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Comment by sroerick | Hacker News Reader

Its okay to be a tradesman. You don't have to join a cult and save the world. Work is hard and unpleasant. That's okay.

Depending on the trade that may require reeducation, apprenticeship, and so on. Riding through years of that will be difficult for many if they are used to raising a family with full time pay or have only so many years before needing to face retirement.

Maybe SWE is just a trade?

I dont think it is okay. If you spending 8-12h per week then you it needs to mean something. If you dont care, you are throwing away majority of your life without meaning.

It means I need the money and the employer needs the work.

I don’t think it’s okay either, but we were kind of spoiled that we enjoyed doing something that was in high demand. This isn’t the case for most jobs.

If you believe you have that, that's a privilege, but most people in the world don't.

All is vanity.

You're making money, just don't think about it and you'll be fine. Retire when you feel like it and do whatever

You can't retire without wealth and switching to the trades is not going to get you wealth in the time people are talking about (i.e. 10 to 15 years until retirement)

Then we need to redesign our entire economic system because none of it hinges on you enjoying your productivity to survive or reaping the rewards. Not saying I entirely disagree with you, just saying our economic system isn’t configured for the theoretical ideals you suggest. I’m not sure we can do that or the people with enough wealth and power to shift things would ever want to change these things.

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