tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post8850942719832954864..comments2023-12-20T04:18:41.617-06:00Comments on The Hunting of the Snark: SacrificesSusan of Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-22645212295484763032010-09-09T16:36:47.049-05:002010-09-09T16:36:47.049-05:00I have a fantastic job that doesn't pay very w...I have a fantastic job that doesn't pay very well. I accept that. They don't have to pay much to find people willing to do such awesome work. Working as an investment banker would be far less enjoyable; I'd have to get paid more to be willing to do that.<br /><br />There's plenty of other things I'd have to be paid more than I am now to be willing to do. Working in a coal mine. Servicing porta-johns. There are a lot of truly dangerous/distasteful jobs. These workers probably make more than I do, but they don't make more than the investment banker.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-21511078998704062052010-09-08T14:42:46.892-05:002010-09-08T14:42:46.892-05:00Oh right, I'd forgotten she took networking ad...Oh right, I'd forgotten she took networking administrator classes after she couldn't find work.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-1063600220650865802010-09-07T17:40:44.487-05:002010-09-07T17:40:44.487-05:00McMuggins' whine about job security is totally...McMuggins' whine about job security is totally disingenuous: the only risk to her ascent up the greasy pole is if she admits that she's full of shit. She's made.pseudonymous in ncnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-57304993409438799102010-09-05T14:32:52.845-05:002010-09-05T14:32:52.845-05:00Does anyone know what company was going to pay Mee...<i>Does anyone know what company was going to pay Meeegan north of 100K as a consultant?</i><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Atlas_Shrugged_characters" rel="nofollow">Rearden Steel</a>, wasn't it? <br /><br />(Everyone knows getting a six figure "consultant" gig as a recent grad who would know jack-all is easy when you're a brilliant, productive glibertarian.)Batocchiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02193752396025012825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-82386243342064416522010-09-05T14:18:03.624-05:002010-09-05T14:18:03.624-05:00Does anyone know what company was going to pay Mee...Does anyone know what company was going to pay Meeegan north of 100K as a consultant?<br /><br />I smell bullshit.Roger Aileshttp://rogerailes.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-88826224424528252022010-09-05T08:33:59.742-05:002010-09-05T08:33:59.742-05:00You guys are too kind.You guys are too kind.Susan of Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-20538194852142633222010-09-04T19:20:45.663-05:002010-09-04T19:20:45.663-05:00God, I remember reading Rajiv Chandrasekaran's...God, I remember reading Rajiv Chandrasekaran's <i>Imperial Life In The Emerald City</i>. At one point he referred to a US government worker. (DoD? State? I don't recall, and since I am a library puppy, I do not have the book in my hands.) This guy was working intently to investigate and assemble compelling information about a project that was purportedly going to happen during the first year of the occupation. He worked and worked and worked but eventually realized that the project (to the extent it had ever seriously existed) had disappeared from the already tragically compromised Plan. Game over.<br /><br />This was a career government employee, not an experience-free Young Republican of the sort that they shipped over in droves for useless three month "tours".<br /><br />Is this one of the guys she thinks "made the sacrifice of doing something they hate in the name of the greater good"?<br /><br />Corruption, redundancy, cynicism - oh dear god, rampant - even dominant in the teat-sucking culture of civil servants! <b>Megan needs to get a real job, stat.</b><br /><br />Does anyone think that all the State Department civil servants who were hanging off the rafters to cheer for and welcome the incoming Secretary Clinton don't give a flying fizzy crap about their work?<br /><br />I have just taken a reading of my dudgeon, and it is high.<br /><br />But my heart is not all shriveled and nasty, 'cause Susan of Texas, I love you. Love love love.Larkspurnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-27049154422093464402010-09-04T17:03:59.693-05:002010-09-04T17:03:59.693-05:00They hate us liberals for our freedoms.
