23 karma · joined October 23, 2015
I think you're wrong in thinking that businesses will just give up, and take lower profits. No. They're going to cut hours, fire anyone they can, etc. to maintain their existing profit levels.
Raising the minimum wage WILL increase unemployment. That's Economics 101. Companies are going to find ways to fire people, or give them fewer hours. Raising the minimum wage to something like $15 would be ludicrous.
Also, to say those people aren't creating wealth is very offensive.
This honestly sounds like it's straight from one of the Facebook posts with clouds in the background.
I also have a side project that would be able to support me, but I do attend college. In my opinion, having that piece of paper (provided you don't go into massive debt for it) is much better than not having it.
You don't need to buy something from there -- you can simply use the site to find niches where people actually make money.
Making money online can be done. Example: I started a Minecraft server early on, sold in-game benefits, and now make $5-15K (depending on season) per month. A friend of mine makes way more. Here are the stats he sent me recently: https://i.gyazo.com/81718cef2295bbf4df8a6d9892d140c1.png
One of DHH's bits of advice is to find a niche and focus on profiting enough to support yourself. The internet is the best place to do that.
There are tons of sane businesses being sold on there that you can buy up and grow. At the very least, you'll see what actually makes money.
I'll continue learning. Getting problems right and watching those tests light up green on Codingbat is a very nice feeling. I do get genuinely upset and frustrated when I can't figure out a problem, though. I'm not sure whether that means I hate coding or like it deep down.
That's why I was asking for a problem. I need one that will tell me if I have the right brain wiring/mind. "If you can't do this without outside help in X minutes, you should quit learning to program." Not incredibly easy like FizzBuzz, but not incredibly difficult. Somewhere in the middle.
I wouldn't pursue it if it wasn't lucrative; that'd be irrational. But I'm not interested in money alone. I also want time, and the ability to create things that generate some sort of business value. Does an investment banker like what they do on a day-to-day basis? Plugging stuff into Excel? No, that's mind-numbing. But they get their satisfaction from seeing a deal that they participated in featured on WSJ.
I also want a hard skill. Being an "idea guy," doesn't cut it.
I'm interested in the practical aspects of programming, like being able to create something that produces value out of nothing. That's something I can get excited about. I'm not stupid; with enough thought I can solve a lot of Codingbat-esque problems. But it feels like high school math class.