Advertising must cater to the poor, wise, rich, foolish, people with spots, or smoking joints, all equally -- fool all the people, all of the time.

you really need this technological wonder device!

It is reality.

Look at it this way. There is a shortage of doctors right now. Your mother is sick and needs help. Doctors in return get paid more and as a reward more people decide to go to medical school to become a doctor to treat your mother. People work 2 jobs and contribute more when needed.

Work is a 3 way street. Yes you can say CEO's are evil!! But what about the customer? Last, yourself? When you work you pay yourself and your wife. The CEO gets paid. The customer gets something he or she wants. All 3 are happy. The price is determined by willingness also based on importance. Food service is not important so it pays less but does add up if you eat out everyday very very fast. IT work pays more. Programmers make the most because the software they write helps someone else make money. More than answering a phone. Which is more value than pouring a workers cup of coffee etc.

It is not parasitical as it aligns people to work in what society needs done the most. It is not perfect etc. But humans are value what you can provide to them. Nothing more nothing less. I wish this were not true about us but science has proved otherwise.

If you have a crappy job you hate that does not pay anything then you are not valuable. Figure out how to fix this? FYI I had crappy jobs and got paid minimum wage before. I am not an elitist snob. For me to get out I had to accept that very cold and hard reality.

The study I referred to was with children giving candy to another child on a video screen. The options were you could give the other child a piece of candy but it will cost you and the other child will never know it came from you.

The child was selfish every single time. Look up game theory too aka prisoners dilemma? Works with cops. Lets say you and another man did a crime. You both agree to lie and get out. Issue is the cops manipulate one of you with a get out of jail card if you rat. Your options are lie but you serve full jail time if your friend rats you first. Or he does full jail time unless he rats you out etc.

Every single time a person will do one's self interest. I mean like 100% of the time!

People do care and are not psychopaths. That is true. We do have empathy. However we are also wired too when push comes to shove to protect yourself and your family at all costs! This in term comes of greed and why people vote for conservatives. They want to keep what they have and that fight or flight syndrome takes off.

Yes people are inherently evil, but is it really that evil to reward those who provide the best of what people want (willing to pay for). It rewards hard work for becoming a doctor or working extra hours to get ahead or gain new skills and so on.

It is in our nature and statistics prove it.

Been there done that!

First thing you do is find out what you have skills in. I am technical as most slashdotters. I passed the A+ in one week. Get that and aks your temp agency for these jobs. You will start at 13/hr for temp work. Project done ask 14/hr. Done with that you now have 2 references. Now apply for more and get more certs or learn more on the job and stuff your resume. A year later you will be getting 17/hr which is just over 30,000 a year. Still not a not but poverty is not just behind the corner and out of range.

In 3 years you can be making 40k+ if you keep up! If you work at Aetna did you bother to be a licensed sales agent? Long term you can make 6 figures off of residuals! I worked with such customers and you can do it if you are willing to invest in yourself.

One thing college taught me is for a professional education is really never over. There are always training, more courses, certifications, and master degrees etc. Every field has them. Even fast food workers can become chefs and there are then restuarant manager certs. Teachers constantly need to update their training, etc.

There are several insurance licenses and becoming a broke is big cash too. But you start at 10/hr. Many geeks start at BestBuy making that shit pay too. Do your time when the economy is down and gain skills. I can tell you from experience it does get better and your reputation saves your ass. I just got rehired at a former client and I am learning new technology with imaging. Exciting stuff.

If I saw a resume that was a page it would go right in the trash.

That is your first hint. I want someone with a diverse background who is experienced. If they can't say much about themselves then they have not much to offer me. Unless it is an internship forget it. Even then I want to say lots of academic details if they only had 1 real job and a page of references.

In 1999 yes 1 page was the rule. Humans would read them. Today computer programs score and rank them. More info the bettter and each employer has his or her own thing that is different from anybody else. MUST HAVE SPIRIT expereince or SCCM Deployment etc.

Also I have a degree. My wages have not gone up and felt it was not needed if I got my shit together when I was young and stupid back in the .com days. It is just for the first job. Since you have 17 years experience most employers would care what you can do for them more than your b-tree algorithm core for the rocking 286 borland C course during your time frame :-)

My resume is 4 pages and I am not super experienced in IT. One is for just references but it works and I get hits. Employers see the first page, while Taleo and HR computer programs score me high enough for it to be passed etc.

Devil's advocate argument here.

How should someone's worth be determined then?

An economist will say his or her salary is a reflection of their contribution. My economics professor challenged all of us. We all lost. Some said bankers do not deserve it. Others said a teacher deserves more. I said CEO's are overpaid.

Basically a banker handles someone's lifetime of savings. As a result their customers are willing to pay as making a dumb decision can ruin a window, grandma, or your own's retirement! CEOs? Look at Elop at Nokia and compare him to Steve Jobs who has provided value for hundreds of millions of people.

One can ruin people's lives and savings. The other boasts it to insane levels and changes the world where others have failed. Teachers was the only thing debatable but society does not value them and there is no teacher shortage except in highschool math. A doctor or CEO helps us more than a teacher and likewise deserves the money.

In reality when you serve others the pay is the opposite argument. A doctor whose life is in your hands will make you want to pay him more than the Maria who poured your latte this morning as she gets paid accordingly to your own value. Are you willing to pay her $200 for your coffee? Of course not.

Also is the nature of truth. Human beings are greed based by nature. Conservatives admit it and do not deny it even if they nod their head at liberals who oppose it. They say liberals are right but life frankly is not fair and it is just the way it is.

Any experiment to alter this (such as communism) has failed. People sadly will not work unless forced or until there is a great benefit for themselves. Women won't love you if you live at home with your parents and are not masculine enough to take charge and control. Just the truth brother.