Hit the k...<i>They hate us liberals for our freedoms.</i><br /><br />Hit the kill switch, Barack. The Internets are done for the day. Major, major win.Mr. Wonderfulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-82198302691482839472010-09-04T13:34:21.150-05:002010-09-04T13:34:21.150-05:00And, holy mother of god, is she a terrible writer....And, holy mother of god, is she a terrible writer.charles piercenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-58764944465114785632010-09-04T09:46:27.636-05:002010-09-04T09:46:27.636-05:00She has to live every minute of her life knowing t...She has to live every minute of her life knowing that she's a fake and therefore constantly exposes herself to public ridicule in the service of her masters. Her only consolation is the money she makes, the things she buys, and the fact that her friends and family are all in the same boat.<br /><br />They hate us liberals for our freedoms. We are free to admit fault and error, to change and grow. They are stuck, because they don't get to choose what they say or think.Susan of Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-36839680663288589532010-09-04T09:38:07.688-05:002010-09-04T09:38:07.688-05:00Pursuit of self-interest is great for the rich cap...Pursuit of self-interest is great for the rich capitalists, not so much for the workers who want job security; they need to sacrifice for the good of society. I really, really hate this philosophy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-9389921122562416002010-09-04T09:31:17.737-05:002010-09-04T09:31:17.737-05:00As a supposed econojournalist, she could be writin...<i>As a supposed econojournalist, she could be writing in a much more prosaic manner so that lay persons could understand the subject better.</i><br /><br />This. And Clever Pseud's next line about showing off for the cool kids, too. To me, it's MM's airily knowing, aggressively jargonized writing that puts the lie to every pretense she has--apart from the errors, the preening, and all the other repellent content.<br /><br />And then she has the gall to say, with faux modesty, that she's in "public service."<br /><br />And for this she gets a six-fig. salary? Why? What service for its publisher or its owner does the Atlantic think she performs?<br /><br />(I keep waiting to think of a funny sign-off to this, but guess what--the joke's on me!)Mr. Wonderfulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-86766053913666673342010-09-04T07:25:32.943-05:002010-09-04T07:25:32.943-05:00From the self awareness department of my soul:
I ...From the self awareness department of my soul:<br /><br />I too have the best and brightest credentials and I work in the financial industry - pulling down serious cash. I mean serious.<br /><br />But I am also keenly aware that the cash i pull down is no reflection of my abilities at all. It is a racket, I am lucky to be part of it. I 'deserve' it as much as the next guy in the field. I am no more (or less) conscientious in my work than the hardworking fireman or teacher. I accept that by some magic of perception my contributions are worth so much more to society than that of said fireman or teacher.<br /><br />When the music finally stops I hope to have saved up enough so I can do other, less lucrative but equally interesting things. <br /><br />This is not humility - this is a keen awareness of my own luck in being where I am.<br /><br />Which is why I am a progressive - I truly get the role luck plays in perceived success - and therefore in perceived failure.<br /><br />Megan thinks that everybody makes informed choices all the time - despite evidence from her own life that shit just happens.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-68618532840949396922010-09-04T03:11:30.042-05:002010-09-04T03:11:30.042-05:00It's a black fly in her Chardonnay.It's a black fly in her Chardonnay.chineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12796203061937492849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-54059733128868830382010-09-03T22:43:22.056-05:002010-09-03T22:43:22.056-05:00For the next eighteen months, I struggled to find ...<i>For the next eighteen months, I struggled to find a job, in the teeth of a recession that kicked MBAs especially hard...Over the years since I'd had a steady income, my clothes had stretched out of shape, ripped, become stained, gone out of style. I couldn't afford new ones. And I wasn't one of those whizzy heroines who can make over her own clothes. Instead, I frumped around in clothes that never looked quite right, and felt the way my clothes looked.</i><br /><br />Poor, poor little Megan, with her bullshit MBA, wearing out-of-style clothes, utterly incapable of dazzling her betters with her luminous specialness.<br /><br />I hesitate here, as I would really like to use the "c" word, but will not, out of respect to Susan, but heyzooz, what a fucking asshole.commie atheisthttp://commieatheist.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-89566404298622466902010-09-03T22:20:05.410-05:002010-09-03T22:20:05.410-05:00Writing for the right means never having to go hun...Writing for the right means never having to go hungry.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-49708621334062757042010-09-03T19:56:41.429-05:002010-09-03T19:56:41.429-05:00I've known plenty of people who've worked ...I've known plenty of people who've worked for the government (especially from growing up in DC), so this McMegan post is more obnoxious than usual. The two kickers are (1) She claims she's doing a public service, and (2) she really thinks her position is due to <i>merit</i>. <br /><br />(It's (not coincidentally) like the Reason crew protesting they're geniuses, and not useful idiots, the hired help and eager whores for the Kochs.) <br /><br />You do a good job chronicling McArdle's lies and bullshit, but the ones in print are dwarfed by those she tells herself.Batocchiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02193752396025012825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-44930920219840455942010-09-03T16:50:57.701-05:002010-09-03T16:50:57.701-05:00Bulbul,
