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Old 07-07-2016, 09:03 AM   #121
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... just how can I can i try to feed myself, buy needed medical care and stay warm.
That would be too basic a worry for me. I prefer to concern myself with whether I should turn that piece of beef into Hungarian goulash or French beef bourguignon. I do not want to go down to the level of finding money to buy that meat. As I mentioned elsewhere, I like to always have enough money to give myself serenity, so that my mind is free to think about some more pleasurable things, such as cooking, gardening, bs'ing on this forum, etc...
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Old 07-07-2016, 09:21 AM   #122
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It would be simple. Each day when you woke up you have only one issue to confront. No should I go to Italy or France, no should I buy a vacation home, just how can I can i try to feed myself, buy needed medical care and stay warm.
Ha
That actually happens. Some North Koreans who have defected to the South pine for their old days in the North. The stress of modern day life in South Korea was so much that they preferred the "simpler life" in the North. Sure, they were starving then, but you only had one goal - find enough to eat.
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Old 07-07-2016, 09:24 AM   #123
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...My favorite part is the still picture where he is at a restaurant with friends. While his friends appear to have adult beverages, he has a glass a water. I wonder if it's because he can't afford the $7 microbrew?
Why is this your favorite part?
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Old 07-07-2016, 09:37 AM   #124
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Why is this your favorite part?
because it's the essence of cheapness?
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Old 07-07-2016, 09:55 AM   #125
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He must have some mental health issues or something. That's all I can glean from that video. He threw away a perfectly good job and a great pension to live in a squalid garret and bike to work in the snow at a grocery store? I don't' get it.
He may have some mental health issues--he's working on himself to feel mentally/emotionally better. Recall that before he left his job he went on a 10-day silent retreat and then decided to quit working for the government. The job may have been perfectly good for many people, but it was apparently draining the life out of him.

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because he threw away an opportunity for an easy, successful life (and someone probably paid for his edumication).

how do you think those in third world countries would feel about this guy? 3-dimensional loser
.
maybe it's the way I was raised - to be better off financially than my parents who were born in the height of the REAL depression. my dad would have crapped a peach seed if I'd have pulled a stunt like that.

and yes, the guy has to have a screw loose or be on a boatload of xanax
When I was growing up it was rather common for parents who wanted their kids to eat their dinners (or finish their dinners) to say, "You know, there are children who are starving in Africa (or China), eat your dinner!" It was a lousy argument even back then.
If this guy really cared about what those in the third world would feel about him--well, then he really would have some serious problems.

This guy may have been on a boatload of Xanax when he was working, but from the five-minute video he seems to be a peace with himself and his job and his living arrangements.

He was not on the path for an easy, successful life. He was on the path of being overwhelmed every day of his life.
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Old 07-07-2016, 09:58 AM   #126
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He was not on the path for an easy, successful life. He was on the path of being overwhelmed every day of his life.
maybe he made the right decision for himself. Good for him then. I still don't get it and neither would the people who were raised during the great depression who brought me up. My parents sacrified, scrimped and were extremely frugal. We never went out to eat. That was unheard of. For me to throw away all that they did so that I could go to a good high school and on to college (my Dad had to drop out and my mom had to quit school in 8th grade to support herself) would literally kill them. I'll never be able to repay what they did for us.
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Old 07-07-2016, 10:02 AM   #127
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The one thing positive about managing to live simply on a low-paying job is that you never have to worry about losing your job. Low-paid workers move constantly from job to job, and with turnover so high employers are always looking for replacement.

It's not something I would be happy to see my children doing. I prefer to see them gainfully employed in a career that makes use of their education. But if this guy, the one working in a grocery store, wants to sustain himself with 3-day/week job and is happy with it, good for him.
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Old 07-07-2016, 10:23 AM   #128
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That actually happens. Some North Koreans who have defected to the South pine for their old days in the North. The stress of modern day life in South Korea was so much that they preferred the "simpler life" in the North. Sure, they were starving then, but you only had one goal - find enough to eat.
Keep it simple or die trying.
Now I'm wishing I could live in North Korea!!
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Old 07-07-2016, 10:34 AM   #129
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For me to throw away all that they did so that I could go to a good high school and on to college... would literally kill them. I'll never be able to repay what they did for us.
You make a good point.

You do without and put a kid through college only to have him leave a good paying, secure government job to work in a grocery store, 22 hours a week?

So that he has more time to...socialize? (OMG, I can hear my late Dad now!!)

Maybe this is an 'affluence' issue after all.
Maybe he knows he'll inherit a bundle someday, so...why sweat it out now? Pass the guacamole, bro.
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Old 07-07-2016, 10:38 AM   #130
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That actually happens. Some North Koreans who have defected to the South pine for their old days in the North. The stress of modern day life in South Korea was so much that they preferred the "simpler life" in the North. Sure, they were starving then, but you only had one goal - find enough to eat.
Any follow up stories of those folks going back to North Korea?
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Old 07-07-2016, 10:42 AM   #131
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You make a good point.

You do without and put a kid through college only to have him leave a good paying, secure government job to work in a grocery store, 22 hours a week?

So that he has more time to...socialize? (OMG, I can hear my late Dad now!!)

