Promotion Not Pay Raise
For most men, there will come a time in their professional lives when they will have to ask themselves an important question: how much is advancement worth to them, and is it worth the price? Now this may seem like a very simple question at first, and an obvious no-brainer, but is it really? Sure, every man generally has a desire to be successful in their chosen field or occupation, but the concept of “successful” is subjective, and the terms “successful” and “advancement” are not necessarily synonymous.
Initially, most men will probably tend to associate the concept of “successful” with financial success. However, upon further introspection may also associate success with less tangible measures, such as professional or academic recognition, status, skill, contentment, happiness, stability, or even personal satisfaction. Now obviously most men would like to earn more money in their chosen occupations, and therefore seek financial advancement in the forms of pay raises or moving up the pay scale, but that is not the kind of advancement which I am referring to. For the purpose of this essay I am referring to advancement in the form of promotion, or “climbing the ladder” so to speak, which may or may not be tied to pay increases.
Playing The Game
Now, please do not misunderstand me: I am not at all saying that a man should not have drive and ambition to succeed and advance in his career. If you are a man lucky enough to be in an occupation or organization where promotional advancement is generally objective and merit-based, then by all means set the bar high for yourself and strive for excellence.
Sadly, this kind of objective merit-based promotional process is extremely rare in 21st century America. In today’s professional environments, a man is contending with far more than just his own abilities versus those of his peers. He is also fighting an uphill battle against an ever-growing progressive system. Today, promotional consideration in most professional fields will encompass far more than just a candidate’s merits and abilities, and will also include factors such as political correctness, quotas, affirmative action, protected classes, fairness, social justice, and feminization, just to name a few.
On top of all these “political” considerations, there are also the age-old factors of nepotism, networking, and the “good ole boys club” to contend with as well. The old saying “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” is still alive and well today. Yet where once a man could essentially get ahead on his own merits, skills, knowledge, and perhaps a little “networking,” advancement today in most professional settings requires not only those things, but also jumping over “political” hurdles and navigating the treacherous waters of political correctness as well. It requires a man to “play the game” more heavily and more skillfully than ever before.
So What Is The Price
Is “playing the game”, and what you hope to accomplish by it, worth the cost and sacrifice to your own honor, dignity, values, integrity, self-respect, and character? Some men may have absolutely no issues whatsoever with becoming a “company man” and “playing the game,” as long as it means future advancement and promotion for them. They see nothing wrong with kissing the right asses, sucking up, becoming a “yes man,” conveniently being in the right places to be “noticed” by superiors, doing favors for the “right” people, making “friends,” being politically correct when necessary, and basically doing whatever it takes to get ahead no matter what the cost. To these men, achieving their goals of advancement is worth the kind of self-degrading behavior necessary to reach them.
Yet sometimes the cost of advancement goes far beyond that of just being a spineless sycophantic kiss-ass, and falls into the realm of treachery. For some, “playing the game” also involves lying, cheating, deception, gossip, rumors, taking credit for others’ work, throwing others “under the bus,” stabbing peers in the back, or various other selfish methods of making yourself look good at the expense of others.
For some who may already have supervisory positions, yet who wish to advance themselves further, it may mean putting their own interests and well-being before those of their men. This could include things like not supporting their men in the face of superiors, not looking out for the best interests of their men, using the hard work of their subordinates only to make themselves look better, or even blaming their subordinates instead of taking accountability when things go wrong.
If by chance these types of managers do support their men, it is only because doing so aligns with their own self-interests and benefits them in some way. This kind of piss-poor leadership is personified in the fictional character of Colonel Cathcart in the classic Joseph Heller novel Catch-22. In the novel, Cathcart cares more about his own promotion and advancement than the well-being of the men under his command. His concern about pleasing his superiors in order to gain favor is at the direct expense and safety of the men under his command flying combat bomber missions in WWII.
In the novel, Cathcart would regularly volunteer his squadron for dangerous missions, while never flying any missions himself. This kind of behavior is illustrative of the classic distinction between a true leader, and merely a supervisor.
Whether it is “playing the game” by ass-kissing, treachery, or any combination of such, these men have either consciously decided that selling out their character is worth it, or for some, doing these things would not even constitute selling out at all because they have no character to speak of. If you are a man lacking character, or see nothing wrong with what I have discussed above…congratulations, you are part of the problem.
For Those Not Willing To Compromise
So now some may look at this essay as an excuse for defeatism, or for justifying a lack of ambition. That is far from my point. As I said before, if you are lucky enough to be in a field where advancement is objective, and merit based, then by all means set high goals for yourself.
So then, what is a man who refuses to sacrifice his character, principles, and dignity just to advance in his career to do? To begin with, he should always strive for excellence, proficiency, and professionalism in his chosen field, regardless of advancement opportunity, and should always work hard at performing his job to the absolute best of his abilities. He should pursue advanced training and education opportunities when available in areas of personal interest or direct job applicability, rather than those classes meant to simply “pad a resume.”
He should also strive for self-education and self-improvement in his field, by reading, studying, and practicing. Improving one’s proficiency or finding a personal niche or passion will help provide self-confidence and self-satisfaction, regardless of whether or not it helps you advance. He should also try to maintain a professional and respectful relationship with his peers and superiors, while avoiding anything that would compromise his dignity and constitute “ass-kissing.”
A red pill man should also avoid office “drama” and gossip like the plague, and steer clear of those who perpetuate it. Most importantly, he should remain stalwart in the integrity, values, dignity, and principles which he refuses to compromise simply in the name of promotion. If perhaps one day the opportunity arises to be noticed and promoted based on merit, character, and achievement, then he can hold his head high knowing that his position was earned without sacrificing his character.
In Conclusion
Honestly though, the most important thing to remember for a man who refuses to compromise his character is that, in the end, it’s only a fucking job. There is far more to life than just your career. As the saying goes, no man on his death bed ever wished that he had spent more time at the office.
Read More: The Price I Paid For Helping A Single Mom’s Child
In today’s America, man is fighting not for promotion, but for his job security.
Here are some of the reasons why men can lose their job at anytime:
-Women (feminism, HR departments, false rape/sexual harrassment cases)
-Technology (replacing his job)
-Outsourcing (job goes to third world country)
-Immigration (replaced by H-1B workers)
-Corporate greed (CEO may want to keep his paycheque to boost his own salary)
-Nepotism or bias (replace you with family member or friend, or younger worker)
It seems there are now more reasons to lose your job, than there are reasons to keep you at work.
One of the main causes of outsourcing is feminism. I have sat in on the decisions and even though the costs might be higher they prefer not to have to deal with the regulations that tell them who they can hire and who they can fire and how much diversity has to play in those decisions.
It’s elitism that’s behind both outsourcing *and* feminism.
That’s why you want to be self-employed as well as being able to have a corporate job. There’s risk in both but you can mitigate that by having versatility.
“Here are some of the reasons why men can lose their job at anytime:
-Women (feminism, HR departments, false rape/sexual harrassment cases)”
This is gender cleansing. It would be hugely helpful if some talented statistician somewhere could put some kind of quantification on the number of men being turfed out of their jobs in this way.
Feminism systematically weeds out competition through politically motivated culls that get presented as tackling sexism, or other forms of unacceptable practice which always somehow equates to anything that doesn’t favour female values. We need to demonstrate the quantitative effects of these acts of covert gender discrimination in order to demonstrate that that discrimination is systematic and deliberate
If men were to form all-male businesses they would have to go underground now.
It’s called North Dakota and naturally, we’ve overtaken Saudi Arabia in a few years of dudes working unfettered by progressive bs. The sad thing is that it will be taxed to death too and allow the bs to flourish for even longer.
I imagine anything but a gay bathhouse would be shut down.
Looks like the underground market is the way to go.
That illustration is exactly why – having been in both situations – I am very careful about who I work for.
I played the game well. Made mid-300k $$ and at 54 got cancer. Ok now but, another disease has arrived. No family history of either. Live your fucking life men! My wife is not very sympathetic and has grown distant as my earning power wains. Get out of the jobs you don’t want. After taxes, houses, cars, and wife costs, it is not worth it. “” It’s not worth it!”” I turn 6o next month and life as I understood it does not exist. You think you have all the time in the world; you don’t.
You are right.
I will also say minimalism is one of the key elements towards keeping your money. Thats why as man, I have managed to keep my money by simply avoiding the bullshit materialistic and consumeristic crap that is being shoved in our faces such as houses, cars, smartphones and keeping a relationship.
Not worth it. Avoid all of it. Live frugally, make rational investments, maintain your clothes and always keep updating your mind. That is the true way to success.
Consumerism is people’s attempts to fill the void in their life because they are either too ignorant or stupid to be truly reflective and find happiness. There’s a bunch of soulless CEO’s creating more useless shit to sell, so they get huge salaries so they can fill their lives with useless shit. Somewhere society lost its way and now derides simple pleasures as quaint or conservative and we are anti-social if we don’t get on board the plastic buying train.
You sure got that right – its like a fucking relentless wave of consumerism and materialism; almost UNREAL! almost as if simplicity and sanity are the enemy. There’s this overwhelming pressure to conform and compete or get out. WTF is going on
The dumbing down of the masses. That is what has been going on (the blue pill.) If you take the red pill, you will somehow be branded as an extremist.
