Stevey gives up the being part of the chase for the superfluous (in money), and calls for us to do something about the necessary
No one needs a million dollars. No one. Why are we chasing it and dying of heart disease -- heart disease we can cure if we start chasing that instead?
Our priorities are absolutely messed up and it's time we start realigning them. This isn't a speech; this isn't a funny resignation. This is a clarion call to join in. We can do so much better. We can achieve something valuable, if we start to realize where true value lies.
food, roof (with internet connection reaching under it), freedom. In Bay Area, if you have a mortgage, it is half a mil bare minimum and even a million may not take you far enough. There have been experiments to build societies with decreased degree of connection between food, roof, freedom and money - somehow it always went like this one http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/dprk/dprk-dark....
And you can't build SpaceX without a bucket of millions (Copenhagen Orbitals are beyond wonderful, yet they are in Virgin Galactic league at best, even in their furthest plans. They show the possibilities for the future and at the same time how far yet that future is)
I think it should be noted that Steve is probably fairly wealthy by most any standard from GOOG & AMZN stock.
And with that wealth comes more freedom...to work on 'big' projects.
I think it's a bit disingenuous to ask people to work on non-lolcat projects when you are wealthy and set for the rest of your life. It's admirable to devote your life to working on big ideas, but I would argue most people who are doing so (even those mentioned in his talk - Gates, O'Reilly, etc) aren't really worried about money.
Most people are simply worrying about how to pay next month's rent or handle their family expenses. Sorry, but these people are not 'in' when it comes to working on big ideas.
In my case, if it came down to working for Facebook and making $10+ Million on the IPO or working to cure cancer - Facebook wins. Maybe after that I'll work to cure cancer.
Your argument is specious to the point of being crazy:
- Millionaires can work on important things. (Yes they can, but they usually just end up working on their tan.)
- Everyone else is just making ends meet. (Huh? Everyone?)
- If you have the chance, join FB early so you can be a millionaire and work on important things.
Look at the startup Color. It has brilliant people and they are all working on ways to make sharing pictures with people you don't know.
We're saying, "Stop It!" Maybe you'll get a hit and get rich but that's a stupid goal.
No one needs better ways to share pictures of your cats. There are important things to do instead, and our brightest minds, instead of engaging in ways to humanity forward, are writing PHP to get themselves forward.
Stevey gives up the being part of the chase for the superfluous (in money), and calls for us to do something about the necessary
No one needs a million dollars. No one. Why are we chasing it and dying of heart disease -- heart disease we can cure if we start chasing that instead?
Our priorities are absolutely messed up and it's time we start realigning them. This isn't a speech; this isn't a funny resignation. This is a clarion call to join in. We can do so much better. We can achieve something valuable, if we start to realize where true value lies.
Steve's in. I'm in. Who else around here is in?