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Random Chat, Thoughts, Posts, and/or Rants Thread

LateStarter

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Ya'll are probably right. I think I was just trying to update the iconography of it, like a NECK TIE that has been crossed out, or something symbolic to "f-you" and the default system.
Can you split test a few options? See what gets the most engagement and try it out for a bit for things like the Kindle version where it's easy to revert?
 
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Here

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I'm not an expert on design or marketing, but I've just seen way too many books with all white backgrounds recently. They kind of all just blend in with each other and look boring, in my opinion.

Picture the "thinking, fast and slow" type of cover. Plain white background. Alpha transparency PNG image. Big title. Suuuuper cliche cover.
It’s the genre. The reader looks at the cover and connects it to books they’ve enjoyed that have similar covers. Yes it’s boring but it’s supposed to be more effective re sales.
 

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Has anyone here tried out the Charisma University course from Charisma On Command? If so, how did you like it and would you say it’s worth the money?
 

Xeon

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I'm not an expert on design or marketing, but I've just seen way too many books with all white backgrounds recently. They kind of all just blend in with each other and look boring, in my opinion.

Picture the "thinking, fast and slow" type of cover. Plain white background. Alpha transparency PNG image. Big title. Suuuuper cliche cover.

Ok, in that case, full cover bright yellow background with bold black middle finger and text. It doesn't get any more striking than that lol


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Corporate etiquette question: when enquiring about a salary raise, do people usually bring this up with the HR manager or their immediate/direct superior? If I go to the former, it may be seen as disrespectful to the latter?
 
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loop101

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I wonder if people's money disappearing out of non-US banks is going to be a thing in 2023. Bolt's money disappeared from his savings account.

 

Andy Black

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Sander

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I've thought about creating a website/Youtube channel with honest reviews. Google is filled with affiliate websites with thin content and no actual reviews, spammed with affiliate links. There is a market for real reviews with no sponsors, affiliate links etc.

It would be hard to earn money without sponsored content and products, affiliate links and so on. But if you could think of an unique way for a media like this to earn money (maybe Patreon support or something like that) there should be a space for a website like this to work.

If you have any ideas for how you could get money to buy the products or how to earn money on a site like this without ads, they're welcome.
 
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monnffffiiiiiii

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Has anyone here tried out the Charisma University course from Charisma On Command? If so, how did you like it and would you say it’s worth the money?
I have read the book.

It's a great book, but it's only the first step.

I think charisma is such a complicated topic that to truly reach it, you also have to read about fear, trauma, shadow-work, and the idea to "do what you were born to do".

I dont know about the course, but I wouldn't take it.

The only way to become charismatic is to build a life you love and consciously knowing that you work at 100% of your potential.
 

Andy Black

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Corporate etiquette question: when enquiring about a salary raise, do people usually bring this up with the HR manager or their immediate/direct superior? If I go to the former, it may be seen as disrespectful to the latter?
I personally always brought it up with my direct superior first. Note that HR is there to protect the company, not you. Your direct superior might help you get the raise.
 

LateStarter

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I personally always brought it up with my direct superior first. Note that HR is there to protect the company, not you. Your direct superior might help you get the raise.
Agreed. For us, HR is the one setting the expected market rates for a particular role. They are more likely the bottle neck in getting raises approved than a direct manager is. Often the manager is the advocate for more money based on ones contribution.
 
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JAJT

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Corporate etiquette question: when enquiring about a salary raise, do people usually bring this up with the HR manager or their immediate/direct superior? If I go to the former, it may be seen as disrespectful to the latter?

I know people on here hate on Ramit Sethi for being "slowlane" but I can't honestly think of someone who gives better, more effective slowlane advice for stuff like this. His book is, IMHO, the best slowlane book on the market - I used his advice to get my wife 2 raises and a promotion within 3 months at her old slowlane job and I used his car buying advice to save thousands on a new car.

