there are what gave him the political capital to launch a bid for the presidency but also the model for how he would curry favor, use influence and power.
Having been the equivalent of "the help" in such rooms, I witnessed the abject capitulation there through straight forward channels of power, sheer social and financial advantage. I would liken it to a dog lying on its back in utter submission to the dominant dogs. This is the image I see Obama take again and again. It was what kept him on the Harvard Law Review, what allowed him to gain strength in the scrappy back of the yard elections of Chicago's South Side, and now as President.
The story that we need to hear now, though, is not of how to hang with the rich kids who do not realize they are thugs never having had to consider the damage their thoughtless exercise of power inflicts. When even the story of rags to riches is prostituted as with Boehner, the story we need to hear extolled, honored and cherished is the story of the mouse that roars. FDR, Lyndon Johnson on civil rights, even Nixon's championing of fair employment, protection of the people by strengthening the EPA, reaching a hand out to China, showed fortitude in the face of opposition.
All three were seriously flawed people who struggled and lost to their personal demons. Their legacy as leaders remains and gives hope to all Americans still. Leadership comes not from the luck to have no defects of character. The greatest leadership is about accomplishing something lasting in spite of then. A mouse can scare an elephant. Obama never heard that story.
Recommend Recommended by 133 Readers
.9.Patricia Chang Indianapolis, IN August 7th, 20116:45 am
This article is a concise view of what has become a failure of leadership under Barack Obama. The old saw: "The proof is in the pudding",could not be more applicable than it is today. We are lurching between one crisis after another, each one looking darker than the last.Obama has reneged on so many promises, it is only the naive or his True Believers that continue to believe him. He used emotion-laden words like "hope" and "change" to lure us into voting for him. We have neither. He continues some of the worst of Bush's excesses, whether it be wars with indeterminate goals or tax cuts for billionaires. His healthcare reform helps some, but leaves 40+ million without assistance. It has been a big giveaway to insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies. When you scratch the surface of most of his accomplishments, you will find similar giveaways; or so many loopholes, they are not viable. He refuses to use the Bully Pulpit of the Presidency effectively. He gives in so often, it is a predictable pattern of behavior. I think he certainly did not have enough experience in governing. I believe that appeasement is a part of his personality. He should have been in the Senate longer before he sought his day in the sun. That, however is water under the bridge. If he truly cares about the average citizen, he would step down, as LBJ did. He would rest on his laurels as the first African-American President. His allegiances appear to be with Wall Street and the Military-Industrial Complex. Let him speak for them in the private sector. This country needs a strong, courageous, wise, ethical, compassionate individual, who speaks for all of us. Mr. Obama may have some of those traits, but he has not used them fully. Sadly, he presented himself quite differently, and the mask has fallen from his face. We are left with an enigma, that thousands of us do not trust.
Recommend Recommended by 114 Readers .
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Paul Krugman: Obama Surrendered to the Tea Party Terrorists
http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/opinion/the-president-surrenders-on-debt-ceiling.html
203. Devil's Advocate Sunnyvale, CA August 1st, 2011 10:35 am
Obama's negotiations have gotten:
1. The extension of unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 99 weeks.
2. A 2% cut in payroll taxes to stimulate the economy.
3. Extension of the Bush tax cut for those who make less than $250K.
4. Passage of the START treaty with Russia.
5. No government shutdown, and no government default.
6. $900 billion in defense spending reductions.
In return, the Republicans got an extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy that will expire in two years, and about $200 billion a year in discretionary spending cuts.
The Republicans would never have agreed to items 1 to 6 except possibly the payroll tax cut. Obama has mitigated the disaster not caused them. And the Republicans have sustained devastating political damage for modest fiscal gains.
Recommended by 501 Readers
105. Roger Strassburg Oberpframmern, Germany August 1st, 2011 8:53 am
Had Obama done what a vast majority of his supporters had expected from him and been willing to take on big money and big business like Franklin Roosevelt did, he wouldn't be in the situation he's in. He wouldn't have suffered the losses he suffered in 2010, he'd have gained support. But instead he chose to compromise even when he didn't need to. And he continues to do so.
President Obama will go down in history as the Great Compromiser, the one who made compromise a goal in and of itself, the one who sacrificed the well-being of the majority of Americans on the altar of bipartisanship.
President Obama will go down in history as being the one who tried to be everybody's friend and as a result ended up being disliked by everybody.
Recommended by 1692 Readers
203. Devil's Advocate Sunnyvale, CA August 1st, 2011 10:35 am
Obama's negotiations have gotten:
1. The extension of unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 99 weeks.
2. A 2% cut in payroll taxes to stimulate the economy.
3. Extension of the Bush tax cut for those who make less than $250K.
4. Passage of the START treaty with Russia.
5. No government shutdown, and no government default.
6. $900 billion in defense spending reductions.
In return, the Republicans got an extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy that will expire in two years, and about $200 billion a year in discretionary spending cuts.
The Republicans would never have agreed to items 1 to 6 except possibly the payroll tax cut. Obama has mitigated the disaster not caused them. And the Republicans have sustained devastating political damage for modest fiscal gains.
Recommended by 501 Readers
105. Roger Strassburg Oberpframmern, Germany August 1st, 2011 8:53 am
Had Obama done what a vast majority of his supporters had expected from him and been willing to take on big money and big business like Franklin Roosevelt did, he wouldn't be in the situation he's in. He wouldn't have suffered the losses he suffered in 2010, he'd have gained support. But instead he chose to compromise even when he didn't need to. And he continues to do so.
President Obama will go down in history as the Great Compromiser, the one who made compromise a goal in and of itself, the one who sacrificed the well-being of the majority of Americans on the altar of bipartisanship.
President Obama will go down in history as being the one who tried to be everybody's friend and as a result ended up being disliked by everybody.
Recommended by 1692 Readers
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