commit - f1cffc4c93231fd43e98e1cc791cba6be2a6fb5a
commit + a20ca9c6815c4b45f1798c4d885ed0d4f9401f98
blob - aefbbf6b2befa59abb1df5af5695f8d4f40cc96e
blob + f48ddbfdcf83d535de94f9d29e2b99b4bab630ea
--- plan.txt
+++ plan.txt
+Now:
+2024-05-05
+
+5 months into the year, I finally managed to get out of my head, get a
+remote job and start doing something! Actually, still thinking what's
+the best way of dealing with the newfound income.
+
+I bought a textbook on the Georgian language, and a dictionary. So far,
+learning the language proves much more challenging than any other I've
+studied before, but much more fun as well! At the very moment, I am
+struggling with the alphabet.
+
+I began inspecting the tmux source code. I have a few ideas on how the
+program might be improved. Might send some patches on the ML at some
+point.
+
+I am reading 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson. Found it at a
+local book shop. So far seems pretty good. I also orderd a bunch of
+books from America.
+
+
Entry: 2024-02-26
A couple of new additions:
- archived previous year's ~/.plan entries (still can be viewed via
the web/gopher/gemini)
- added thoughts/240427.my_new_habits.txt
+
+Entry: 2024-05-05
+
+I wrote a new article in thoughts/240505.youth_sucks.txt, called
+"Youth sucks (but adulthood and beyond don't have to)". It's pretty
+short and to the point, as usual, but it is something I wanted to write
+about for a long time. Enjoy!
blob - /dev/null
blob + c9647015a2852d716140e7631bc10c8f6ec32b68 (mode 644)
--- /dev/null
+++ thoughts/240505.youth_sucks.txt
+Title: Youth sucks (but adulthood and beyond don't have to)
+Author: Alexander Arkhipov <aa@manpager.org>
+Created: 2024-05-05
+Modified: 2024-05-05
+
+FOREWORD
+
+Hello, dear reader!
+
+This article is something I wanted to write for a long time. It's pretty
+small, but the reason I've been so hesitant is because I didn't know
+when the time would be right. Well, apparently now is. :^)
+
+The article describes a condensed version of my entire life experience
+up to 23, particularly my frustration, and the lessons/conclusions I
+made from it.
+
+I am, however, just one man. I am sure there are countless people, whose
+experience is/was completely different. And also that there are
+countless people, who are sharing/have shared experience similar to
+mine. Since the topic is so universal (everyone either is youthful, or
+has been before), I'd really like to hear your opinion on the article.
+
+Don't hesitate to send me an e-mail!
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+I am 24. Up until very recently, I felt like I was merely existing,
+rather than living. Every day of my life I would see much older people
+stuck in the same, or worse position than me. What worse they kept
+claiming it to be the best possible outcome, for there to be no sense in
+trying to do something else. "Is this what life is?" I thought "An
+endless cycle of breakfast, hours of bullshit, supper and bad sleep,
+occasionally interrupted by a short holiday?".
+
+Well, today I know it isn't! And firstly, those old people have no one
+but themselves to blame. The main thing is for you to not let them drag
+you down with them. Secondly, the only real issue of youth is the lack
+of resources. Once you have that figured out, the world becomes your
+oyster, things you thought mattered yesterday stop being important, and
+the only thing holding you down is fear (and perhaps laziness). So, be
+brave and diligent, and don't despair!
+
+With that in mind, here are the only things that I think young people
+should focus on:
+
+- learning
+- saving up some money (the "F-you money", as some like to call it)
+
+Yes, just two things, and the second *very* much depends on the first.
+Basically, you just need to get an opportunity (by saving up) to do
+something, but you need to prepare (learning) to even know what to do
+with it.
+
+
+LEARNING
+
+ Why you need to learn
+
+So, I am trying to describe how to escape the youthful frustrations, and
+not let it become elderly frustrations, yet here I am advocating for
+learning. Isn't learning a major source of these frustrations, you might
+ask. I don't think it is. Or rather, I don't think it's learning itself.
+
+Children are known to be brutish, but somehow what adults do to children
+is rarely considered cruel. And what they do is this: put their children
+in a prison-like environment, where other adults try to force them to
+learn maths, and grammar, and geography, and other sciences that said
+adults themselves have very little comprehension of.
+
+Is it any wonder that children leave schools, barely remembering
+anything they've "learned" there? Or that for so many the entire thing
+is nothing, but misery -- one that seems to last a lifetime?