Here's what I recall of that info from like 10 years back:

Know that 80% of getting a raise happens before your meeting. You need to go into research and justification mode - quantify what you're doing to help the company and especially regarding anything you're doing better than your peers. Get salary numbers for comparable positions with competitors. Figure out what your peers are earning if you can (ask the newer employees as they may be paid higher than older ones due to market compensation trends). Collect any emails of praise you've received from managers, peers, and clients showing how valued you are. Won any awards or gotten any recognition? Bring it. You are building a "superstar" portfolio and you want to fill it with all the ammo you. If you want to go "pro mode" - apply to a few positions elsewhere and try to get an offer that pays more for similar work (worst case scenario - you can accept it!). Or at the very least just try to figure out what the market is paying and that other jobs exist, if things go south you've already built yourself a hell of an interview package.

Armed with your portfolio of "I'm awesome", now you go to your immediate supervisor and say you'd like to discuss a salary review and are curious who you would go about scheduling a meeting with for that. Try to avoiding using the word "raise" at all throughout the process and focus on the term "salary review" or "my compensation". A raise sounds like you're a greedy employee trying to weasel money from the company. A salary review sounds like you are concerned that your compensation is out of line with the value you bring to the organization.

Keep in mind that the second you start talking to management, you are a sales person now. Be respectful, but act like you are trying to close a deal you know you can win. And what to sales people know how to do better than anything else? Objection handling! You need to prepare to handle every deflection and cop out they throw at you (respectfully).

Them: "We already gave you a raise after your yearly performance review"
You: "I understand that I received a yearly bump-up of (1-3%) which mostly covers basic cost of living increases, however I'd like to actually schedule a more comprehensive review of my actual salary, when can we schedule that meeting?"

Them: "It's not in the budget this year"
You: "When is the budget meeting for next year? I'd very much like to schedule a meeting to discuss getting my request considered at the next budget meeting"

Them: "You're already earning more than most people here"
You: "While I appreciate that, I've collected research on market norms for similar positions and what you'll find is that..."

Them: "You really aren't worth this"
You: "I'm a bit confused what you mean, in my yearly performance review you told me that I was a top performer and we had a long discussion about how important I was to the team, I received an award for (blah blah blah) on (date) and do you remember that (expensive problem you fixed) that saved the company ($$$ amount)? How can I be a top performer that people look to, who wins awards and saves this organization money, and also not worth a small increase of (raise expetation)"

Them: "This is too much"
You: "I calculated that over and above my normal duties I've saved the company $20k last year, and $15k the year before that, and I'm going to keep doing that going forward as a top performer - I'm only asking for a $5k raise, that's a third to a quarter of what I typically save/bring to this company - how can I be asking for too much when I already at least triple that ask in savings to this org per year?"

Them: "Why are you being so difficult?"
You: "I don't understand what you mean? I'm merely trying to ensure that I'm being paid fairly for what I do. If you found out you were being paid less than you were worth, what you accept it?"

You get the idea - you anticipate every objection and have an answer to it. They don't have time? You schedule it in the future. They don't have budget - you get it put into the budget. They don't have authority - you ask who does. They say you aren't worth it - you prove them wrong using their own evidence, praise and reviews against them. A good sales person doesn't take "no" for an answer - they solve the problem causing the "no", which only leaves "yes".

Most managers these days aren't equipped to deal with this shit. You'll quickly back them into a mental corner where they don't know what to say or do and in those moments you propose solutions until you get what you want.

In my wife's case, she found the pay scale range (which was standardized for the org) and pointed out that she's constantly praised for being a top performer despite making the lowest amount on the scale. She also found out the newest employee in the same role was making more - which was damning. She pushed and countered and proved she was worth the top end. They said it wasn't in the budget and she pushed for a meeting about it (which never happened because it was a hollow boilerplate excuse) and the conversation continued. They relented and gave her the bump up because they couldn't logically argue she's a low tier employee when she had stacks of praise and awards from management and clients saying she was the best of the best. Then a position opened up for a promotion and she used the same arguments to get the promotion, which they gave to her at the lowest end of the new position's scale, which she countered again using the same evidence to get bumped up to the middle ("I don't expect to be treated as a top performer in a new position but I think middle of the range is fair given my history of..."). She said she's never seen a manager so flustered and pissed off before but the manager wasn't quick enough on their feet to argue the points, wasn't firm enough to stand their ground, and wasn't in a position to lose her - so she got her way 3 times in a row because she prepared like crazy and handled every objection.
 