Crazy times we live in.
I think a red pill man should use his money as he desires. If you want to go on vacation: go. If you want to restore an old car: do it. Don’t let anyone tell you what to buy or not to buy. Sure, don’t let the world make you a wage slave but also don’t live in a cave if it doesn’t suit you.
I actually think the masses have always been dumb. That’s why they are so easily led.
A large part of the problem is that our culture has been corrupted by materialism, and things like religion, patriotism, and family have been marginalized. These things used to be the most important sources of purpose and fulfillment in people’s lives.
Now we have the cult of radical individualism. I’m not advocating some sort of commie collectivism, but it’s unhealthy for people to live for themselves only, disregarding what were once considered sacred bonds. Instead of prioritizing their children, too many people spend their time and energies making themselves feel good. Instead of rewarding the loyalty and hard work of subordinates, too many managers/bosses/CEOs reward only themselves.
Remember the difference between an alpha and a lone wolf. If you are not part of any pack, then you’re a lone wolf. Good luck. If you are part of a pack and you want to be alpha, then lead.
A red-pill man should use his money to achieve his goals. *His* goals, not someone else’s.
Yes they have. If anything the IQ of the masses is probably higher today than 1000 years ago (not to mention way more educated).
If you avoid debt and the associated payments for debt that buying lots of crap cost you it is possible to live a life that is low pressure and doesn’t feel like you’re trapped trying to earn more and more money to pay bigger and bigger living costs.
You don’t have to live like a pauper but don’t waste money on things and possessions. Buy a house and have a reliable car and smart clothes but don’t make commercialism the centre of your life.
I have noticed that if I look at the In Flight magazines or Mens Magazines like GQ, Asquire and even things like the Financial Times it makes you want to buy more rubbish because they carry so many adverts for watches, suits, cars, holidays etc. By reading this media you are being brainwashed into becoming a fully participating member of the rat race.
The REV MAD and truth give good advice.
And keep in mind… modern marketing is a SCIENCE… its all based on hijacking your brain with a degree of subtlety and specification you aren’t consciously aware of.
God damn I love fast cars though. Superlite Cars and http://www.race-car-replicas makes it affordable too. For the price of one Lamborghini you can have a stable of Bugatti eaters and embarrass all these guys in the underground supercar street racing scene here in Miami. I saw a ZR-1 eat a Ferrari up with $50,000 on the line 3 months ago in the downtown warehouse district, dude in the Ferrari could not believe he lost. I wanted in on that shit so bad and it only takes about $80,000 to build 2 cars and dominate these losers who worship over priced Italian styling loser mobiles.
Its not a science. Its pseudo-science. I studied it for a while but stopped because it made me want to vomit. It was so shallow.
Give me that $80K for a year and I’ll give you back $90k
But you can buy things if you’re smart. Watches, valuable jewelry, guns, high-end furniture, relics, knives. Look at them as if they’re simply cash. Stocking away 5k a year in cash just to spend that exact same pile of cash in forty years isn’t that smart because it will be worth 1/3 of what it currently is at that point.
1/3rd? Aren’t you optimistic?
We’ve averaged about 3% inflation per year since 1913. The rule of 72 says that value is cut in half 24 years.
Does anyone here believe the government’s inflation numbers?
I’m 47. I don’t believe there’s any need to save for retirement in this enviroment of 0% interest on savings, volatile manipulated stock ‘markets’, inflation, growing government, and ultimately economic collapse.
The bottom line is this fellas:
Paper burns.
Treating green coupons with occult incantations all over them as a real store of value is the height of foolishness now.
This ain’t your granddaddy’s America.
True about the furniture..if you buy new furniture it becomes worthless very quickly, buy antique furniture and it holds its value or even appreciates.
So true, especially the part about the occult symbols on the money. I always forget about how bizarre the undertones of this nation are. Hold some cash for emergencies, but not lots of it. Cash could go bust in a hurry if shit starts to slide. Although not scientific at all, I would say there is a 50/50 chance that the US economic system could implode in the next 15 or 20 years. There is only so much fraud, corruption, and fake productivity a system can handle, even one as robust as the US system.
Remember, an economy is only as good as its people. I would not speculate on the prospects of this current crop of Americans. They are nowhere near as productive as previous generations, and the system as well as the entire world has changed dramatically over the last many decades. The US economic system as it currently stands is not well structured to withstand hardships.
I just threw 1/3 out there. I’m not surprised it’s worse.
You may not have liked it, but it’s far from pseudo-science. Advertisers aren’t stupid people. They pay huge endorsements because they get a significant ROI.
Sorry I’ll put it another way. Marketing is not science.
that’s what’s up. you really don’t need all that crap to live a good life, not a socialist but veblen was right about the conspicuous consumption thesis.
You don’t have a phone?
LOL.
I use a telegram machine.
Also don’t have a car. I ride a rickshaw.
Cars.
Buy a premium car about five years old. This car should never have missed a service and should have been owned by one person only. Low mileage.
You will pay this car off in no time and keep it for 10 to 15 years.
There’s nothing like driving a premium car with no car payment.
Upvote for you.
And they’re usually built better, especially the Japanese types (Acura, Lexus, Infiniti) than their lower end counterparts (Honda, Toyota, Nissan).
Furthermore, if you can drive a manual transmission you should. They rarely break and last much longer than just about any automatic transmission.
There’s a reason why new cars don’t offer M/T as much. Simply put, the M/T doesn’t require expensive services and, properly driven, a clutch will last the life of the engine.
So when the salesman tells me “nobody wants manuals” I tell him “you don’t want to sell them because they don’t need $5k rebuilds every 100k”.
Infiniti G37 Sedan, M/T here. bought used for less than the price of a new 4cyl Accord with A/T. [2 years old, 20k on the clock.]
Win.
For sure. My 11 year old car is a MANual and runs like a dream. It should be obvious that automatics were made for women.
This PT I know at the gym is going to do exactly this. He’s getting rid of his phone and intends to live in Asia without any money. He will go door to door, teaching people martial arts in return for food and shelter.
truth is right on here-live minimally to mitigate any issues down the road like job loss, health problems, etc.. You become a slave to your crap otherwise and can’t be as mobile. Problem is most women won’t live this way.
And they won’t respect a man who does this way. The guy who maxed on his credit on a BMW and other crap he can’t afford is getting more pussy than the guy who bought a ford focus and puts money in a brokerage account every month.
Sad truth isn’t it. The never question how he bought all the fancy cars, high end condo, etc… just they they get to be a part of it.
If you want loyalty, get a dog.
À bientôt,
Mistral
The number one cause of premature death and cancer among men is not smoking or alcohol. It’s not obesity. It’s not work place hazards.
It’s nagging housewives.
My old secretary would ask me why I was always in good mood. I would respond, “Because, when I go home at night, there’s no Unauthorized Bullshit.”
It’s suicide till you are 64 in most countries. The male suicide rate is 3x higher than the female one. I’m shocked that no one seems to even blink when I tell them this. From my experience most guys who topped themselves it was either finance or unhappy wife.
Nah, I don’t want to walk around carrying a shopping bag full of shit.
Or you can buy a tamagotchi and expierence the loyalty of a dog without cleaning its crap.
Truth. Do what thou wilt.
“My wife is not very sympathetic and has grown distant as my earning power wains. ”
Why does Leo Tolstoy’s short “The Death of Ivan Lynch” come to mind. I hear you man, Hang in there.
Do you mean “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”?
Of course He meant “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” and You know It, You just cant deny Yourslef the pleasure of feeling better at the expense of others.
Lol! So funny!
Actually, when You think about It, Its not funny at all.
If you were making 350k a year, you were obviously playing the game exceptionally well my friend 😉 But it’s true it comes at a price. I look at some relatives of mine that are making between 250-400k a year and they look bone tied. All they do is work. They barely see their kids. What’s the point? The tradeoff doesn’t seem worth it from my view, and I make fuck all money, well under 100k.
Two things worth more than all the money in the world. Your health and your time.
Damn, REV MAD, I am so sorry to hear about your misfortune.
You know, you should be proud of what you have accomplished in life. At this point, as I am sure you have figured out, it is not about the money. And love in today’s society is a lie. I suspect that the biggest regret you have is that you got married. You were sold a false bill of goods, and you could not possibly know that your wife would spend most of her years watching Oprah and getting indoctrinated with hate.
I do hope that you can find some things in this life to enjoy. They are still there. Probably best to have a “come to Jesus” talk with your wife. Either she shapes up or you are getting out. If you beat cancer, you can beat a bad marriage.
There is more to live for. There is still a lot of joy out there that a man 60 years old can pursue and obtain.
For those young guys – hear REV MAD! Do as he says. To hell with marriage. To hell with the feminist state. Live you life, enjoy it, do the things that give you fulfillment. Live for you self. Not for this corrupt culture we live in.
You are 100% correct on that my good man. That is great advice for younger men.
