A number of homeless are indeed are victims of our terrible socio-economic system. However I have heard many homeless outreach workers say the same thing “The ones who stay homeless are the ones who stay addicted”. Addiction is a serious issue and the challenge of beating it is nothing we should dismiss, however it is clear some people end up homeless due to drugs and stay homeless due to a refusal to get clean. When your life is centered around just getting high, you won’t care much about anything else. All the horrors of living on the street disappear once you get your fix, and some people are okay living like that.

I guess I’m writing all this to say that homelessness is a very complex and nuanced issue. They aren’t all victims, they aren’t all criminals, they aren’t all mentally ill, they aren’t all addicts, and for some its the only life they’ve ever known.

This is why the conversation around homelessness is so difficult. People just latch onto their idea of what being homeless is then build their argument from there, dismissing the remaining context of the concept.

I highly suggest doing homeless outreach to broaden your perspective on the matter (look up a local Food Not Bombs group if you live in a city!). If that isn’t something you’d like to do, there are plenty of videos on youtube that give you more insight into the homelessness experience. Obviously watch out for the videos that treat living on the streets as a spectacle or oddity, I absolutely hate these videos because they serve to shock and entertain, not educate.

I’ve watched many videos about CBT

Wow, I’m so sorry for what you’re going through, yeah we’re pretty similar, when the industry was doing ok I’d be drowning in interviews, now it feels like I’m not even being seen. It is rather weird. I’m hoping for the best for you and your family!

Mini Rant:

When you think about it software development is a relatively young profession compared to medicine, law, construction, public services, the arts, and so on. This is why modern tech kind of sucks despite being so cool, I say we are in the “Hey maybe we shouldn’t build our huts right on the river” phase of writing code, still figuring out problems that will appear mind numbingly simple in the future.

Another issue is the fact that tech builds on itself and its flaws can be painted over with abstractions, while the aforementioned professions can’t get away with being subpar for too long. So the full metaphor really is after the river floods we build on top of the ruins and claim victory because we are slightly more elevated and will take less damage during the next flood.

The secret to better tech is rebuilding everything from scratch. The internet wasn’t designed with security and bad actors in mind. Plenty of corporations are running a Frankenstein system that contains code older than most millennials, botched modernization efforts, buzzword laden over-engineered applications, and bugs that aren’t features just permanent residents in your code base.

…But there is profiteering to contend with, good code takes time, time is money, good code is expensive. “Good enough” code is easy to write, so its better for the bottom line.

In the end it really is…

Developer: “Hey the river flooded and our huts were demolished, we should move to higher ground and build there”

Corporate Leadership: “No that is too expensive, just build on the ruins and next flood we should be safer, oh also you’re laid off”

I know you didn’t ask for this, but its been on my mind for a while and I felt like this was a good time to get this out of my head haha

Oddly enough I had more recruiters talk to me about Kotlin recently than Java, are there any certs you would recommend, if they even exist?

I’ll definitely keep this in my back pocket, I live in a hot area so I’m sure I could find an HVAC job, thanks for the input

Thank you for taking the time to write all of this, I definitely needed such a perspective.

Thank you for the insight!

No I don’t want to be in management. I just enjoy talking to people and making genuine connections instead lip service fueled networking. This isn’t a self assessment either, its something I’ve been told enough to believe it.

Interesting, I’ll definitely keep this in mind thank you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-E0KGjJAx8

This is wonderful, thank you for sharing it!

How is contracting nowadays? You’ve definitely got a point here.

Is the C# industry in a better state than Java?

getting a 404 from that link

I doubt society will even make it 50 more years. Hell I'm expecting the quality of life for the west to plummet with the decade.

It all depends on the kind of porn and how smart the watcher is. Idiots who think porn is real life will definitely learn the wrong things and hurt someone.

This is the real solution. I spent some time in Worcester, England living with a couple there, it was so nice being able to walk to the grocery store and wherever else we wanted to go. I don't even think I had to wait at any crosswalks or anything. Now I'm living in a big sweaty American city where sidewalks aren't guaranteed.

Eh I don't think lane straddling is a good idea either, if everyone zippered appropriately we wouldn't need that, and if both lanes are relatively clear we wouldn't need it either. I think driving will always suck no matter what, "safe driving" is something no one can really agree on. Not to mention there is a section of drivers who believe aggressive driving is not only acceptable, but a way to protect the ego.

To clarify, by "play chicken" I mean dive into the other lane and forcing other people to slam on their breaks. Not merging when they can. My frustration is just around safety, not getting cut off or anything.

That's wild