The Position of Fuck You (John Goodman in The Gambler)
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN links it whenever the discussion turns to layoffs, saving, and having enough financial independence to say no.
What it is
A one-minute scene from The Gambler in which John Goodman's loan shark explains the 'position of f you': having enough money to walk away from any employer or deal.
Recommended by 2 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2015 to 2023.
What Hacker News said
Recommends kdamken · 2016-09 · on “The Programmer’s Guide to a Sane Workweek”
It's also known as "fuck you money", and there's a really good scene with John Goodman in The Gambler about it - [this video] So many people, especially in tech, work jobs that pay really, really, really well compared to most people and piss it away on stupid shit. You can choose to save a lot of that money instead and still have a very good and fulfilling life. Eventually, when you have enough savings/investments to cover you for a few years, your life changes. You don't have to worry so much if people are getting laid off, or if your job starts demanding unreasonable things. Here's the article that brought me to that video, and goes more in depth about the concept. I highly recommend it - [LINK
Recommends tenpies · 2017-02 · on “A fuck-you money attitude”
This clip from the Gambler summed it up pretty well: [this video] (NSFW language) It's more about personal independence than anything and being able to take risks.
Cites aws_ls · 2015-11 · on “Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave”
So can you (or me), or all the lucky ones above a certain threshold. We all have the same time! Which is the biggest leveler. Our only handcuffs are our own making, say after you have FU money[1]. (e.g. having a million dollars net worth is not safe enough. Got to be at least 10s of million dollar networth. And this would keep changing. ) [1] [this video] (NSFW. Had seen if shared on HN few years back, can't recall by who)
Cites jjeaff · 2017-05 · on “Ask HN: I don't want to be a founder anymore”
Ya, $10m is comfortably above fu money even in silicon valley or NYC. [this video] The size of the house you own and get to say fu from will vary, but the sentiment is the same as long as you own it.
Cites SCAQTony · 2018-04 · on “Why a house is a terrible investment (2013)”
I own my own home and this idea being pimped to millennials that they should lease everything from car rides, music, movies, bicyles, and shelter is a fast curtain to a bad "third act." (read that as old age) John Goodman said it best while playing a loan shark in the the film "The Gambler..." Frank: You get up two and a half million dollars, any a-hole in the world knows what to do: you get a house with a 25-year roof, an indestructible [Japanese]-economy shit box, you put the rest into the system at three to five percent to pay your taxes and that’s your base, get me? That’s your fortress of Fucking solitude. That puts you, for the rest of your life, at a level of fuck you. Somebody wants
Cites whitepoplar · 2018-05 · on “Ask HN: What makes you happy in life?”
Independence, being in great physical shape, and sharing as many meals as possible with friends. Having interesting friends outside of tech. Enough money to never worry about money, which varies widely from person to person. Never, ever worrying about hierarchies of any sort. I need to fit this in here somehow: [this video] (Note: That's what I want, not necessarily what I have atm.)
Cites scarface74 · 2022-05 · on “Netflix lays off about 150 employees”
If you’re “living in a position of f%%% you” ( [this video] ) which you should be in a couple of years making a Netflix salary, a layoff is just an inconvenience. Heck how many software engineers at any of the top tech companies have trouble finding a job quickly?
Cites scarface74 · 2022-09 · on “Amazon CEO says company will slow hiring rate, no hard return to office planned”
I’ve been working as a hands on developer [1] for over 25 years between 8 companies. I’ve worked for companies with 20 people all the way to AWS. I’ve always strived to “live in a position of f%%% you” ( [this video] ). Why would I let a company “burn me out”? When the pay/bullshit ratio gets too low, I send my always updated resume out, review my “career document” to prepare for behavioral/informal interviews (I don’t do whiteboard coding interviews), talk to people in my network and I get another job. Before my current job, I was a dev lead and then the de facto “cloud architect” at smaller companies. My current job is much less stressful. [1] currently my official title is not “software develo