I’ve only been in the private industry a few years but a big issue I have is anyone competent and salary is constantly expected to do more with fewer available resources to boost corporate profit. Meanwhile, the pay isn’t incentivized directly to me for making this sacrifice. If I don’t like it, fine, HR will find someone else willing to do 60+ hour weeks.
One thing I’ve found is that hard work is generally ignored. But then again, so it busywork.
At any salaried position, you are hired to work for 40 hours a week. Doing more on a regular basis is a clue that you should leave as the company you work for is underpaying you and stealing your time.
So get your work done, but do it within the 40-hour work week. Don’t fret over your boss complaining about how you are lazy. If he or she confronts you on that, just state you are paid for 40 hours and that is what you will put in. If he or she wants you to work more, demand higher pay.
It’s really that simple.
That’s a generational divide. The boomers think work is life. The boomers are also idiots.
To be fair, the boomers grew up in a generation where you actually could have a job for life and a pension from the company to see you over for the 5 or so years the actuarial tables said you were going to survive. That time has definitely passed, and no employer will ever give you anything back for your loyalty.
I have to think that boomers did actually live during a time when work was appreciated at a company. It was a time when Americans put much time and energy into companies that were actually located within the borders (U.S.).
Today, many companies operated (HQ) within the borders of the US to be labeled as “American” but have all of their manufacturing outside of the borders.
Times have changed and people need (or needed) to change with it. What once was the American Dream is now just a lie being told over and over again to the younger generation.
It also depends what you’re getting paid for, exactly, and what you’re getting out of it. I’m in a position well over what my experience merits, so I work more than 40 (sometimes, a fair amount more), and the pay is probably less than some positional peers. But it’s a learning position as well – I’m learning on company dime to position myself for future opportunities. If I asked for more money, realistically my experience doesn’t merit it – but it will set me up for bigger things earlier, which is my goal.
Be careful, once you ‘ramp up’, your employer will still try to pay you your entry level fee, be ready to pull the trigger when that happens.
The problem is our baby boomer parents and their projections which we inherit. None of their values or job experience translates to the modern work force.
First, I’m an engineer, and at my firm there really isn’t a ‘corporate ladder’ to speak of … Corporate ladders are much a thing of the past, whereby hard work, tenure, and merit granted you upward status within a company. Yes, I can get promoted, but for any real gain I need to self finance an mba to advance. I refuse, because the degree is stupid and my time is finite.
Second, outside engineering, medicine, and certain finance jobs, I think we are about to witness the greatest offshoring and automation in human history. If you think getting a high paId white collar job is the answer, you may be in for a big surprise in the coming decades.
Third, boomers are not retiring … These old fucks refuse to step aside, even with some of them in management making over 250k at the age of 60 to 70. Promotions are thus totally back logged due to the greed of the elders who didn’t save for retirement. Oh, and the company pensions they receive are ponzi schemes like SS.
And finally taxes. You will be taxed to death once you hit close to 100k from all angles … It’s not worth it.
My advice is stay small, nimble, stable, and modest in your job pursuits. The American Dream is over.
There is no such concept as job security anymore. So the whole premise of promotion is a fairy tale.
You are right about all of the above points. Which is why I strongly advocate all men to save and invest rationally. Save and invest rationally. Do not waste anymore money on garbage like smartphones, cars and houses. All of my friends who dated women, would lose their money and would eventually go broke. They all regretted it.
Which is why as men, we need to learn and understand the value of money and why it is getting harder and harder to make and keep it. Women do not have this mentality or way of thinking. To women, they live in a fairy tale world. They will spend money that they don’t have, on shit that they don’t need. Houses, cars, clothes, jewellery etc. Also, factor in their desire to have children and…well you can see where I am going.
Never allow a women to handle your finances. Always live frugally and take care of yourself.
What to invest in though? I struggle with that.
Stock market is over inflated … a bubble that will burst when the boomers pull out their retirement funds.
I think one family rental real estate is the best bet. The big home market will crash, when, once again the boomers attempt to sell off and no one younger can by their properties. The problem is 1) property taxes 2) leverage risk 3) questions about how rent friendly property becomes if economy collapses.
Never invest in real estate.
As an owner of real estate, I can tell you from first hand experience that this market has been destroyed by the following:
1) Government: Insane red tape and endless tax laws such as property tax, inheritance tax, capital gain tax etc.
2) High unemployment: So many tenants losing their jobs and not being able to pay their rent on time or requesting for reduction in rent.
3) High costs: maintainance, repairing and insurance costs. Not to mention the extortionate rates and unreliablity of estate agents acting on your behalf.
4) Social security: While unemployment is high, these leaves you with having to rent out to social security tenants which is a bad idea. Not generalising, but most social security tenants are bad idea. Eg) drug addicts, arrears in rent, criminals etc.
The real estate market is no longer a fruitful venture it once was. My advice is to invest in something else and if you own any real estate, try and sell it off. The stress of maintaining these properties is not worth it anymore, especially if you have a full time job at the same time.
Thanks so much for the advice! My intuition was telling me the same.
All real estate is not the same. Commercial, industrial, residential, etc are all different animals. It depends on the assets you’re looking to deploy. If you’re a Nickerson fan, your comments may well be valid for residential in your area. But if you’re looking to diversify out of common equities or cash, REITs are another vehicle for real estate which may be worth looking into.
No problem buddy.
Just keep working at your job and save your money. If you can live frugally, then you may be able to retire earlier as well.
All the best.
Cool. Appreciate the advice. Although constant government regulation is a pain in the ass to deal with.
Cash is a good play for the moment, until the hyperinflation kicks in. Other than that, there’s not a lot of safe havens unless you look at diversified foreign currency baskets (held in other countries, as foreign currency accounts in the US are historically and legally prone to forced currency conversion, see terms of service for Florida’s Everbank’s currency basket CDs) and hard goods (e.g. nonperishables like shampoo, razors, food, etc.) Real estate, as mentioned below, is a poor play because while value can go up, it may not go up on your personal timeline- volatility may sink you. Gold and others are also not good plays due to tax laws (nominal, not real, gains taxed at ~30%, even as opposed to cap gains taxes) and exchange/barter concerns.
Cash is not a good idea now. You should take the risk now to cover that inflation premium that’s coming in a year or two. Beating any market is composed of more luck then skill, but if you don’t try, then who knows what could have been. And diversifaction is pointless unless you have something to diversify ($100k+).
Massive structural inflation has been predicted for decades, and depending who you’re listening too, may already be in progress. Yet we know for a fact that the S&P is massively overvalued and nearing a tipping point. So, cash may be the least-worst place to be. Where else would you put assets? Real estate? Gold? Equities? Weird structured financial products? What would you have advised yourself in 2007? Most of those options are either incomprehensible or illiquid, and frequently to the layman both. Cash loses value over time, but when we see 10-20-50% corrections, you’ll be glad your IRA was there instead of the S&P.
I see that you know your shit, but your talking like one of those doom/gloom investors that pop up on Bloomberg. We KNOW that inflation WILL rise due to the FED manipulating the long term rates(which correlates with inflation), but we DONT know if the S&P is overvalued even though people have been saying that for the past few years… The truth is that nobody knows, because that would be like timing that market. As far as 2007, I was already invested in good ideas so they are good ideas in 2014
Again, it’s a matter of timing. Agreed that inflation will happen. But what will happen first – your cash eroding (and at what rate?), or a large market correction? Place your own bets, keeping in mind also that the two are not exclusive.
Real estate and equities btw.
Real estate in areas that I know will be gentrified over time. That’s where the real money is, and you have to be blind not to see it happening. Stocks are my go to because of the potential for an enormous returns. The stock market is not for everyone, but if they don’t like risk then they should stay at home.
True, but markets take from the impatient investor and reward the patient investor over time. What I have today will be different from what I have in 2020. I know cash will be worth-less, but what will my idea (investments) be worth? Your criticism is welcome btw.
Invest in portable assets than you can hide easily and carry with you. Best one, in my opinion, is gold coins.
I would only invest in real estate as a small percentage (5%) of a well diversified portfolio, and always in a real estate fund. Buying buildings is a rich man’s sport and can be a real nightmare when it goes wrong.
Invest for the long term and timing becomes less of a concern.
Where do you keep your cash? Under the mattress? Because if you keep it in the bank it could all go up in smoke overnight. The return on cash does not match the risk.
“Stock market is overinflated” is a very general statement that is certainly not true for the majority of stocks.
Learn how to analyze companies, invest in solid ones, review your investments regularily and you should be able to make decent gains all year, every year with minimal overhead and hassles.
Real estate on the other hand locks down the majority of your cash and some people even might be foolish enough to get loans to buy it despite uncertain job prospects. You pay a shitload of taxes on it which totally contradicts true ownership in the first place, you’re exposed to tons of risk if you rent it out as an investment (tenants stop paying rent, destroy your property, the neighborhood my turn into a ghetto and drive down it’s value etc.) and if you want to get rid of it, there is a ton more money to pay too in taxes and fees.
If anything, getting your own land and building something on it on your own as well as possible, as cheaply as possible and then selling would be the only option to me, but that only suits certain DIY guys to begin with.
