scottishfiction

There are some notable exceptions aside from the BBC in the UK. The Government Digital Service is held in fairly high regard. I’m not sure about the states. There are no doubt examples at the BBC of what you describe, but mainly it’s pleasant smart people building useful things. There’s dysfunction, but it’s bearable.

Even better, get out of the private sector (if you can). I'm very happy with what I'm contributing to the world at the BBC, and I'm paid 'well enough'.

My point is that I didn’t make a claim, I refuted GP’s by saying that either outcome is equally likely as there’s no proven link between parenthood and performance. If GP wants to claim there’s a negative causal link, the burden of proof lies with them.

I’m explicitly not making any claims about the affect of parenthood on performance in saying that in the absence of any evidence, it is as likely to make you better as it is worse. The burden of proof lies with the GP, who sees it as a risk.

Speaking of fallacies, how about the one where parenthood increases your risk of underperformance 'exponentially', or is in any way a 'risk factor'. Check your bias. Parenthood is as likely to make you better at your job.

The area belonging to Glasgow city council is 600k, the Glasgow urban area, also known as Greater Glasgow[0], which I live in, is 1.2m.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Glasgow

Ha! I’m sure many a proud Brummie would disagree. Glasgow also has roughly 1m.

I’d be interested to know what city you’re talking about. Are you limiting ‘something of value’ to manufacturing? A great deal of the UK economy is service based. I’d be amazed if only 5% of the city’s population were producing goods or services used by those outside the city.

> Ultimately it's a cultural issue that the people themselves need to figure out. If they stopped having kids so young and women weren't forced to raise their children alone, things could improve.

I’m still amazed when the privileged few sit on HN and espouse views like this. There’s an obvious answer and it’s probably the only reason you’re here - education. You’ve likely had access to decent or great education throughout your life. Your government could easily change its priorities and fund education, healthcare and social programs to correct these problems, but they don’t. Also, when you say it’s a ‘cultural’ issue, your suggesting it’s inherent to the people it affects, and given that they are largely black and ethnic people, it has a whiff of racism.

This is how student loans in the UK work.

"You’ll repay 9% of your income above the repayment threshold – earn less and you won’t repay. Once you leave your course, you’ll only repay when your income is above the repayment threshold. The current UK threshold is £25,725 a year, £2,143 a month, or £494 a week." [0]

[0]: https://www.ucas.com/student-finance-england/repaying-your-s...

> If you don't like it, why don't you just quit and then sue the company instead?

When folk talk about the 'privelege' of HN, it's this. Unions exist because your suggested course of action isn't viable for the majority of workers.

Why is the US the only developed country where private vs public healthcare has been a consistent point of debate? Why are the brainwashed masses of the other developed nations (of which I am a citizen) not outraged by this 'con job' that we have fallen victim to?

Of course this exact same thought process can be applied to other american 'quirks'. e.g. mass shootings and gun control.

It’s not a tax, as it isn’t collected by government. It’s also not ‘on all television ownership’ - you only need to pay the license fee if you watch public broadcast television as it airs, or you use the BBC iPlayer.

You only need to pay the license fee if you watch terrestrial TV as it airs, or you use the BBC iPlayer.

The BBC isn’t ‘tax-payer funded’, it’s funded by the license fee. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licensing_in_the_Un...

The BBC isn’t ‘tax-payer funded’, it’s funded by the license fee. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licensing_in_the_Un...

I do work at the BBC and the ‘budget’ isn’t controlled by the government to the degree you imply. Negotiations around the BBC’s funding situation and remit occur every 11 years [1], which somewhat transcends the political tit-for-tat you are alluding to.

https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Sum...

To answer my own question, I’m not sure I find a great deal of meaning in most of my work, but I like doing the work and I like the people I work with, and I don’t resent the people I work for, because it’s ultimately the British public.

There are places where you can find well-paid work that isn’t for ‘capitalists at the top of the chain’. Well, at least not directly. Do you think you’d find the public sector equally meaningless?

To me they came off as factory floor workers who were offered a switch to 50% desk work saying nice things about Amazon on Twitter and jumped at the chance. The minute any one of these people diverted from the party line, they’d be back to picking boxes or fired.

If the first and only place your mind goes is to child neglect, then you should examine your thinking, and temper your accusations toward someone who no doubt already has enough to deal with.

An obvious explanation would be that the child is in care/education during the day while the parent works.

And you still have no idea. These are anecdotes collected over a long period from which you can infer nothing.

Shelters don't 'solve' homelessness; homes and jobs and ongoing support do.

I largely agree with you aside from the final point about resigning ourselves to using these really poor signals. Recruitment is tough to get right, but we should keep improving.

Well then you're likely missing out on good candidates - and those good candidates you're missing out on are likely to be under-represented. Parents, carers etc. - possibly very competent developers, who just have other commitments. I smell affinity bias.

> Anti-vaccine nonsense is often painted as refusal to do all vaccines (there are nuts like that but they are few) rather than not exactly groundless suspicion that SOME new vaccines

Would you class the measles vaccine as new? https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/15/measles-who-...

In both your points regarding climate change and vaccinations, you show yourself as an apologist for anti-science causes.

Set up https://www.charlesproxy.com/ on the same network as your phone, then set it to be the phone's proxy server. Voila, you can now be horrified by the amount of tracking going on. You can even MITM SSL traffic by adding a trusted CA to your phone.

> You'll get significantly more if you work 14 hours a day instead of 8

That's another claim that it would be good to see some citations for.

If you work in salaried position where overtime is unpaid (as many HNers will) then more than 8 hours of work will bring you no financial gain other than in those toxic workplaces where unpaid overtime is seen as a virtue.

I think your options for armed resistance against the state are going to be quite limited by the fact that they have cruise missiles and you have a 9mm.

The state doesn't have to have a monopoly on violence; as the use of private military contractors has proven.