Maybe this is an 'affluence' issue after all.
Maybe he knows he'll inherit a bundle someday, so...why sweat it out now? Pass the guacamole, bro.
they got mad enough when I quit playing piano in 8th grade so I could focus on my dungeons and dragons game.
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Old 07-07-2016, 10:52 AM   #132
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That's a false dichotomy. There's a middle ground. I work 40 hours a week with a moderate (25 minute) commute, at a low-stress job with high job security and a great pension (government). My wife and I are DINKs, so we have plenty of time for hobbies and each other, and no money worries. Why would I "simplify" to live on peanuts and worry about how I'm going to afford to eat 40 years from now?
I didn't say there wasn't a middle ground. Just that many here would not call the long hours, high stress person a loser. We have many threads here along the lines of people feeling sick to their stomachs on Sunday night because their jobs are so stressful but no one calls them losers because they work full time.

The video guy lives in Canada so healthcare is not a big expense. I have retired friends even in California and paying for Medicare who seem to live well and they have told me they have trouble spending $30K a year. One told me she spends the extra on spoiling the grandkids.

Forty hours plus even a short commute time is still a lot of hours in a week to be at work. I've done both full time and part-time and part-time is much better for me. Fuego has a cute chart on his blog showing his before and after weekly schedules:

http://rootofgood.com/early-retirement-schedule/

Which chart would you rather have your life to be like? As a society we've gotten used to 40+ hours a week as normal, but Juliet Schor, author of the Overworked Amarican, says we work more than medieval serfs did.

I didn't see anywhere where they guy in the video has to worry about living without food. If you look at the cost of living estimates for college kids, even in Los Angeles if you subtract out the college tuition and book expenses, living like a college kid can be pretty cheap and one would still have all the necessities of life.
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Old 07-07-2016, 11:02 AM   #133
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Keep it simple or die trying.

Now I'm wishing I could live in North Korea!!

Kept threatening to ship Girlfriend to North Korea every time she would complain of to many choices at the grocery store....
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Old 07-07-2016, 11:09 AM   #134
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Kept threatening to ship Girlfriend to North Korea every time she would complain of to many choices at the grocery store....
The guy in the video might very happy to help her make an informed decision (assuming she's shopping in the store on one of the three days he's working).
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Old 07-07-2016, 11:21 AM   #135
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So that he has more time to...socialize? (OMG, I can hear my late Dad now!!)
If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad
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Old 07-07-2016, 11:40 AM   #136
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So that he has more time to...socialize? (OMG, I can hear my late Dad now!!)
I get a newsletter from the Berkeley Greater Good Science Center and this is one of their articles:

Happiness is Being Socially Connected

"The upshot of 50 years of happiness research is that the quantity and quality of a person's social connections—friendships, relationships with family members, closeness to neighbors, etc.—is so closely related to well-being and personal happiness the two can practically be equated. People with many friendships are less likely to experience sadness, loneliness, low self-esteem, and problems with eating and sleeping."
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Old 07-07-2016, 12:30 PM   #137
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Keep it simple or die trying.
Now I'm wishing I could live in North Korea!!
Well, maybe if you were an elite [even those get purged from time to time though]. Otherwise it's starvation and torture for the masses.

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Any follow up stories of those folks going back to North Korea?
A few stories here:
Some North Korean defectors wish they hadn't left in the first place
The North Korean defectors who want to return home - BBC News
After escaping to South Korea, some defectors now want to return north | Public Radio International
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Old 07-07-2016, 12:42 PM   #138
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Well, maybe if you were an elite [even those get purged from time to time though]. Otherwise it's starvation and torture for the masses.



A few stories here:
Some North Korean defectors wish they hadn't left in the first place
The North Korean defectors who want to return home - BBC News
After escaping to South Korea, some defectors now want to return north | Public Radio International
Many people had similar feeling when Germany was unified and the DDR ceased to be. Sure, Stasi had a microphone in your apartment, and schnitzels were a very occasional menu item. But at least your job in the steel mill was not going to Korea, and your inadequate apartment was not going to disappear in favor of an al fresco existence. And you could still take comfort in your superiority to those greedy capitalists in the West.

Ha
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Old 07-07-2016, 12:50 PM   #139
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Well, maybe if you were an elite [even those get purged from time to time though]. Otherwise it's starvation and torture for the masses.



A few stories here:
Some North Korean defectors wish they hadn't left in the first place
The North Korean defectors who want to return home - BBC News
After escaping to South Korea, some defectors now want to return north | Public Radio International
Looks like those who try to go back are finding less than a rosy welcome. Sure it's tough for some going to the south, but 20,000 or so have done it. No one is selling those stories.
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Old 07-07-2016, 02:26 PM   #140
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He must have some mental health issues or something. That's all I can glean from that video. He threw away a perfectly good job and a great pension to live in a squalid garret and bike to work in the snow at a grocery store? I don't' get it.
I think I saw the same video as you. He has a bachelor apartment. And, it looked clean. It's not a squalid garret (I know that for a fact, because I went to high school with a guy named "Squalid" Garret and he didn't look anything like that apartment).

And, if all you can glean from the video is that he mental health problems, well, that's fine and you may be correct. But, if you do believe that, it seems like maybe he should be cut some slack for taking care of himself, working a job that he can handle, having friends and working on his emotional self. He problem is, if he stayed with the old job, there might have eventually been the problem of self-medication (drugs/alcohol)to ease the distress he felt revolving around that government job.
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