Gold and silver bullion sound good on paper, but historically they’re a poor investment (worth about half as much as in 1980 in today’s dollars) and are mainly used by doctors and other white collar tax evaders in western Europe to store undeclared income + doomsdayers that have been around since the dawn of the internet and before (you can’t eat gold anyway).
Coins also carry a large markup, even when you buy a larger amount and get a good deal.
5 percent? If I had 1 mill, that would be 50k, half a ghetto sized house.
Note the following:
The devil is in the details.
Your history is very short. Why did you pick 1980? And your argument can be turned on its head. If gold is only halfway to its peak, well, that sounds like a fantastic investment.
How did you manage to identify gold investors so specifically?
As for doomsdayers… gold has been around since the dawn of civilization and is still going strong.
Of course coins carry a mark-up, somebody had to mint them and somebody has to store and then sell them. Find me an investment with zero costs and I will show you a liar.
>Your history is very short.
Most people start investing in their 20s and given 34 years (the difference between now and 1980) the gold investor that started in the 80s would be almost 60 by now with half of his money gone. The average guy only lives so long and I’ve seen plenty of guys that were already barely able to walk in their 60s with a steadily declining mind. Money means nothing at that point anymore.
It’s common knowledge in western Europe (where I’m originally from) that white collar tax evaders make up most of the physical Gold buyers – which makes sense, given how bad of an investment it is.
>Find me an investment with zero costs and I will show you a liar.
Buying stocks is incredibly cheap to free these days ( I haven’t looked into the business model of those free brokers, but they’re able to make money somehow) while Gold coins carry a significant markup of 3-6% + a likely larger loss on resale, so you’re most likely looking at a roundtrip cost of at least 10 to 20% on an asset that hasn’t made any gains for 34 years.
I use a property management firm for my real estate investments. If you are patient when looking for good deals, you can build a very profitable porfolio of real estate investments.
Prefer silver since I can buy several rounds weekly, instead of a single gold round every couple of months. Still though, precious metals are the way to go no matter what, they are money literally everywhere in the world, and always will be.
Silver ingots generally go for spot price + $2.00 where I get them. That’s hardly a huge markup, unless the price was down in the $4.00 range. Given where it’s at now though, it’s worth the little bit of profit I give to my dealer.
Your selection of 1980 favors your argument. Why didn’t you pick 1973 or 2004 in which case the investor would show significant gains? Obviously if you pick the top of the market as your starting point you will show a negative return regardless of the market. If you invested in UK resi in 1997 you would also have a negative return.
If you are talking single stocks, yes maybe much lower costs but much higher risk. You will never make a total loss in gold though.
Comparatively, coins have a higher transaction cost but you have to consider the advantages. Coins are much smaller units and very portable. You will have a lower markup on gold bars but they less convenient and too expensive for the average person. Coins are also essentially tax exempt in the UK
Gains for gold and silver were only very short term, historically speaking:
http://www.macrotrends.net/1333/gold-and-silver-prices-100-year-historical-chart
An asset that didn’t make any money for 87 years (1915 to 2002) is hardly a serious long term investment to me and merely a vehicle for short term speculation.
Yeah it’s going to be hard to get renters out when shit hits the fan. My great grandfather was a property mogul during the Great Depression. He would just burn houses to the ground and start again with apartments. It was that hard to evict people and people could afford apartments and labour was as cheap as it ever was.
There has been serious manipulation of the gold price in the past century and in fact, at any time when the government has been in charge of the money supply. That said, for the average person, really serious investment is outside of their capabilities. The average person should really be thinking about “savings” rather than investment. A position in gold is savings.
Investment is taking a risky position in a company’s securities. This is for people who know what they are doing and have access to inside information and the connections to avoid being caught, otherwise its a mugs game.
Btw, real estate also didn’t make any money over the time frame you mention. Additionally, the previous cycle in the UK resulted in economic losses. If you had “invested” in gold during the same time period you would have had something like 400% returns.
That said, yes I agree, to make serious money in gold you have to do it short-term and time the market. But isn’t this really the case for all investments?
The trouble with silver in the UK is that it attracts VAT. Of course if you do need to buy weekly here, you can buy gold quarters.
You apparently do not know what a REIT is. Google that term.
Gold earns no interest. Worthless. Only do it if you’re propping for apocalypse
Don’t try to beat the market. Less than 5% of investors beat the market in the long run. No point in wasting time on researching individual companies. Just buy index funds
Gold is worthless? How come they charge money for it then?
Every asset has pros and con’s. Gold carries no interest but there is the relative value improvements and the value never goes to zero.
worthless as an investment vehicle. Some people say to invest in gold as a hedge against inflation. The problem with that is gold can ride under the CPI for 20 years, jump back up and tower over it for 10, and then crash and ride far below for another 30. It’s entirely unpredictable. Only invest in it if you really believe the price is going to go way up or if you think economic apocalypse is going to happen. Gold is extremely volatile. I think it’s worth something around $1,200 and ounce right now. But it could drop to 700 an oz and hover around there for 10 years before it comes back up.
You’d be much better off with bonds.. a much more stable investment. If the economy crashes, everyone’s fucked. The preppers are probably the most fucked because they’ll be the first to have their houses raided be shot to death.. So don’t buy gold unless you want the man to rape your wife during the apocalypse.
the whole point of investing, is to produce more stuff of value in the world. Gold doesn’t give us any utility. It has very limited uses in electronics, but that’s about it. When a company issues stocks, the idea is that it will take the cash proceeds from the sale of the stock and use it to produce something of even more than the face value of the stocks.
With gold and silver.. that doesn’t happen. It gets mined from the ground and either goes back in the ground or sits somewhere and does nothing… Nobody eats it, it performs no useful service to anyone.. I know silver has slightly more uses but I don’t think its price is going to skyrocket like optimists think it will.
Got it. Don’t buy gold cos your wife will get raped.
Advising guys not to spend money on smartphones, cars, etc, completely disregards any value that people ascribe to those goods, which is why they sell in the first place. If you’re a hardcore utilitarian Montanan, sure, you don’t need the iphone 6. But if you use communication as a tool to be productive, then yes, it’s worth the time and cash to have a data plan instead of that vintage Razr phone. Getting a car may well be an unspoken necessity in your line of work or your social circles, and can indeed help getting pussy. Disregarding the facts of your circumstances (i.e. ignoring that the people around you can indeed create reality for you, despite your best intentions of being an Alpha Lone Wolf) is not wisdom. Working through those realities is one thing; blithely disregarding them is another.
Advising guys to “save rationally” and “invest rationally” sounds great, but much more useful would be concrete advice. “Rationally” is a term that anyone can project value on. Buying pink-sheet stocks can be “rational” because you *know* you’re going to get the one 100-bagger that’s going to make up for all the rest. What you’re actually prescribing is an assessment of your risk tolerance – know what level of risk you can deal with; invest / save and invest accordingly. That’s the hard part, because it requires so much self-knowledge and a slightly longer time-horizon than over next week.
I believe it is your responsibility as an individual, to go out and find out, what is considered as rational investment. Only your own hard work, research, thinking and a degree of luck will get you through this life. As for concrete advice, I have already mentioned below as to why one should avoid real estate. It is upto you to go out and analyse what is worth investing in and what is not.
Technology is a waste of money. Heck I have been using this piece of shit computer for 5 years (with the adaptor always on) and was given to me as a gift. Despite all the bullshit commercials that you see on the tv about how you need the latest model etc, I refuse to waste my money on technology. This laptop will do me fine. In regards to phones, you can make all the calls you want using a cheap crap $10 phone.
Also a car is not an investment. Most cars lose 60% of their original value in the first 4 years alone, and fuck, why need a car for pussy? Just improve your game and then you can easily get more poon in the long run.
The only way to make it in this life is to hustle and grind. It is what I have been doing my entire life and will continue to do so and until the end.
There are plenty of options between the iphone 6 and razr phone, many of which are very cheap and allow you to be just as productive as with an iphone 6, especially since iphones are designed primarily for entertainment.
I have a Forrest Gump level of understanding in investment. So, I’ll ask you guys. What do you think of a strategy where you just steadily invest about 250$ a month into four of the world’s index funds (1000 a month total, obv) China, Germany, Brazil, USA. Is this feasible? Stupid? Solid?
Yes, it’s very easy to do. You’ll wind up paying a lot of transaction fees if you do it that way though, every month you’ll be buying 4 stocks, going to cost you 20-40 bucks to do that. A better strategy would be to buy one of your “basket” each month (cutting the fees down by 1/4). I’d find the worst performer for the month and buy that (then repeat each month until you’ve purchased them all).
Use ETFs, that’s the best way to do it. VTI is the US total market index. FXI is the China market index. VWO is emerging markets (which, IIRC, includes Brazil). FXI is China. There’s your basket, just buy one each month.
I’d include some other stuff in there as your portfolio grows. Things like Oil (OIH), maybe some precious metal (GLD/SLV). A REIT (VNQ). But the most important thing is to START doing something. Your plan is reasonable, start investing today.
Index funds only cover averages. Don’t be lazy, learn to evaluate companies, invest into solid ones and enjoy your gains.