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Xeon

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I personally always brought it up with my direct superior first. Note that HR is there to protect the company, not you. Your direct superior might help you get the raise.

I know people on here hate on Ramit Sethi for being "slowlane" but I can't honestly think of someone who gives better, more effective slowlane advice for stuff like this. His book is, IMHO, the best slowlane book on the market - I used his advice to get my wife 2 raises and a promotion within 3 months at her old slowlane job and I used his car buying advice to save thousands on a new car.

Here's what I recall of that info from like 10 years back:

Know that 80% of getting a raise happens before your meeting. You need to go into research and justification mode - quantify what you're doing to help the company and especially regarding anything you're doing better than your peers. Get salary numbers for comparable positions with competitors. Figure out what your peers are earning if you can (ask the newer employees as they may be paid higher than older ones due to market compensation trends). Collect any emails of praise you've received from managers, peers, and clients showing how valued you are. Won any awards or gotten any recognition? Bring it. You are building a "superstar" portfolio and you want to fill it with all the ammo you. If you want to go "pro mode" - apply to a few positions elsewhere and try to get an offer that pays more for similar work (worst case scenario - you can accept it!). Or at the very least just try to figure out what the market is paying and that other jobs exist, if things go south you've already built yourself a hell of an interview package.

Armed with your portfolio of "I'm awesome", now you go to your immediate supervisor and say you'd like to discuss a salary review and are curious who you would go about scheduling a meeting with for that. Try to avoiding using the word "raise" at all throughout the process and focus on the term "salary review" or "my compensation". A raise sounds like you're a greedy employee trying to weasel money from the company. A salary review sounds like you are concerned that your compensation is out of line with the value you bring to the organization.

Keep in mind that the second you start talking to management, you are a sales person now. Be respectful, but act like you are trying to close a deal you know you can win. And what to sales people know how to do better than anything else? Objection handling! You need to prepare to handle every deflection and cop out they throw at you (respectfully).

Them: "We already gave you a raise after your yearly performance review"
You: "I understand that I received a yearly bump-up of (1-3%) which mostly covers basic cost of living increases, however I'd like to actually schedule a more comprehensive review of my actual salary, when can we schedule that meeting?"

Them: "It's not in the budget this year"
You: "When is the budget meeting for next year? I'd very much like to schedule a meeting to discuss getting my request considered at the next budget meeting"

Them: "You're already earning more than most people here"
You: "While I appreciate that, I've collected research on market norms for similar positions and what you'll find is that..."

Them: "You really aren't worth this"
You: "I'm a bit confused what you mean, in my yearly performance review you told me that I was a top performer and we had a long discussion about how important I was to the team, I received an award for (blah blah blah) on (date) and do you remember that (expensive problem you fixed) that saved the company ($$$ amount)? How can I be a top performer that people look to, who wins awards and saves this organization money, and also not worth a small increase of (raise expetation)"

Them: "This is too much"
You: "I calculated that over and above my normal duties I've saved the company $20k last year, and $15k the year before that, and I'm going to keep doing that going forward as a top performer - I'm only asking for a $5k raise, that's a third to a quarter of what I typically save/bring to this company - how can I be asking for too much when I already at least triple that ask in savings to this org per year?"

Them: "Why are you being so difficult?"
You: "I don't understand what you mean? I'm merely trying to ensure that I'm being paid fairly for what I do. If you found out you were being paid less than you were worth, what you accept it?"

You get the idea - you anticipate every objection and have an answer to it. They don't have time? You schedule it in the future. They don't have budget - you get it put into the budget. They don't have authority - you ask who does. They say you aren't worth it - you prove them wrong using their own evidence, praise and reviews against them. A good sales person doesn't take "no" for an answer - they solve the problem causing the "no", which only leaves "yes".

Most managers these days aren't equipped to deal with this shit. You'll quickly back them into a mental corner where they don't know what to say or do and in those moments you propose solutions until you get what you want.

