"A curb cut is authority granted to you by the owner of the road (often the state government) to make a physical change to your property and the road to allow customers access"
This development model is very specific to Illinois and should not be generalized across the country. In many places the road could be owned by a local development corp, the county, a non-profit, a pension fund, the bank itself or some combination of the above. Illinois has harsh winters, a 9-5 suburb/downtown traffic pattern, average traffic and lots of land which makes the drive through an important feature and curb cuts EXTREMELY valuable.
"Thus, in New York, the median employee in the stock market sector who earns $440,000, according to the State Auditor’s Office"
As someone who works in this sector, this does not look True. An investment Banking VP with 10+ years experience at a bulge bracket probably brings in this much in income however this is not the median worker. There is a huge workforce of admins, Ops, legal, IT that work in the sector and bring it down. Also there is a large amount of burnout/turnover/layoffs in these jobs so that in any given year someone is not getting their full bonus.
There was the free business class trips for everyone (not just higher management), the frenetic office building (at one point we had offices in over 100 countries), and hundreds of millions in WIP/inventory. Definitely not a well run but a blast to work for.
To me this is more a reflection of Chinese society. China has always been a highly centralized place (i.e. its name is "middle kingdom") where internal control is prioritized. The media/application space is a reflection of that. If you look at other countries like India or Brazil that are early in their internet adoption, you see a much more diverse writing ecosystem.
Anyone who thinks facebook (i.e. meta) is going to drop can buy put options. the $150 put 2 years out is selling for $5 so if you buy 100 for $50K - When the stock falls you will have enough money to buy a house
Because Hebrew is gendered Meta (מתה) technically is "she is dead". However that transcription is incorrect and arguably (מטא) is the right one. Those phonics are actually quite common in Hebrew. Similar sounding מטע (Plantation) מטה (Down) מתא(From Cell), מתע (misleading/tricky) could also have been used.
The taxonomy of jobs in china:
Local government positions (<20 hours per week). Relatively low pay. Little job risk . This positions are by design very easy (铁饭碗 or Iron Rice Bowl). There are long vacations and expectations are very low. If you want to spend your time, smoking, having lunch, and going for walks this is the place for you.
Domestic SME’s (20 - 40 hours per week). Moderate job risk - usually from business failure. Think of your small town dentist. If he is on vacation skiing for 2 weeks, no one will complain but business might hurt a bit. Expect Basic, low levels of competence.
Regional and Central Government (40 hours per week). No job risk - substantial risk of being reassigned. One thing the CCP does well is to hire relatively competent people to higher levels positions of governance and MOTIVATE them to accomplish tasks. You will be surprised how many have a reasonable command of English and a daughter with a degree from Oxford.
Division of Non Chinese MNC (40-50 hours per week). Moderate job risk. MNC jobs are considered high status in china because foreign employers are thought to treat employees relatively well. In general they respect local laws and avoid intrusive personal questions. Not considered top of the pecking order.
Large Domestic Exporters (50-60 hours per week). Little job risk - substantial risk of being reassigned. These are the beating heart of Chinese productivity and generally have high quality management. Usually has a local flavor of Taylorism. Loyalty is extremely important. Expect a confusing bureaucracy like any large organization.
Domestic Tech companies (70 hours per week - 996). The pace of product development and iteration within these companies is INSANE. It is like having a three day hackathon only to discover that the team from Missouri solved the problem last night while you were out getting pizza. Code quality, Engineering Practices, IP development does not matter as long as you can crank something out there first. They pay very well by Chinese standards and expect employees to live on the company facilities. Marriage within the company is encouraged as it is thought to foster loyalty. It is common for People burn out very quickly from these jobs.
Have you been to NYC? Or Tokyo? Or Singapore? Have you ever lived in a dense city before? These things just don't happen.
Developers a profit motived and are very aware of what sells and what doesn't. There are a million mechanisms by which we can avoid having a single story house surrounded by skyscrapers.
This development model is very specific to Illinois and should not be generalized across the country. In many places the road could be owned by a local development corp, the county, a non-profit, a pension fund, the bank itself or some combination of the above. Illinois has harsh winters, a 9-5 suburb/downtown traffic pattern, average traffic and lots of land which makes the drive through an important feature and curb cuts EXTREMELY valuable.