Any organization made of humans is indeed fallible and corruptible. I have heard some dark stories of this. They are not mine to tell.
Still, the people who say they are trying to uphold a responsibility are more likely to do so with care than those who are trying to do something else.
If a father needs someone to watch his 4-year-old daughter, is it wiser to drop her off at a daycare or at a post office logistics warehouse?
My purpose is to care for the people I can as I learn to love and be loved.
It is not the job of the nation-state to give people a deep sense of purpose. That is a job for a church, temple, or other spiritual community. Governments which try to do that job tend to do badly, sometimes with monstrous results. They ought be separate.
I have come to the conclusion that lots of humans have a religion-shaped hole in their psyche. It is far better to fill it with a stable, local, hope-giving religion.
Hymns are a better opiate of the masses than fentanyl.
Perhaps then it is better run as a feature of a city’s local newspaper. They already have the advertising department side of the marketplace. Does anyone at the Boston Globe want to buy your code?
A dating site could work sustainably if it was a site for planning date nights. Make profiles based on activities and swipe right or left on the activities you want to do.
Revenue sources would include:
- Ads for local businesses, classes, and events.
- Annual subscription which is cheaper after the first year and gives you discount codes to events and restaurants.
Once you get the site to work for date nights, let people be open to getting matched based on similar activity interests. Then you can solve the problem of two users finding a specific joint activity.
Would this solve the problem of finding people to have sex with? No, but computers are bad at sex.
Would this solve the problem married couples have of picking a place to eat? Hopefully.
The police employed by authoritarian countries? Yes, though I don’t think corrupt officials should take bribes.
The judges employed by those countries who recognize necessity as an excuse for what is otherwise a crime? Yes, though now the law seems less authoritarian.
Helping my dad with a cabin renovation. Building things with my fingers and a keyboard is great, but I moved back to the US so that I could build things with my shoulders and arms.
Firstly, read about the recovery of YC founder Hiroki Takeuchi after his injuries. He built a team and led a company that was a highlight of my professional life and which is still growing strong.
Then, find two communities of people local to you.
The first, fellow programmers to continue to practice your craft alongside.
The second, people who do something with their bodies — dancing or rock climbing or basketball.
It may feel like the people at your school whom you would have expected to protect you have betrayed you. They have indeed failed you. It is tempting to hide away to be alone. It is tempting to only reach out to people on the internet who can at best offer superficial companionship. I ask you to resist that temptation.
There are still people who care even though they are human. In this moment what matters is that you find people to be beside you so that you still have a team. Few things are built alone. Many are built by building a team.
At the end of the day, what matters is getting your job done. If you hire someone, would you rather they be unproductive and avoid talking about this for fear of appearing entitled? Or would you rather they tell it like it is and get stuff done?
According to labor union association AFL-CIO, the highest CEO compensation in 2021 was $835 million[1], less than a tenth the cost of the $10 billion estimate for the North-South connector.
Also, I would expect at least a few cost overruns.
Still, the people who say they are trying to uphold a responsibility are more likely to do so with care than those who are trying to do something else.
If a father needs someone to watch his 4-year-old daughter, is it wiser to drop her off at a daycare or at a post office logistics warehouse?