In my wife's case, she found the pay scale range (which was standardized for the org) and pointed out that she's constantly praised for being a top performer despite making the lowest amount on the scale. She also found out the newest employee in the same role was making more - which was damning. She pushed and countered and proved she was worth the top end. They said it wasn't in the budget and she pushed for a meeting about it (which never happened because it was a hollow boilerplate excuse) and the conversation continued. They relented and gave her the bump up because they couldn't logically argue she's a low tier employee when she had stacks of praise and awards from management and clients saying she was the best of the best. Then a position opened up for a promotion and she used the same arguments to get the promotion, which they gave to her at the lowest end of the new position's scale, which she countered again using the same evidence to get bumped up to the middle ("I don't expect to be treated as a top performer in a new position but I think middle of the range is fair given my history of..."). She said she's never seen a manager so flustered and pissed off before but the manager wasn't quick enough on their feet to argue the points, wasn't firm enough to stand their ground, and wasn't in a position to lose her - so she got her way 3 times in a row because she prepared like crazy and handled every objection.


Thanks for the insight and long (and useful) advice! Although for me, I personally wouldn't go as far as to debate with them that much; if I get the sense the salary review (upwards, and not downwards lol) isn't coming, it's time to leave.
 

S.Y.

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Thanks for the insight and long (and useful) advice! Although for me, I personally wouldn't go as far as to debate with them that much; if I get the sense the salary review (upwards, and not downwards lol) isn't coming, it's time to leave.

Compensation/total rewards is my main field. My team is mainly involved in the market data part of it, which gives me exposure to the base compensation.

The last few responses nailed it. Your direct manager is the person you want to reach out to. He/she is the one discussing with the HR Managers. The HR managers then typically involve the compensation team for approval. For most cases, that is how it works: direct supervisor to HR Managers, then HR Managers talk to Compensation, who ultimately support or decline.

@JATJ brought up a valid point: data and arguments. If you make your research and come prepared, you have more chances to get the increase. Keep in mind that as mentioned above, you might have two layers before getting to the yes. So you want to take ownership of the arguments and control the narrative as much as possible.

Payscale and online pay data can be way off. What companies pay and what is reported are something way different. Plus, the money is on the variable compensation piece. When you read CEO making $5,000,000 a year, a big percentage of that is linked to "Pay at risk" and long-term incentive plans. Pay is a very small fraction- aka you want equity in a company with long-term growth potential if you want to make money.

I know cash is king, but you have many other things you can negotiate aside from the salary. Vacation days and target annual incentive plans are two that I see often.

That said, salary raises are typically low 3% to 10% (the current market is a bit different because of inflation). Your best bet is to go for a promo or fight to redefine your role. If you are a performer, you can get much more by doing so.
 
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Skroob

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Do y'all have thoughts about being politically outspoken?

I describe myself as a conservative-leaning libertarian. However, I work in a very leftist industry (mobile development, specifically) where my views would get me labeled either "Republican" or "alt-right", depending on how little they're paying attention. I've never lied about my stance when asked, but I also take great care to not talk much about it on social media or anything, due to the belief that I might limit my potential business. But I really don't like muzzling myself. I've enjoyed the open conversations I've had on this board (@Kak shoutout), and it's driving me to want to become more outspoken in other places.
 

monnffffiiiiiii

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I have a question about retail sales.

When a shop discount an item for 70%, and the item is not damaged or whatever, it's just on sale.

Does the shop still make a profit?

If yes, that means they sell items for 3 or 4 times what they cost.

Actually, I remember discussing this with @Walter Hay a few years ago.

I don't remember the answer though.
 

UK_Mike

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I have a question about retail sales.

When a shop discount an item for 70%, and the item is not damaged or whatever, it's just on sale.

Does the shop still make a profit?

If yes, that means they sell items for 3 or 4 times what they cost.

Actually, I remember discussing this with @Walter Hay a few years ago.

I don't remember the answer though.

I imagine it depends on the item, and what they can do with it if no-one at all buys it. If it's perishable, getting less than cost is better than getting nothing at all when it starts rotting, and it might even cost them to properly dispose of it. If it's an electrical item that's been superseded, maybe it's the same. Sometimes retailers have a deal with their supplier that the supplier will take the hit.