If your are comfortable with 1-2% a year fees, then over 20 years you have paid 20-40% in fees. It may be worth it having someone manage your money. Rich people pay investment fees. If you’re money is not locked up, then I think it’s worth a shot.
>It may be worth it having someone manage your money.
Relying on others who only have their own interest in mind is an easy way to financial ruin and the beta’s way of choice. It hardly ever even works out for “rich” people and lots of them lose a lot of money due to crooked advisers / investment managers (Bernie Maddoff comes to my mind).
The reason why Warren Buffet is at the top is because he uses his own mind.
There are zero commission brokerages like https://www.robinhood.com/
Thanks for that response. Great advice and I’m starting soon.
All I can tell you is that the stock market is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.
A survey conducted in my backwards country (Australia) revealed that most hetero couples have the female handling the dual income expenditure or just the male breadwinners earnings. Can you tell me why the fuck these dickheads would let their women handle money? To quote the late Mr Williams: “thats like letting a bunch of leppers judge a beauty contest!”
Crikey mate. LOL.
I can only guess that guys who allow their women to handle the finances are either really bad with money, or most likely, have been pussy whipped.
Lets not forget what today’s man is in the west- effiminate, emasculated metrosexual.
The numbers were huge too. Haha. Something in the vicinity of 75-25 in womens favour. Being bad with money, pussy whipped, you name it; those fellas have no excuse.
I’d rather let children and animals handle my money.
LOL
Not all women live in a fairy tale world haha. Very ugly/obese women, along with female lawyers and financiers, need to work serious hours, like men.
Actually, lawyer-cunts have more testosterone in their veins than the average emasculated hipster. Their 3 cats/beta husbands needs to eat…
Excellent analysis from the Doctor. I don’t think it’s going to be “off-shoring” so much as automation. I hate to sound like a Luddite, but that’s going to be the Big Threat to jobs.
Dead on about the Boom. Those think they’re special, and threw themselves a giant party. They expect Gens X&Y to eat the whole crap sammich the Boom wants to serve them and be grateful. They also think that they’re going to be “active adults” and hang around the office, soaking up the bonus pool, while doing zero work. Their future, however, is bleak. They didn’t save for retirement and they’re about to discover that Gen Y alone outnumbers them and with Gen X too, that the younger folks may not think wage slavery to support the Boomers is such a great idea.
End Transmission,
Mistral
If you do the math anywhere from 14 to 25 percent of your paycheck goes to their pensions, medicare, and SS. Not to mention debt and inflation due to their poor oversight.
Fortunately, the boomers can try to tax us to death to pay for their nursing homes and hip replacements, but that will give us incentive to stop working.
The Laffer curve, boomers… suck it! You’re screwed.
Read Boomsday by Christopher Buckley (author of Thank You for Smoking).
I’m a boomer and I know lots of people hate us. It’s happening because A. many of our generation are obnoxious B. In hard times people cannibalize each other. You make some good observations about the changing nature of work and how our commie lite (getting heavier all the time) tax structure punishes achievement. I mean you said it yourself. The American Dream is over.
And C) the baby boomers sold out future generations.
In what way? If you’re referring to SS it’s not an entitlement, you paid into it. It actually was a well run program until the 60’s when the Dems took it out of the lockbox and into the general fund. I told my kids to forget about it, you won’t see a penny of it. I really don’t see how you can blame decades of profligate spending on one generation. Woodrow Wilson got the ball rolling with the Fed and it’s been downhill since then. I’m amazed how the PTB have been able to kick the can down the road over and over again. Sorry, we didn’t start it.
I always hear about how SS is going to crash, and I’m not saying it won’t, but if that happens this country would turn chaotic. They can’t let SS go away and not replace it with something else. Too many people rely on it as a primary source of income.
Why do you think medicine and finance will be insulated from technological developments? I am a bit of a nerd and follow futurism projections quite closely and found most projections include significant surgical specializations and nearly all finance fields to be replaced within 30 years.
High finance is a hands on task, but yea, lower end jobs could be swallowed into the matrix. For instance I have CPA friend who does audit that a computer simulation or recent grad could do … but companies want someone with credentials and soft skills to give them the low down in person.
Doctors roles will be significantly altered, but not replaced. Anything neurological or cardiovascular will still need to be examined with human eyes..
“companies want someone with credentials and soft skills to give them the low down in person.”
That’s true right now before they have perfected automation but inevitably, if companies can increase profit by replacing the person, they will. I know based on how much I am overworked in middle-management positions for company profit that I’m certain they will reduce the workforce when automation makes it possible. I agree that not all positions will be replaced but I also don’t think an inflection point- to where enough people are out of work that the level of consumption required to grow the economy- is not that far off in the future either. Replacing accountants, most financial analysts, most surgeons, pilots, etc. is a point where I think that would happen. I appreciate the response and thanks for the insight.
A computer can’t sign off on an audit
My genX boss, 38 yrs, can’t be promoted because no one else with a senior position is retiring or moving. There is simply nowhere else to go.
Shall I invest into an MBA for a -slightly- increased chance that a 24 yr HR girl will select my CV from the 100s that apply for a position? Sure, if someone else pays for it in full. Not me.
Shall I keep pushing paper for a decade, waiting for a .25% chance of being promoted? Sure, if wasting my youth kissing ass is the idea of a fulfilling life. Not me.
Besides, being over 37 today means you are essentially out of the corporate job market. Only niche fields need people over that age.
I recall a guy who started and Internet business and quit the corporate job market around 30, his nickname is rooshv…
I don’t usually agree with you but this comment changed my opinion of you. Incredibly accurate and I think looking in to the magic 8 ball all too realistic. I think depopulation will need to occur before the offs hiring process unless the government believes that we should eat each other as a means of depopulation. Stock the ammo to preserve the anointed only. You Americans with your second amendment sure are lucky. At least you get to die on your feet.
Dr Orange, I agree. I’m in healthcare and see the people above me not retiring. I think our CEOs and CFOs are all in their 60s and 70s.
“And finally taxes. You will be taxed to death once you hit close to 100k from all angles … It’s not worth it.”–which is why I wish the government would institute a flat tax like what Herman Cain proposed. I know that they never will, but this would help our economy out a lot. I watch my overtime because once I work so much, it’s really not worth it because they’ll tax more out of the next paycheck.
You mentioned you were an engineer. Is an MBA the only way to get an advancement in your field? In healthcare we have so many degree plans it’s irritating and every hospital system or position wants something different. For example they have an MBA route, an MBA/MSN (masters of nursing), MHCA (masters healthcare administration), MHS (masters of health systems) and a few more.
Yes, I’m 23, every nurse or health care gal I went to school with went for their 120k masters or mba. So retarded.
It doesn’t matter if the degree has value, when everyone else in the field goes to get it, you look bad for not.
So basically I’m going simply because every one else is doing it? I’m a big believer in on-the-job training. You can’t learn everything in a class or in a book. Oh well. Thanks for the feedback man.
Recognize that in order to live a moderately comfortable life, with rare exceptions, some dipshit (be it a boss or a client) is going get about 40 hours of your life a week. Figure out what is important to you and find a job that allows for that.
I like the field I’m in and have the respect of my peers, I’m living where I want to live, I have a short commute, I can take long lunches and train my dog, get home in time to cook an awesome dinner and I’m off by 2 p.m. on Fridays to play outdoors. It’s a conservative life and definitely ain’t baller, but I’m happy and that is better than most people can say.
Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) advocated using company-time sub-rosa to do personal projects. I know a lot of people who do this.
I’m not just talking programmers, either. Some upper-management people do their stock portfolio research on company time.
If there was a ROK school, I would join it right away. I learn more pracitical, real life issues from this website than I do from my liberal university
Universities & professors aren’t liberal. They’re well-financed/paid by their capitalist masters/corporate class to produce future servants.
Liberals are dependent on capitalism … even Lenin understood that. Even in the Soviet Union there was a private sector that the super rich depended upon.
Left capitalism is what communism looks like in practice.
A ROK online university is a great idea.
Roosh as Dean and also Media studies.
Quintus Curtius would focus on the classics and stories of achievement.
Matt Forney – Far Eastern Studies
Jefe – Business and writing
2wyked – gender studies and feminism
EnglishBob – tutorial and student support/advice
any other ideas?
Victor Pride for Bodybuilding
Aaron Clarey for Counselor Adviser
And Beta Males for the Alumni
Seeing as most corporate jobs imply working with females, I’d rather go blue collar and work with men. Just today I heard a female co-worker complain for like 1 hour about a headache. Pretty sure a man wouldn’t have done so…or he would have swallowed a pill against the headache.
She probably got that headache from hearing another women complain about her headache.
Two words: ear buds. If she’s not fucking you, why are you listening to her? That’s what her girlfriends are for.
End Transmission,
Mistral.
Want a great job?
Do something related to Health.
That’s a bubble. Everyone and their brother is going to be in health care management and nursing.
Apparently, doctors will no longer have a guaranteed job in the future.
According to my friend who is studying at medical school, by 2020, there will be an excess of medical graduates and not enough residencies available for future doctors, despite the reports that there is a shortage of doctors.
Also, many western doctors are now having to compete for jobs with foreign doctors.