People gloat when they get that big truck or house they do not need and you would too if you earned it. Again greedy human nature to accumulate. It is hardwired in nature due to when times are tough the ones who hoarded and dominated survived.

I think people are not psychopathic to say but psychologists have done tests and will be selfish everytime if there is a risk they will lose sadly.

There are some truly closed minds here among people calling them selves Liberals, Libertarians and Progressives.

You're just now figuring this out today?

Stop being small minded lovers of doom!

That's what these people do. The central thesis is that we are bad and need to be destroyed, and they're just the ones to do the job. Again, not sure how in 2014 anyone isn't familiar with this very common outlook.

How much would he be worth if he remained onboard and had his shares bought out when Zuckerberg sold his?

The lawsuit was never disclosed. Since he probably did not have tens of millions my guess is he settled for mere 6 figures or maybe a 1 million or 2. Still 30% of 20,000,000,000 is a pittance even if he did actually receive a multi million dollar pay out.

"Back then the GI Bill covered $12,500 for college tuition, which in 1997 was around 3 semesters at the school I attended. ...You don't need a degree, you just need to be smart."

You just proved my point. The 1990's HR would hire you if you had anything technical on a resume that was 1 page.

Today there are people with 8 years experience who have been out of work for awhile who are desperate to make $30,000 a year since unemployment is about ready to go away.

In a recession/depression you compete for jobs. In a boom of the 1950's/1990's jobs compete for you! I am sure you have headhunters calling you today and the answer to this is you have many years of experience and solid references.

Also I can't buy a house today and even renting an apartment is hard. Why? I owe $40,000 in student loans. FYI I did 2 years at a community college to save momey. College is much much more expensive in today than in the 1990s. Try a good 400% more.

Back in 2002 - 2006 you could get a home easily. Not true today.

I am not whining or complaining as my wages are gradually increasing. But no I do not have it as good and it is requiring a lot more work today. Without a degree working at a call center or stocking electronics at TigerDirect is your only future as no one will take a chance when there are 3 to 4 people with them for ever job opening.

You know I have heard this on slashdot for 10 dang years!

The worst advice I ever took in 2004 was that computer science was a waste of time and so was engineering! They would pay $12/hr by 2014 due to Indians taking jobs etc. Go get that useless business degree.

Let me tell you that was the worst advise I have ever taken.

My friends who graduated even in 2008 all make $70,000. I ended up unemployed, divorced, and moved back into my parents in my 30's as no one would hire people with a business degree.

It took 2 years just to get back into the white collar market. Working 13/hr and then 15/hr then 18/hr and up while I lived at home because I got my degree in the wrong area because people like you said NO TO IT H1B1 will take it all.

I am now starting to make ok in IT again but lost 5 years of my life and marriage since I had to work any call center or low wage job I could find and worked for free paying my student loans.

Not really.

There are people smarter than myself without degrees. There are morons who have master degrees who I had to let go because they are book smarts but can't do shit in the real world without the deer in the headlights look when independent analysis and goals are needed.

A degree you get an outrageously expensive education yes. You learn some cool things. But in a down economy it means you get that internship or entry level job with the foot in that door. While HR ignores you unless you have many years of experience and letters of recommendation even for the most basic entry level jobs today.

If you watched the movie social network his former partner and early CFO stayed in school and did an internship in New York. As a result he was terminated and lost all his shares.

Facebook made no money at all back then so he viewed it as kind of cool, but internships is where I need to be as this thing probably wont take off etc.

What if Facebook ended up like Friendster and the other failures? Maybe the former partner in The Social network would be Zuckerbergs boss as he he would filing paperwork since he lacks a degree for any real job.

It is a risk basically. Play it safe you can loose plat it risky you loose even more! If you are not risk adverse and do not give a shit then go for it but do not be surprised if you end up like many many others who failed.

Even though I am in a technical position I decided to major in business. I now know the mindset of accountants, finance, and management. I can speak and understand the language. If I want to progress my small business I know what an asset and a liability is and how to setup books.

For my electives in computer science I learned what object oriented programming truly is outside what I read on slashdot and books. I know what algorithms are and real time means. I may not even have that much as a real computer science major but I recieved an education.

When the economy tanked after I graduated no one would hire me except for one temp contract job. It required a degree and that is how I got it. Without that I would be substitute teaching and working fast food at night to make up for my crappy wages.

Those who argue I DO NOT NEED A DEGREE got in in 1999 when you didn't need one. If you are one of these try being born 15 years later and getting a job today? ... no degree? How does $12/hr aka 20,000 a year sound? Great! Here is a set of headphones and go read this script at the techexpo call center etc. Make sure you mommy reminds you not to be late since we do not pay you enough to move out etc. That my friends is what the economic reality is today regardless of skillsets if you have no experience or education. Programming wont mean shit as HR will throw out your resume if it is not work related somehow.

Point is the degree is required in 2014 to get your foot in the door unless you feel working at techexpo call center can get a you a programming job as that and GeekSquad is all you are going to get.

They are amazing if you have levels that used to take 3 minutes or more to load.

I admit I bought some for games but I have real work VM's for vmware workstation as well. There is no way I could go back to learning exchange where I need to setup a domain server, an exchange cas, exchange owa, exchange mailbox, and 2 clients with another vm running server 2003 acting as a router to another subnet etc.

Starting each one up on a mechanical driver takes about 10 minutes before they are even ready. Want to call it the night. Wait many times longer for each one to shutdown. Wooa if you shutdown more than 2 at a time as the disk spins freaking mad and then takes 5x as long when you just need to go to bed.