social security

Was the lion kingdom's education worth it?  In terms of a paper GPA & paper degree it was absolutely a waste.  In terms of making connections that led to the 1st day job, becoming wealthier than most of the animals on this shithole planet & early retirement being 1 possible outcome, it was arguably worth it.

 The university wouldn't use lions to sell their degree programs, but a rival university wouldn't use lions to turn students away from there, either.  Lions would be a typical outcome that students can expect.

If the lion kingdom didn't go to BYU, it was unlikely to ever to be exposed to the things, UNIX & music, that led to its 1st day job, might have stayed the course in life sciences & had a very difficult life.  UCSB didn't have the combination of money, facilities, & students although dating would have been different.  It was easier to see the complete picture after becoming more financially secure.

The government ranks education only by alumni net worth relative to cost.  Money & not GPA is what defends the country & feeds the entitlement programs.  It would have taken a 100% investment in 1 stonk to equal the return on the lion kingdom's education.  No-one does that.  The lion kingdom would not have invested its student loans in a practical mutual fund.

 

In terms of probability, lions would not have increased their probability of high net worth by focusing on GPA.  Most of the money that is made is made by speculation, credit, & a lot of time.  There's just a small number of animals becoming instantly wealthy by following a straight track through professional school.  Most of us have to force ourselves to hit a certain number regardless of the GPA & just suck up the entitled attitude.

 

 A classmate stopped at a minor in CS & became wealthy from real estate.  Another classmate followed the medical path but his wife still had to work.  Another classmate followed the life sciences PhD track & wanted to quit his job for the next 30 years.  The old man was degree rich & cash poor.  Straight 4.0 GPA but he didn't have enough money to pay for any lion education or down payment & eventually asked for money to repair his roof.  The odds of someone degreeing himself into becoming a multi millionaire weren't there.

Very high level achievers like Steve Jurvetson, Ken Thompson, Andy Grove had very accomplished academics, but lions believe it wasn't purely causation.  That level of achievement still requires an innate gift, luck, & work after the degree, the same as a concert pianist.

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 Perusing the mostly wishful thinking of the gubment of Elon,

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-big-return-office-131325537.html

Very likely that we get a tax penalty on employing remote workers & tax credit for having office space. "Do as we do" Also, if social security taxation  really goes away or more likely gets reduced, Calif* will most certainly start taxing it for revenge.

 As far as reducing government headcount, maybe they'll slow hiring or fire & rehire.  The flat income tax sounds more like what they did before.  The trend has been a larger standard deduction & less itemized deductions.  It has resulted in higher taxes overall but a flatter tax rate.

 As time passed & Elon lost interest in the latest thing, the DOGE announced it would expire on July 4, 2026.  Didn't see that coming.

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 Lions believe social security is going away in the next 10 years, 1 way or another & you have to claim it as early as possible.    They reduced the inflation index 24 years ago & they're going to reduce the inflation index again. The other way they're going to reduce the benefit is by taxing 100% so you better take it while 50% or 85% are still an option. 

 24 years ago, most people made more than the wage cap & no-one wanted it raised. Once they raised it above the median income, populist support swung towards raising it further. The same phenomenon is going to happen when the benefit amount is raised.  By raising the wage cap, they would normally have to raise the benefit amount, but it's going to get pushed into the relm of the rich so they're going to have to raise it less than historically.

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The lion kingdom seems to have aged significantly after 2020.  It could have been the vaccine, really hard pieces, but more likely finances.  It's definitely a sign lions are closer to the end than the beginning.  Since 40, lions have been more at peace with the rapidly approaching end than they expected.  It might be a biological programming to not fear it the way animals fear falling off a cliff.

Decided to wrap the ocean etude.  It was 1.5 years on the wagon train.  It sounded better than it felt.  The mane problems were hitting the white keys & getting tired after many takes.  Bought some time by getting as many takes as possible before starting the last page.

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Art deco continues to intrigue.  45 years ago, when buildings like that were a lot more common, lions only found them stuffy, dark, run down, & depressing. 

 

It might have been a different experience when they were new, but the run down conditions might have represented the standard of living in 1940.  They just couldn't afford as many amenities so art made up for it.