(I haven't worked in retail in any meaningful form, so not sure of the value of this response.)
 
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G

Guest-5ty5s4

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I have a question about retail sales.

When a shop discount an item for 70%, and the item is not damaged or whatever, it's just on sale.

Does the shop still make a profit?

If yes, that means they sell items for 3 or 4 times what they cost.

Actually, I remember discussing this with @Walter Hay a few years ago.

I don't remember the answer though.
I'm sure it depends on the item, like @UK_Mike said, but also the store. I think a lot of these sales are bullsh*t, purely for marketing, but I can't confirm. This is speculation. But I believe it WORKS. It is effective. So - yeah. Fake sales = moneymaker.

Example:
Unnamed guitar store buys expensive strung piece of wood for $1,000 and plans to sell it for $1,800.
They put a tag on it with a crossed out price of $2,500 and big bold all caps letters that say SALE.
They spend lots of money on direct-mail advertising to aspiring musicians about said sale.
They sell a lot of guitars at exactly the price they always intended, many with extra credit/financing to boot. Not to mention accessories and gift cards that won't get used.
 

Kak

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Do y'all have thoughts about being politically outspoken?

I describe myself as a conservative-leaning libertarian. However, I work in a very leftist industry (mobile development, specifically) where my views would get me labeled either "Republican" or "alt-right", depending on how little they're paying attention. I've never lied about my stance when asked, but I also take great care to not talk much about it on social media or anything, due to the belief that I might limit my potential business. But I really don't like muzzling myself. I've enjoyed the open conversations I've had on this board (@Kak shoutout), and it's driving me to want to become more outspoken in other places.

I probably have too many thoughts on this. :rofl:

I have gone through a personal journey on this over the last few years. If you look back at the earlier episodes of my radio show, I was a lot more political than I am now. During the last few years of the Trump administration, I had this deep urge that I was right and way too many people were wrong. I have documented my grievances with him and his conservative claims while hypocritically meeting every problem he even notices with a giant collectivist government solution.

I grew up listening to Hannity and O'Riley talk about the virtues of small and limited government. I took it to heart and began to solidify my understanding of the issue, a journey they evidently never took on. If you take this far enough, with enough actual thought, you don't land on conservative vs liberal, you don't land on republican vs democrat, you land on collectivism vs individualism. I am as far to the individualist side as someone can get. Funny, now commentary from Hannity, Waters, and Tucker sounds like collectivist propaganda to me.

While I fully despise the left. I also fully despise the modern "right." They are no longer a belief system that the power of the government comes from the consent of the governed. They are a party of everything the left does, just a little less of it.

They are all for government spending like crazy, just a little less than the left.
They are all for taxes, just a little less of them than the left.
They are all for gun control, just different than the left's ideas of it.
They are for seriously egregious control over the private sector, just a little less than the left.

They are the party of a little less of something they have basically admitted is good. The stingy party. If you admit this is all good, you lose the argument before it even begins. Here's how:

If government spending is a good idea, explain to me how more isn't better.
If taxes are responsible for the greater good, explain to me how more of them isn't better.
If some gun control is ok, why isn't more of it better?
If an entire economic system based on central control and regulations is good, why isn't full-blown communism better?

I know the answers to those questions, but the modern right doesn't. Is it any surprise how the left takes over a country when the right is built on a foundation of hypocrisy and an obfuscated, at best, understanding of freedom? It's not. Republicans are always a temporary condition.

I run my life like a VERY conservative person. I hold very traditional conservative values. I attend church weekly. I am the head of my household. I have a wife and an almost 2-year-old son. I plan to homeschool him and all of my future children. The difference is, I don't view Republicans as my allies in some deranged collectivist fight against an also collectivist left. I don't like to be politically defined, but I have a lot more in common with Ludwig Von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Frederic Bastiat, and Frederick Hayek than Sean Hannity.

I say all of this to help you understand where I am today. I am not involved in the American political system any longer. There is nothing there for me except a tiny sliver of an enormous variety of nonsense that considers itself "the libertarian party." I don't concern myself with anything that doesn't concern itself with me and my family. I believe you should know what you believe, why you believe it, and even discuss it every now and then.