+
+For me it was even worse. I grew up in Russia, where if you are an
+18-27 (now 30) years old healthy man, your options are limited to:
+
+1. living outside of Russia
+2. attending a university in Russia
+3. getting forcefully conscripted into the army
+
+If you don't know anything about universities in Russia, let me describe
+them like this: they are a little less prison-like than schools, and the
+staff is a little more qualified, but only a little.
+
+So, as you can conclude, the option 1. is infinitely more preferable
+than option 2., and especially option 3. I've had an opportunity to take
+it. I didn't because I failed to prepare. I failed to learn. And by the
+time I was graduating, it was already too late.
+
+I've lost between 4 and 6 years of my life because of this failure.
+
+So, you see, the learning I am advocating for has nothing to do with
+being verbally abused by a teacher. Which brings me to the next
+point...
+
+
+ How can (and should) you learn
+
+Well, surprisingly, my teachers (and likely yours) were half-right on
+that one. You should read books. Only *half*-right because they meant
+reading classic fiction. Fiction can be nice. I read fiction every time
+before I go to bed. But I also rarely learn anything useful from
+fiction.
+
+No, non-fiction is where it's all at. Unfortunately, nonfiction books
+(of the useful variety) tend to be quite expensive, and only be shipped
+from America. So very likely you won't have money for that yourself, and
+won't be able to convince your parents to get them for you. That's
+alright, you can just download pirated versions from libgen, or wherever
+else. You can (and probably should) even buy the book when you do have
+the money. But at the moment you shouldn't have any moral qualms with
+using "alternate" means to get the educational material. It might not
+be exactly fair to the authors, but it's completely positively unfair
+on the people who can't afford education.
+
+If you don't know what literature you should begin with, I suggest
+starting with a book on some technical skill, such as programming or
+writing, that you should be able to start practicing immediately, and
+that you should be able to use to get a well-paying remote job.
+
+DON'T, however, learn anything *just* to get a job. Jobs are just
+that -- a way for you to sustain yourself while you are still figuring
+things out. Jobs are temporary, but your creative endeavours are
+eternal. Try not to do things you'll hate yourself for.
+
+Also don't take this as an advice to only learn from books, or to only
+read on technical skills. Although reading books are usually the best
+way to start tackling any large enough topic, there are many things on
+which no good books have been written yet. And technical skills are far
+from the only thing you'll need. Each new generation has much more
+wisdom to learn from others than the previous. Use the opportunity!
+
+
+SAVING UP
+
+The other important thing to do is to get a job as early as possible.
+
+At this stage, a well-paying remote job is perfect, but you are very
+unlikely to get one of those immediately. (Or maybe you are if you take
+the learning step seriously.) So, you'll probably have to settle with
+being a courier, an office paper pusher, a barista... It's not that
+bad, really. You might think I'm saying that because such job will
+give you experience, but no: "experience" is bullshit. To be completely
+honest, your first job is probably going to suck.
+
+However, it'll be *much* better than living off your parents. The reason
+is: so long as you depend on someone for money, you cannot truly make
+any independent decisions. You lack freedom. You are like a bird in a
+cage: the cage might be made of gold, but what use that is if it's still
+a cage?
+
+But hold on there yet!
+
+Once you start making money, you'll see that you can now suddenly afford
+things you thought to be terribly expensive previously. You'll be
+tempted to buy such things, but before doing that, ask yourself: Do I
+really need to? If not, better keep the money for something actually
+useful. Just to be clear, I am talking about things like buying the
+newest iPhone, not getting yourself a chocolate at the end of the week.
+
+You see, the first money you'll make will be the most precious in your
+entire life. Ultimately, you'll put a lot of time into get only a small
+reward, but that will just have to do. Unless your father is a
+millionaire, there is no way around it!
+
+So, what I propose for you to do, is calculate how much do you need to
+live comfortably, and don't starve to death each month, and set
+everything else aside. It might be prudent to invest that money
+somewhere, however, just putting it in a box is a very good start.
+
+Months will pass, maybe even a few years. But eventually you'll realise
+something that'll make you feel like the happiest man (or woman) on
+Earth: you have enough saved up to leave your bullshit job, and pursue
+your dreams.
+
+
+WHAT TO DO NEXT
+
+Well, it's up to you, isn't it?
+
+What I ended up doing was finally leaving my native country for good,
+and getting a fully remote job to sustain myself. And that is only the
+beginning. If somebody asks me today, what am I going to be doing in two
+years, I would have to say "I don't know, but here are some ideas: ...".
+
+Keep working hard on your dreams, and one day you'll find yourself
+somewhere you never wished to be at, but always wanted to.