Med schools, collectively, are cranking out the sub-par graduates by the thousands. I know, I’ve been there. They have compromised a great deal on quality in favor of quantity, because that’s where the money is. There is, and won’t be, any shortage of doctors, just like there isn’t any shortage of STEM graduates contrary to what the mainstream media, the academic complex, and the government would like you to believe. In STEM, there is a shortage of people willing to work for scraps and prostitute themselves to the government or corporante banner. Going back to the medical field, there is, however, a shortage of highly-skilled specialists (whose training takes decades and costs millions).
Med schools are still able to organize sufficient residencies for their students but training positions for the medical specialisms is a whole other story. Competetion in the medical field is *extremely* fierce. Affirmative action is alive and well, though, for women and minorities, allowing them to effectively evade this hurdle of competition if they play their (victim) cards right. And they usually do. http://www.parapundit.com/archives/008599.html
The medical field itself is *not* future proof and will eventually be in for a drastic overhaul. The amount of medical and health information on the internet and health-related apps is expanding apace. The knowledge level of a doctor is usually lacking in some area (for example, most of them know nothing about proper nutrition and still see saturated fats as a universal boogeyman, not refined sugars). It’s only a matter of time before a combination of sensitive sensors and medical algorithms will be able to determine exactly what’s wrong with you. Diagnostic work will be automated.
Cheers.
Can you expand on this?
I’ve done some research and I’m fairly sure there will be jobs in nursing, physician assistantship, and occupational therapy. Can’t speak for other professions though…
See my opinion on the matter above.
See health south. There are so many services that are going to be needed for the elderly in the next 10-20 years. Boomers now are medicated to the tea, but when they hit their 60s and 70s and can’t walk, every house is going to have a wheel chair ramp, need wipes for when grandpa is shitting himself, is going to need glovesand medical supplies of that nature. Someone who is really smart would start anything medical related.
For instance, off the top of my head, when boomers get old, guess what. they are going to fall and not be able to get up. What happens when grandpa who weighs 259 pounds falls and grand ma who is 200pounds of fat can’t lift him? Well as it stands now they call the ambulance at it cost $80 just to lift the guy up and put him into bed. Then you have people who can’t walk, to take an ambulance tranport is $100 each way. Well what if you start a business and hire 3 weight lifting steroid heads who can lift grand pa like a child. And instead of charging $80 or $100 you charge $40 or $50?
The real money to be made is by people who are smart enough to start the businesses offering at home medical services. Boomers HATE hospitals and hospital environments. Hospitals have an inccentive to get patients to have at home care. No malpractice suits on their hands, no bed cost, no pensions or wages to worry about, no meal cost, no cooking cost, no cleaning supplies cost, no medical supplies cost. Think about it. You are a hospitl and send 200 people home in a month for hom care. You save 200 meals, 200 washed sheets a day, 200 potential law suits are out the door, 200 pairs of gloves and the government saves money as well because that is 50 more workers they need to hire. A smart entrepreneur can market this to the health authorities and get their company paid by the government to provide these services.
Thanks for the brain-storm dude and I agree… another good thing about this sort of work is I can’t think of a way it can be outsourced…. I should totally make a Heavy Metal Retirement Home.
Not really. Is jingpang going to jump on a flight from china and pickup grand pa? People don’t think about how the obesity crisis will combine with old age (inability to move) to create people who ae going to need help getting up and getting their pants or diaper changed.
Boomers won’t go into retirement homes, they want home care.
Brother, I cannot tell you how perfectly you’ve explained life in modern corporate America. Every single day I wonder if I’m the only person on earth that notices how weak and pathetic some of my coworkers are, and long for a John Wooden-esque supervisor to take the place of the spineless sniveling sycophants I must currently endure. And day after day all I can do is tell myself exactly the same things you said there at the end: focus on your own excellence, strive to do the absolute best you can do, and no matter what, never ever join in with the weaklings and their gossip, games, endless distractions, etc. Months go by and my production outdoes them all, most of whom have much more industry experience than I do, and as long as my bills are paid and money over and above that goes regularly into the bank, I get to go home every night with the feeling of pride that comes from knowing my parents didn’t raise a failure. Someday, karma comes around to everyone. That’s not a wispy magical generalization, it is a very serious truth, and I’m planting the seeds of something beautiful and strong. I can’t wait to see what grows.
Alexei, you make some strong points, but there is something I hope you will consider. Some of the people that you disparage as lazy and weak, are simply not working very hard because there’s no point to it. They are riding the decline, so to speak. I have a hard time with this because I do truly admire a strong work ethic. But in the corporate world, a strong work ethic gets you what, exactly?
There’s a fine line between being a man who practices excellence, and a sucker who will sacrifice every fiber of his being so he can hang on to an increasingly raw deal. At the end of the day, many corporate climbers are left with little to show for their efforts.
Keep doing your thing Alexei, but realize that in a corrupt society, there’s no such thing as participating AND AT THE SAME TIME, being a noble man. At some level of corruption and degeneracy, participation is ignoble, and rebellion is noble. We’re pretty much at that stage now. Don’t be a sucker.
Brother you are so right. Those are excellent points. Props to you. If I should clarify myself, I will– I don’t make too many sacrifices in order to excel in a workplace that basically amounts to a glorified Chuck E. Cheese playland, I just stay focused and disciplined and the output speaks for itself. I take pride in literally doing twice the work of my peers just because I believe that sense of pride is a reward in and of itself. Work, after all, is a means of self-improvement just as much as it is a way to put turkey on the table. In fact that aspect of work is perhaps the most important of any. After all, like the author of the post said, it’s just a fucking job. Knowing that I set a goal to be the best at it and have achieved that goal consistently despite the handicaps of inexperience, other responsibilities, or scales weighted to support those who play the game means that I can likely do the same thing regardless of where I work.
Still though, like I said, you’re dead on the money. Well said, indeed.
I worked at a store for 2 years and saw several people with less experience and competence promoted over me. I have no idea even how it happened. Finally, I had to really demand a promotion and threaten to quit, and then they realized that it was time to promote me. The full time positions at my store are almost solely occupied by women, some good, most bad. I think there are only two men with full time out of 15 positions.
Office politics. Research HR departments and quota systems.
I hope everyone has got it in their heads that the world is going to fucking HELL at the moment – the West will be first to get there!
Our women will be there at the gates to usher us in and make sure we get roasted
Keep your integrity, strive for excellence on your job…but all the while pursuing your afterwork career of investing…real estate, dividend paying stocks. Start young and invest in things that generate income. Then reinvest the income. Live modestly without the materialism. You slowly but surely develop your own security. You quietly beat the system of enslavement to a job you may or may not enjoy.
This.
Mistral
I have already sacrificed too much for my career. It’s time to change all that. What I don’t understand is how people willingly become genetic dead ends, sacrificing everything to toil for masters who have shown time and time again that they simply don’t give a fuck about their slaves.
I spent the first 35 years of my life following the life script handed out to me by the Lords of Lies only to wake up in the midst of a living nightmare. My jump start on the next 35 years gets going by first extricating myself from a system that’s collapsing under the weight of its own greed, political correctness, and degeneracy.
I’m fully expecting to be a sacrificial lamb within the next couple of years, sacrificed to the gods of political correctness. You see, I’m one of those hated white males. Strike one. Further, I was taught to think and reason for myself and not to blindly go along and get along, especially when I don’t agree with the morality of what my business is doing anymore. No matter how hard I try to hide it, my disdain seeps out of me. Strike two. Strike three is the fact I am finally beginning to make a decent living after 20 years in the workforce, which immediately puts me on the chopping block when the bean counters go over their spreadsheets and decide to maximize profits for idle investors.
I am watching the field I am in implode on itself. Some people are digging in, hoping they can weather the storm. I just don’t see that as being wise. It is becoming truly frightening, to the point I have cut all nonessential spending in preparation for an untimely end, should it come sooner than I think it will.
Bottom line: It’s not worth it. Don’t bank on the lies you have been sold. Tend your own garden, and cover your own ass. Nobody has your back and this is only the beginning of the end. It WILL get worse I’m afraid. For me, it’s better to be surrounded by family and friends abroad than to stick it out in a country were even the concept of those two things doesn’t exist anymore.
Don’t worry bro. You are not alone.
How To Survive In Corporate America
by a Veteran Infighter
I have worked worked for myself and also for Fortune 500 firms. If you’re on the Inside, that’s fine, but you have to Know The Rules. If you’re an entrepreneur or an outlaw biker or otherwise a guy who is always going to live Outside The Walls, skip to the next comment b/c this isn’t going to apply to you.
1. Be good at your job….but not too good.
You should be good, show your talents, but not present as a threat to your boss. Not fair? You don’t care. Your plan is to only stay on the Inside long enough for them to pay for any advanced degree and/or training that you may want, and to save money, all the while planning your escape. Be valuable. In my gigs, I learned to make things easy for Sales, while not ignoring my responsibilities. Why? Because when I said “No”, they understood it was For Real, not because I didn’t know the answer or b/c I was “afraid”.