There is a concept in Stephen Covey's book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He discusses what he calls a circle of concern, a circle of control, and a circle of influence. This visualization came back to haunt me like 10 years after I read the book. Being wrapped up in politics was being a person of concern.

What is a person of concern? Taken to its extreme... It is the jagoff that brings up how much he hates so and so politicians. How the world needs a different clown. They say "did you hear about...(insert some stupid-a$$ news headline)" constantly. Is their life going to actually improve if the DOJ decides to press charges on Hunter Biden for his laptop escapades? Absolutely not. After devoting tremendous emotional energy to the issue over extended period of time, they earned themselves a chuckle at Hunter's downfall, if it even happens. Then, they will be on to the next thing that Tucker Carlson tells them to be outraged about. It is a circle of death to the individual mind.

People of concern put their hopes and dreams into a better political outcome. They invest enormous amounts of time in "the news" trying to will a political change into existence and obviously resulting in a HORRID return on that investment. The time is totally wasted. Even worse, they are owned by the news. They gave away their brains to a television channel. The outcome would have been the same without their undying attention.

What are better investments? My family. Our life. The businesses that we are in.

My energy and emotions on the matter are better placed on those things. I am tremendously happier with my movement away from politics. It is a lost cause. A black hole for good and effective people. An addiction. The least identified pillar of the consumption machine of our world. They want you to look to them for the answers, don't.

Build your life independent of the prevailing collectivist arguments. Build resources. Resources are options. Understand you don't have to be a part of any of their bullshit, especially if you are wealthy. The world is a lot bigger than America. First, focus on your family. Then, as resources change, consider the geographical options that make sense. It's the only political change that is 100% in your circle of control.

The bottom line, political concern is a fruitless pursuit. As helpful to your life as a wishing well, and certainly more demanding of your time and emotions. I believe in fruitful pursuits. Own yourself. Don't let politics own you.
 
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Skroob

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I probably have too many thoughts on this. :rofl:

I have gone through a personal journey on this over the last few years. If you look back at the earlier episodes of my radio show, I was a lot more political than I am now. During the last few years of the Trump administration, I had this deep urge that I was right and way too many people were wrong. I have documented my grievances with him and his conservative claims while hypocritically meeting every problem he even notices with a giant collectivist government solution.

I grew up listening to Hannity and O'Riley talk about the virtues of small and limited government. I took it to heart and began to solidify my understanding of the issue, a journey they evidently never took on. If you take this far enough, with enough actual thought, you don't land on conservative vs liberal, you don't land on republican vs democrat, you land on collectivism vs individualism. I am as far to the individualist side as someone can get. Funny, now commentary from Hannity, Waters, and Tucker sounds like collectivist propaganda to me.

While I fully despise the left. I also fully despise the modern "right." They are no longer a belief system that the power of the government comes from the consent of the governed. They are a party of everything the left does, just a little less of it.

They are all for government spending like crazy, just a little less than the left.
They are all for taxes, just a little less of them than the left.
They are all for gun control, just different than the left's ideas of it.
They are for seriously egregious control over the private sector, just a little less than the left.

They are the party of a little less of something they have basically admitted is good. The stingy party. If you admit this is all good, you lose the argument before it even begins. Here's how:

If government spending is a good idea, explain to me how more isn't better.
If taxes are responsible for the greater good, explain to me how more of them isn't better.
If some gun control is ok, why isn't more of it better?
If an entire economic system based on central control and regulations is good, why isn't full-blown communism better?

I know the answers to those questions, but the modern right doesn't. Is it any surprise how the left takes over a country when the right is built on a foundation of hypocrisy and an obfuscated, at best, understanding of freedom? It's not. Republicans are always a temporary condition.

I run my life like a VERY conservative person. I hold very traditional conservative values. I attend church weekly. I am the head of my household. I have a wife and an almost 2-year-old son. I plan to homeschool him and all of my future children. The difference is, I don't view Republicans as my allies in some deranged collectivist fight against an also collectivist left. I don't like to be politically defined, but I have a lot more in common with Ludwig Von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Frederic Bastiat, and Frederick Hayek than Sean Hannity.