Agreed. To extend that again, I think tha...Bulbul,<br /><br />Agreed. To extend that again, I think that's how the non-rich feel all the time. Some of us shop at thrift stores and off of sales racks because we don't really have another choice.Daniel Harperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11307806109764817356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-18155836565604512852010-09-03T16:19:15.431-05:002010-09-03T16:19:15.431-05:00Daniel,
thanks for reminding me:
Instead, I frum...Daniel,<br /><br />thanks for reminding me:<br /><br /><i>Instead, I frumped around in clothes that never looked quite right, and felt the way my clothes looked.</i><br />I call that 'being fat'. Welcome to my life, honey.bulbulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14505565281151328789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-76048360035985583992010-09-03T16:17:07.956-05:002010-09-03T16:17:07.956-05:00It's gotten to the point where I read Megan ju...It's gotten to the point where I read Megan just to read your takedowns, Susan. Excellent work.<br /><br />When I saw this one originally, I too thought about the horrors that Megan endured wearing out-of-style clothes when that six-figure income straight out of school didn't materialize.Daniel Harperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11307806109764817356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-52338181705901929222010-09-03T13:52:07.154-05:002010-09-03T13:52:07.154-05:00I had a friend who dated a guy that couldn't s...I had a friend who dated a guy that couldn't stop mentioning that he went to Harvard all the time. It was insufferable, especially since he wasn't particularly bright. I've got no problem with Harvard per se; people who go there and work hard on their education deserve the doors that a degree from the place kick open. But people like Megan who snivel down their noses at those of us who didn't go to Prestige U after openly admitting that she stared out the window and partied for most of her education are fricking annoying.<br /><br />As Susan has already noted, what Megan says and what Megan does are entirely two different beasts.Clever Pseudonymhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00782313892753904678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-40458341723982346652010-09-03T13:43:50.831-05:002010-09-03T13:43:50.831-05:00a doofus rich frat boy who coasted through Harvard...<i>a doofus rich frat boy who coasted through Harvard with a "C" average</i><br />Geez, CPP, it almost sounds as if you had someone specific in mind :)<br />What strikes me as the weirdest part is that people like that frat boy or Megan pay big money for the privilege. And if they don't pay to get an education, which Megan certainly didn't, then why not just save time and buy the degree right away?<br /><br /><i>She's an embarrassment to journalism</i><br />But she says that she takes her profession seriously!bulbulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14505565281151328789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-53918402260479516982010-09-03T13:36:39.744-05:002010-09-03T13:36:39.744-05:00I have a problem with that "best and brightes...I have a problem with that "best and brightest" attitude as well. I went to a small state school, busted my butt, studied hard, took learning seriously, and got good grades. Yet somehow, a doofus rich frat boy who coasted through Harvard with a "C" average doing barely what he needed to graduate gets a piece of paper at the end that's supposedly worth more than mine? That's BS.<br /><br />This is typical McArdle garbage - trying to appear modest while she's actually being a monumental braggart. Poor dear. She sacrificed a high-paying career financially raping the public and instead chose to serve them by...writing as much highly mis-informed drivel she can? If anything, her writing is a dis-service. As a supposed econojournalist, she could be writing in a much more prosaic manner so that lay persons could understand the subject better. Instead she chooses to pepper her writing with insider language that most can't decipher to show off that she knows all the big words the cool kids are using. If she took her job so seriously, she'd be more concerned with getting her facts and information right and presenting them in the most coherent, organized, and grammatically sound manner possible. She's an embarrassment to journalism, and far, far from any type of public servant.Clever Pseudonymhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00782313892753904678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-24777594623744287162010-09-03T13:35:25.915-05:002010-09-03T13:35:25.915-05:00I'm not going to search it out, but I quite cl...I'm not going to search it out, but I quite clearly remember a post where Megan patted herself on the back for "giving at the office" by 'choosing' to be a 'journalist' instead of being in the business world. <br />I hate scare quotes, but sometimes they're necessary.bradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-45002635771402558092010-09-03T13:18:42.439-05:002010-09-03T13:18:42.439-05:00Also:
Speaking as someone who attended one of thes...Also:<br /><i>Speaking as someone who attended one of these lustrous graduate institutions that allegedly produce our "best and brightest"</i><br />I mean no disrespect to UPenn or UChicago, both are excellent institutions of higher learning, with a particularly illustrious reputation in my field. But to think that simply attending such an institution makes a person one the best and the brightest without paying any mind to what they chose to study, let alone how well they did ...bulbulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14505565281151328789noreply@blogger.com