2. Make Friends With HR.
Yes, I know. You just threw up a little bit into your mouth. That’s ok. Here’s the problem that you face: It is not that HR is full of man-hating “feminazis”. The *REAL* problem is that HR is the Elephants’ Graveyard for People With No Talent. They are living in their 9-to-5 coffins, checking boxes on forms, and hoping that nothing bad happens in any area that they are responsible for. But in each HR department is one person (usually only one) who actually Knows What The Fuck They’re Doing. Make friends with that person and have them Handle Your Shit. You have an HR problem? Ideally, you’ve cultivated a friendship with the person who can solve it for you. That’s what you really give a shit about.
3. Citizen Identification.
You need to learn the difference b/w Good Citizens and Walking Lawsuits. Some years ago, I had a problem with a subordinate. My problem was that she was lazy, and wouldn’t do her job. To the point where I told her if she spent half the effort in doing her work as she spent trying to get out of it, she’d be done by now. She raised a stink and went to HR….but guess who had a friend in HR when he needed one? Zackly. Back to Good Citizenship. One thing that made it easy for the HR Godmother to rule in my favor was that the Mother Hens all liked me. The over-the-hill, unsexy, but not yet grandmothers women who lived purgatorial existences. I was nice to them. Courtesy doesn’t cost anything, and the Hens *hated* my subordinate b/c she was lazy and had her last boss wrapped around her finger (I didn’t hire her; I require that a person be able to actually do the job I hire them for). If push had gone to shove, I had a dozen female witnesses who had my back. Verdict: CRUSHED. Y’know how the Muzzies require four male witnesses to a rape? In Corporate Land, you need four women, minimum, to back you up against “harassment”. If you show the slightest kindness to a Hen, she’ll take a bullet for you. Loyalty, my friends–earn it and Be Worthy of it.
4. If The Company You Work For Sux, Quit.
If you work for or with assholes, leave. Get the fuck out of Dodge. Life is too short, etc., etc. The first “real” job I had Inside was a great place to learn (and I did) but it was like living in Stalag 17. So I bailed, as soon as I reasonably could. Find a place that suits you. My last corporate gig was working at a firm where the HMFIC had achieved enlightenment. Hire talent, pay them above market, and Watch A Thousand Flowers Bloom.
But what if you’re afraid to quit? Look, you’re not jumping out of a plane without a parachute. Have a plan, first, but the fear of “hitting bottom” is worse than actually hitting bottom. Do a cost-benefit analysis. If you work for a guy who is getting rid of his ulcer by giving it to you, bail immediately.
5. Magic 8 Ball
One rule I had was to inform my boss of Important Shit. Not business, mind you, but anytime anyone came to my boss with a question or issue about me, I wanted him to Always Know The Answer. Lawyers will tell you that a witness will favor the side that gets to them first. Never let your boss get “surprised”.
6. Be A Fixer
Have good relations with each department. Find solutions to problems, because someday, you’re going to need a friend.
7. Have a Hobby.
If you don’t, you’re going to want to blow your brains out. One of mine is wine. I like drinking wine, and that led to learning about it and that led to a marketable skill. Read on.
8. Get To Know Your Clients.
You know who ISN’T going to get shit-canned in a down-sizing? The guy who the firm’s clients like. That means both inside and outside. You reap what you sow, so sow well, and fertilize.
8. Utilize “Soft Power”.
The biggest customer of my firm is a wine guy. Remember #6? When his account manager takes him to dinner he will often inquire if I will be attending. You too can go to amazing restaurants that you don’t actually have to pay for. You know what else? That has helped me put a couple of top flight restaurants on Lock Down. Need a last minute table? Let me ping my “buddy” who is the head Maitre D at a place you can’t get reservations at. Problem solved. I took a girl to one of my favorites (she’d earned it), and the ballet of service that went on around us had her mesmerized. She couldn’t have been more impressed if I’d unfurled my cock on to the table. The waiter would likely have garnished it and told her, “I see you’re having the Beef Tartare tonight. Excellent choice.”
9. Be a Straight Shooter.
There’s a difference between telling the truth all the time, and being a dick. Learn it. Also, the C-suite guys get their asses kissed a lot. You’re going to get more mileage out of looking them in the eye and treating them like regular guys. Back when I was just a young pup, the Chairman/CEO/HMFIC would come into my office, shut the door, and we’d shoot the shit for 45 minutes, usually about hockey (he was Canadian) but also about what co-ed I was banging (he liked to live vicariously through me), etc. Powerful men like that don’t get to be “regular guys” anymore, and it’s like a drug to them.
10. Make Yourself Indispensable, Then Disappear.
Go and live your life. I can work from anywhere that has internet and cell coverage. So I do. I haven’t going into the office every day for seven years. I try to stick around during busy periods, but if it’s light, I vanish. I could be anywhere in the world. Sure, the IT guys *could* figure out that I’m logging in from Brazil, but they’re not that interested in that. Why? Because I’ve made sure of it, that’s why.
What you’re going to learn in life is that the most precious currency is TIME. Not Dollars, not Euros, not Yen. TIME. Spend it how YOU want, not how someone else wants.
Advanced Reading:
If you are going to be Inside For Life: “What Would Machiavelli Do?” by Stanley Bing
If, like me, you are only a Casual User of Corporate America: “How to Relax Without Getting the Axe”, also by Stanley Bing
If you are going to be Outside The Walls For Life: The Four Hour Work Week, by Tim Ferriss.
The best move, of course, is to find a way to work for yourself, where you can live as comfortably as you wish and control all of your, what? TIME.
End Transmission,
Mistral
I also recommend “Bachelor Pad Economics” by Aaron Clarey
Good information…thanks for sharing.
Nice comment:
How To Get Rich by Felix Denis is also a great book.
I always find that in the corporate world that you should focus on helping your direct boss and his boss and his boss the most. To be useful it’s often about helping them out, coming up with ideas, helping them make decisions and being flexible to help them as and when they need it – more than working long long hours.
When a new boss arrives it’s important to build a similar relationship with them too.
As someone who has “made it” at 32 Years old to Director level (175k/yr+) and is interviewing for several VP jobs [250-350k+] right now (not looking for them, recruiters coming to me), you don’t really have to sell out for the corporate world for small and medium sized corporations. That said, you will have to steer clear nearly of all red pill discussions with anyone at work.
While most males (especially white and/or black depending on the company/person) do have a lot going against them in corporations, we are still viewed as dependable, stable, and hardworking.
Here are my rules for moving up in corporate America.
1) Always add more value than you cost. If you can’t figure out remotely what you are worth, you are not likely to be promoted and are more likely to be laid off. My last best guess was that my company was making at least 10x what I’m paid based on current year performance, for example. 40x if you count what I did 3-5 years ago in my prior role that’s now nearly self manageable by my successor in another department.
2) Always make friends with the one or two biggest talking feminist in the office. You don’t have to be BFFs with them, but just get on their good side and stick up for them occasionally (when deserved). You’ll be surprised how far this goes to making you like teflon against any PC bullshit. Also, look to hire female direct reports when possible. Actively promote you promoting them (mentoring, hiring, etc)
3) Come in 15 minutes early and stay at least 15 minutes late. Every day.
4) Take initiative. Most corporations want you to almost be doing the job they are promoting you to when they do it.
5) Keep your Resume, LinkedIn profile, and network rock solid. This gives you an out and helps you if things start going south at your current company.
6) Get a champion high up in your company. Preferably someone you admire and is truly neutral (ie will promote based on performance, not on race, sex, politics, etc) AND if possible well received around the company
7) Avoid nearly all gossip and politicking. You can work through it if skilled and lucky but better, IMO, to steer clear of it 99% of the time
8) Keep friends both above and below you position wise. You’ll be surprised how things circulate
9) Constantly keep improving
10) If you get a MBA, go to a T25 program. They are worth it. Don’t bother for local programs. Push your company to pay for all/part of it. Took me 2 1/2 years but I ended up fully sponsored (had to sign a 2 year, effectively 4 year, contract)
Public or private company? I’ve gone private myself; Less ‘professional’, better environment.
I’ve done both but prefer private.
“3) Come in 15 minutes early and stay at least 15 minutes late. Every day. ”
That’s a half hour too much time right there
Bullshit. You’ll be able to retire years earlier from the extra income, saving far more time.
I doubt you’re a corporate middle manager you claim to be if you’ve never heard of a little thing called “salary”. Who the hell makes more for extra time, while on salary. I guess you could be a salesperson on commission, but that’s one position in which personal merit begets personal gain. It’s not the reality for the vast majority of salaried workers.
Still don’t get it I see? Working those few extra minutes makes you far more likely to move up the ladder. You look like someone who goes the extra mile and cares, whether you do or not is irrelevant. Moving up the ladder = more money = early retirement. I’m targeting 50 to 52 for retirement (3.5 mil).
If you work for yourself, then you have a point. Working a soul-sapping corporate job with no guarantees in a crumbling society isn’t worth it if you’re a free-thinking individual (which you are not and most of the readers here are).
Joke’s on you when your retirement assets lose their value and there’s no social security for anyone.
Sigh–You have no guarantees working for yourself. In fact, your risk is far greater you’ll have nothing to show working extra hard working for yourself (95% of businesses fail within 3 years) than for the “man.” Most small business owners work 70 hour work weeks and lose their ass entirely. I’m suggesting you to work 42.5 hrs a week instead of 40.