I say all of this to help you understand where I am today. I am not involved in the American political system any longer. There is nothing there for me except a tiny sliver of an enormous variety of nonsense that considers itself "the libertarian party." I don't concern myself with anything that doesn't concern itself with me and my family. I believe you should know what you believe, why you believe it, and even discuss it every now and then.

There is a concept in Stephen Covey's book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He discusses what he calls a circle of concern, a circle of control, and a circle of influence. This visualization came back to haunt me like 10 years after I read the book. Being wrapped up in politics was being a person of concern.

What is a person of concern? Taken to its extreme... It is the jagoff that brings up how much he hates so and so politicians. How the world needs a different clown. They say "did you hear about...(insert some stupid-a$$ news headline)" constantly. Is their life going to actually improve if the DOJ decides to press charges on Hunter Biden for his laptop escapades? Absolutely not. After devoting tremendous emotional energy to the issue over extended period of time, they earned themselves a chuckle at Hunter's downfall, if it even happens. Then, they will be on to the next thing that Tucker Carlson tells them to be outraged about. It is a circle of death to the individual mind.

People of concern put their hopes and dreams into a better political outcome. They invest enormous amounts of time in "the news" trying to will a political change into existence and obviously resulting in a HORRID return on that investment. The time is totally wasted. Even worse, they are owned by the news. They gave away their brains to a television channel. The outcome would have been the same without their undying attention.

What are better investments? My family. Our life. The businesses that we are in.

My energy and emotions on the matter are better placed on those things. I am tremendously happier with my movement away from politics. It is a lost cause. A black hole for good and effective people. An addiction. The least identified pillar of the consumption machine of our world. They want you to look to them for the answers, don't.

Build your life independent of the prevailing collectivist arguments. Build resources. Resources are options. Understand you don't have to be a part of any of their bullshit, especially if you are wealthy. The world is a lot bigger than America. First, focus on your family. Then, as resources change, consider the geographical options that make sense. It's the only political change that is 100% in your circle of control.

The bottom line, political concern is a fruitless pursuit. As helpful to your life as a wishing well, and certainly more demanding of your time and emotions. I believe in fruitful pursuits. Own yourself. Don't let politics own you.
Thank you, truly, for taking the time to write that. It's incredibly helpful for my mindset in all this.
 
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Walter Hay

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I have a question about retail sales.

When a shop discount an item for 70%, and the item is not damaged or whatever, it's just on sale.

Does the shop still make a profit?

If yes, that means they sell items for 3 or 4 times what they cost.

Actually, I remember discussing this with @Walter Hay a few years ago.

I don't remember the answer though.
I checked the more than 1,000 message conversations I have had with members over the years and can't find your name there, but here is my answer:

Most B& M retailers mark up by 100%, which means they have a profit margin of 50%. I have seen many cases of retail markups much higher than that.

Once, when helping a member source a particular type of shoe, I found what was wanted and it was available FOB China at $2. !!!. Not long after, when shopping in a big shoe store with my wife I saw what appeared to be the identical item on special at 20 times that cost.

Here's an example from the last time I was in Beijing. I was shopping where the locals shop in a dirty back lane, and went into a clothing store. There I found a good quality suit for retail US$38. (US$ equivalent to the RMB amount I would have had to pay if I wanted it.) Haggling would have reduced the price to possibly as low as $25.

The shopkeeper had no possibility of exerting the buying power of a big retailer, so his cost would have been around $12.50.

A couple of days later I was in Birmingham UK, where I saw a large retailer selling that identical suit on special at the equivalent of over US$130. The retailer probably paid a lot less than the shopkeeper in Beijing.

Pricing is often decided on the basis of what the market will bear.

Walter
 

GPM

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They sure are pushing this propaganda hard, this was from the front page of CNET.

There is a big difference with having SOME fat, and being fat. Sure fat is healthy, as a male dropping into the single % points is going to cause some hormonal issues but come on, if someone had a button they could press to be 12% body fat you don't think they would press it?

Fatties.jpg
 

doster.zach

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Fm79IX7XEAEFe5l
 
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Xeon

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"David is constantly lying to his mother. When she asks about the savings he is managing for her, he tells her not to worry. In reality, the $100,000 “nest egg” from the sale of her house is trapped at a crypto lending company."