I am well diversified (stock, bonds, land/buildings, commodities, cash, gold/silver coins). If every asset completely loses its value it doesn’t matter what you do. I’m only assuming a 5% CAGR with my savings/investments over the next 20 years, which is pretty conservative.
Ya, and I’m targeting retirement even before that age without wasting my life in a corporate office. How do I do i, you ask? I know the difference between my wants and my needs. And I know what it means to be balanced, and not sacrifice everything to one small part of my life.
If I hadn’t been a dumb blue pill at 24 and got married 8.5 yrs ago I would be able to retire a lot earlier. If I didn’t want to retire to the Carib in luxury I could retire earlier anyway but that’s my goal. I enjoy my job most of the time at any rate.
Well you are exceptionally gifted to be worth almost 2 mill a year (using your calculations).
To be fair, this isn’t a realistic expectation for 99 percent of us. I know very few persons younger than 40 who have done great in the corporate world outside of high finance, big law, and actuaries.
Most people do not think big or constantly improve themselves or the company at work. Most of my circle of guy friends (most from my public hs) are making around 6 digits in their early 30s with a wide variety of professions. My estimate for myself by the way is very conservative with no soft value.
What is your line of work just curious?
I work for a retail company. I’ve had a wide variety of roles but am currently in FP&A.
Also, look to hire female direct reports when possible. Actively promote you promoting them (mentoring, hiring, etc)
So basically you’re part of the problem when it comes to offices becoming feminized hell holes.
Thanks a treat Mr. Middle Manager. Thanks a treat.
Maybe I should have been more clear. I’m not saying do nothing but hire women but it’s not uncommon to see guys with 8+ direct reports and 0 women on their team. 1 or 2 in that case should suffice. I’m also not saying don’t hire unqualified females either.
I don’t see anything wrong with the advice you’re giving as such. Greatest respect to GhostOfJefferson, but if you’re going to swim in shark-infested waters you might as well have all the safety equipment you require to stay alive. The real question is whether it’s a good idea to jump in the water in the first place.
Good point. Not everyone has the cash, intuition, ideas, and risk tolerance to run their own company though.
There was one very good piece of advice I once got when it comes to being employed. It comes down to this: no one can be more honest than their boss.
The reason is simple: when you’re employed, sooner or later you are going to be asked to do something dishonest or unethical by your superior. (There’s a redundancy of terms there – real integrity requires both ethics and honesty.) When you are asked to do the dishonest or unethical thing, you will either do the dishonest thing asked of you, at which point you are no longer honest … or you refuse to do the dishonest thing, following which you will be “resigned” out of the company shortly thereafter with your referees forever saying that you “don’t play well with others” or that you “were not a good fit” for the organisation.
In large corporate organisations, the principle can be extended as follows: no one can be more honest than the entire chain of authority above them right through to the CEO. The principle in fact extends to every large organisation: military, corporate, charitable, religious, governmental. Human nature is human nature (and human resources is human resources) wherever you go. The only realy exceptions are small organisations which are relentlessly results-oriented: if you’re honestly making X widgets per month and that’s all the company cares about, then you have a much stronger chance of keeping that job and your integrity intact.
The one common denominator to all whistleblowers is that they are all, without exception, former employees of the organisation on which they blew the whistle. And invariably the “former” part is after they blew the whistle.
Choose your employment always bearing this in mind.
Can anyone here relay how difficult it is to get a good federal or municipal job …. like FBI, firefighting, state police, treasury department, coast guard?
Just curious. Everyone I know who has one under 30 didn’t just apply at city hall … if you get my drift.
You answer your own question.
Easy if you can rely on the power of nepotism to get you there. Virtually impossible if you can’t.
As a veteran, I know a lot of guys in federal agencies, PDs, and FDs. But that is from vet hiring benefits. I know many FDs are nearly impossible to get into without being a veteran or knowing someone. From what I have gathered, federal agencies are very PC and not very enjoyable work. The rule seems to be, the smaller the organization; the more enjoyable the work environment. So FDs or city PDs over sheriff counties or state patrol.
What’s sad is when you bump into an old school mate whose climbed the corporate ladder that has allowed his career to change him, not into something more enlightened and accomplished by construct, but rather a shell of the person you once knew with fakeness that has translated into his personal life. The holier than thou aura tends to emanate from these folks. I’ve even witnessed this with family members.
It’s always the ones who reach the upper-middle class / lower-upper class income range, especially in larger companies that I tend to find intolerable. I see right through their bullshit. More likely than not they sacrificed their morals to get there… speaking from first hand experience.
I guess if one was to accurately apply the title “Douche,” this would fit it best. I worked with integrity at my last corporate job and was ultimately shunned for not bending on ethics. It took a few years to flush out the truth of the chain of command above me, but rumors I’d heard from those beneath me I thought were just part of a disgruntled movement,, it was a union company after all so entitled attitudes seemed inevitable. However, their rumors turned out to be spot on to my dismay. Reason for Seperation? “You were not a good fit for the position.” Never Outshine Thy Master… – R. Greene.
What a true leader looks like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3sCp9S24Co
In many industries (including the entertainment, where I am housed), the gender balance has in fact reversed. It’s a great, disastrous shift in the magnetic poles of culture. Even the men who are in management positions do their damnedest, consciously or not, to perpetuate this seething feminization that has made being male a disadvantage. Feminization of the office culture has created a repressed, stiff, superficial and duplicitous environment of blandness.
We are approaching the end times.
These are all the signs of the end.
Won’t be long before the Anti-Christ arrives.
[quote]So then, what is a man who refuses to sacrifice his character, principles, and dignity just to advance in his career to do?[/quote]
This one got fucking fired for it after 4 years of ass-busting, sacrifice and production.
None of that mattered. Too much truth in one meeting with mangina boss and female ‘colleagues’ and that spelled the end.
Fuck corporate scamerica.
What happened?
Time is an un-renewable asset. You cannot get it back.
And if you are working so much, who is raising your sons to be men?
Excellent article.
As I complete my fifth decade I can see how what I value, what I strive for, has changed over time,
As a young man I was hungry for money, now time is more valuable to me.
The constant though, the default that I believe all men should strive for is to be one of the ‘nodes’ of the network you operate in. In every area of human endeavor, there are nodes, men (and it is nearly almost always men) who are the key to making things happen. Men that other men trust, rely on and reciprocate with. Be one of those men. Be the guy that always delivers, who always keeps his word, who owns his failures and learns from them. You will soon find yourself surrounded by similar men, part of a network defined by integrity that is greater than the sum of it’s parts.
Lesser men, and most women, will never be a part of this world for the ticket to entry is hard work, sacrifice and selflessness. And the same price must be paid, constantly, to retain membership.
It will be that network that will likely be the only true safety net that will be there for you when you stumble. For it will be the only entity that understands that a man’s value is based on his honour and not his fortune.
Screw the corporation, the credentials, the validation of women.
Be the man that other worthy men respect.
“For some, “playing the game” also involves lying, cheating, deception, gossip, rumors, taking credit for others’ work, throwing others “under the bus,” stabbing peers in the back, or various other selfish methods of making yourself look good at the expense of others.”
I sucked at it. As a Regulatory Compliance Manager of a shitty nonprofit healthcare provider in a shitty backwoods office in Long Island, NYC, I realized I was not adept in the fine art of intra-office cubicle wars and battles. I just didn’t give a shit enough to backstap allies and give rim jobs to the next in power, so I became a casualty. The fact that I didn’t have a family (or a soul killing wife) at home to feed, just myself, was also a factor. So I said “fuck it” and planned my escape overseas.
A job inherently requires you to compromise your beliefs and values for money. Unless you are self employed or are working your dream job with a drem boss, then you are going to be doing things you dislike. A job is about doing what it takes to get promoted and to get to where you want so then you can do what you want
When I think about money, promotions, and so on – what I always come back to is the fact that I do not want to feed the feminist state. I want to obstruct it wherever possible. And whenever possible not allow it to take my productivity to support a large segment of foul mouth single mother whores that contribute nothing to society.
I don’t limit my income per se, but I limit how I earn it. Capital gains are the way to go, whenever possible. Set up a corporation and earn money overseas. You can keep that money in the corporation and only pay yourself the minimum you need to get by. Keep your “savings” in the corporation.
Avoid buying shit in the US. Sales taxes are what most states use to bloat their governments and force the feminist state on you at the local level. Don’t buy a house that is more than you need, because they do the same with property taxes. (But do buy a small place, since it provides some tax deductions and eventually you will get capital gains). As soon as you can, buy a small place in another country, preferably a place in Latin America, the Philippines, etc.. Prepare throughout your life to be able move there permanently. Get your bull pen going in that country as early in life as you can.
Do not get married. That one is obvious.
Pursue your own happiness. Just be smart about it. Anything you can think of you want to try, fucking try it. Anything you find you love to do, put it at the top of your list of things to do everyday, every weekend, as often as possible.
Do your day gig. Freelance or build a business on the side. Even if it never takes off, you will still have the supplemental income from a small venture.