“If I tell her, she’s going to have a heart attack,” says the 37-year-old from New York. “This was her everything.”

 

ZF Lee

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I am noticing more and more that the family institution is getting fractured...and will probably be
the death of us all when SHTF.

What do I mean by that?

Back then, folks simply put up with their grumpy, toxic parents or relatives or whoever-- even until they got married and had families and kids on their own.

These days, we just say 'move out'... 'leave' ... 'blood is NOT thicker than water' ... 'mental health first'.
Even my own dad (he's already close to his sixties) isn't going back for Lunar New Year reunion especially after grandpa passed away-- there was a lot of drama behind the scenes.

Or we just pack off the elderly to the care homes.

And just let them rot there...

I know because I've had one aunt with dementia taken to one. There was no choice though because out of her three kids-- only the eldest was keen on taking care of her. And the two other siblings just didn't want to have anything to do with it. I can't fathom the burdens of juggling work...his own family...the aunt's medical checks...all the way till she passed away peacefully. But a care home has this feeling of decay and mediocrity...no matter how well-run it may be.

Even in this Forum, how many of us complain that our parents HATE our Fastlane plans?

How many of us just moved out because of such fights?

We have one thread here that talked on how the family really makes it SO difficult for him to cook decent meals in the kitchen. For me, eating well is crucial to a Fastlane identity-- because you can choose to eat more healthily.

I write all this because I notice my own siblings and many other friends of my age quietly, silently 'quitting' the family.

In the next 5-10 years, I won't expect them to return home for family reunions.

And when these folks have their own families? What KIND of MESSAGE will they give their kids?

As much as I dislike toxic family members, I try to understand that perhaps they didn't grow up with a lot of love and patience-- and might be better to show them some grace now. And it feels that I might have to run family things a lot sooner than I'd think...

I have no idea how this can be solved.

I don't think another barrage of videos from Jordan Peterson-life figures is gonna make the cut. My generation (at least most of them) seem to have decided that its better to live life on their own terms-- even if it means abandoning family values in the name of 'mental sanity' or whatever frankenphrase they use these days.
 

Andy Black

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So Google let 12,000 people go? And informed them by locking them out of systems in the first instance? (I could be wrong... I'm just going by posts I'm reading on LinkedIn).

I understand a business not wanting disgruntled staff sabotaging systems but surely there's a more respectful way of letting people go?

In case you didn't know it already: being able to eat what you kill means you can avoid these shenanigans.

Screenshot_20230121-072517_LinkedIn.jpg
 
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monnffffiiiiiii

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I checked the more than 1,000 message conversations I have had with members over the years and can't find your name there, but here is my answer:
I deleted my account then came back, this is why.

So this means that none of these shops really compete on prices.

If they did compete, everything would be much cheaper.

They sell at 10X, then go on sale for 20%, then 50%, then 70%, and they still make a profit.

Thank you Walter!
 

MJ DeMarco

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They sure are pushing this propaganda hard, this was from the front page of CNET.

There is a big difference with having SOME fat, and being fat. Sure fat is healthy, as a male dropping into the single % points is going to cause some hormonal issues but come on, if someone had a button they could press to be 12% body fat you don't think they would press it?

View attachment 46845

Yes, anything that will help adults to mentally continue to live like unaccountable children.

The woman in the picture is packed full of visceral, organ fat and is unhealthy to the point she likely is pre-diabetic and will become big-pharma's next best lifetime customer. Of course, only after she's eats herself into disease from readily available food poison available on every street corner, and on every shelf in Walmart.
 

Tony100

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The list of the top 100 Shopify stores is impressive: Top 100 Most Successful Shopify Stores

Many big established brands use Shopify for their store.

You'd think they'd have enough means to make their own ecom shop but no.

Insane!
The founder of Gymshark (number 5 on the list) talking about Shopify:


They've grown fast so it's probably easier to scale leaning on Shopify's expertise. I remember in another video he said they work closely with Shopify on Black Friday to make sure the website doesn't go down.
 

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