Anonymous
09/25/2025 20:44
Subject: midlife crisis - realizing my lobbying job is bullshit?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Everyone wants to hate Rockefellers and Carnegies, etc., but they sure don't mind going to their beautiful libraries or universities or Colonial Williamsburg, etc., or applying for grants from their foundations for do-gooder-ism.
If you want to be pure as the driven snow, wean yourself off their money.
Don’t kid yourself. The plutocrats of yesteryear felt a sense of noblesse oblige and actually funded useful public institutions. The ones of today do jack shit for the public. There’s no sense of duty or responsibility, just the desire to extract as much value as possible from everything possible, leaving American society an empty shell.
Really? I feel like I can't turn around with hearing about the Gates Foundation. And all of Buffett's is going to charity, and started already. You sound like a crank.
I think you're naive, Gates and Buffett are only two people, and I think the evidence bears out PP's claim.
Yes, correct. Gates and Buffett are the only two people giving to charity. I indeed did list them all, as intended.
Who's the crank now? Multiple Forbes studies comparing the Gilded Age wealthy with current billionaires' charitable spending bear out previous PP's point. Sorry if this doesn't fit with your world view!
Anonymous
09/25/2025 20:33
Subject: midlife crisis - realizing my lobbying job is bullshit?
No judgement here, but I always live by the truth that it is never too late to do the right thing. I’ve made come to life-altering realizations and made decisions at the snap of a finger that have changed my life for the better. Sounds like your kids are well on their way in life. What would it look like to just… quit your job and do something you find to be much more in line with your values?
Anonymous
09/25/2025 20:27
Subject: midlife crisis - realizing my lobbying job is bullshit?
Anonymous wrote:Op here- ok i read a synopsis of Bullshi jobs, and i feel my job as lobbyist is bullshit but not for reasons described in book.
The book:
Goons, who act to harm or deceive others on behalf of their employer, or to prevent other goons from doing so, e.g., lobbyists, corporate lawyers, telemarketers, public relations specialists;
What I think;
It just feels like bullshit rhat we spend so much time socializing and hanging out, not building anything “real.” I would say lobbyists do have a value in education and explaining to the public how things work - and many of us are transparent and honest —- but it still feels like bullshit because 99% of my meetings are not about work but about relationship buoldong and fun bantor.
According to the book 50% of jobs are bullshit.
We should appreciate when we see Trash collectors that is very essential work.
Anonymous
09/25/2025 20:21
Subject: midlife crisis - realizing my lobbying job is bullshit?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Everyone wants to hate Rockefellers and Carnegies, etc., but they sure don't mind going to their beautiful libraries or universities or Colonial Williamsburg, etc., or applying for grants from their foundations for do-gooder-ism.
If you want to be pure as the driven snow, wean yourself off their money.
Don’t kid yourself. The plutocrats of yesteryear felt a sense of noblesse oblige and actually funded useful public institutions. The ones of today do jack shit for the public. There’s no sense of duty or responsibility, just the desire to extract as much value as possible from everything possible, leaving American society an empty shell.
Really? I feel like I can't turn around with hearing about the Gates Foundation. And all of Buffett's is going to charity, and started already. You sound like a crank.
I think you're naive, Gates and Buffett are only two people, and I think the evidence bears out PP's claim.
Yes, correct. Gates and Buffett are the only two people giving to charity. I indeed did list them all, as intended.
Anonymous
09/25/2025 20:20
Subject: midlife crisis - realizing my lobbying job is bullshit?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Okay, so I have been in various parts of media, law firms, and lobbying over the past decades and am increasingly realizing that I have found an easy/fun path and making lots of money, but that my job, itself, feels like bullshit. Feeling some regret about not actually building a business, or anything of value, and just being paid to be a spin master. Does anyone else feel this way?? I am so good at it, and it is just - bullshit. Maybe this is a midlife crisis, I am funding my kids lifves and they are on purpose driven career paths.... should I just be grateful for the paycheck?
I’m so curious about people like OP. I had a similar conversation with someone else who works at a big law firm… didn’t you know all of this going into it? Didn’t you choose this job knowing essentially that it was lucrative bullshit? My friend’s answer was very passive, that he just took one step after another without realizing where he would end up.
DH is a lobbyist (and a pretty big one, basically the top one in his industry) and he’s the first one to say lobbying - and all politics, including Ds and Rs - are bullshit. So kinda surprised OP is figuring this out now??
He loves to say that it’s all a game and if you’re really, irrationally upset about something political it’s because some group or some person is spending $ to make you think / feel that way (public affairs campaigns, bot farms, special interest groups, etc).
I get a hoot reading the political forum on DCUM because like clockwork it’s all of the Dem and Rep talking points circulated with insiders ~24-48 hours before it shows up here after it’s been disseminated by social media and the press.
Anonymous
09/25/2025 20:13
Subject: midlife crisis - realizing my lobbying job is bullshit?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Everyone wants to hate Rockefellers and Carnegies, etc., but they sure don't mind going to their beautiful libraries or universities or Colonial Williamsburg, etc., or applying for grants from their foundations for do-gooder-ism.
If you want to be pure as the driven snow, wean yourself off their money.
Don’t kid yourself. The plutocrats of yesteryear felt a sense of noblesse oblige and actually funded useful public institutions. The ones of today do jack shit for the public. There’s no sense of duty or responsibility, just the desire to extract as much value as possible from everything possible, leaving American society an empty shell.
Really? I feel like I can't turn around with hearing about the Gates Foundation. And all of Buffett's is going to charity, and started already. You sound like a crank.
I think you're naive, Gates and Buffett are only two people, and I think the evidence bears out PP's claim.
Anonymous
09/25/2025 20:10
Subject: midlife crisis - realizing my lobbying job is bullshit?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Everyone wants to hate Rockefellers and Carnegies, etc., but they sure don't mind going to their beautiful libraries or universities or Colonial Williamsburg, etc., or applying for grants from their foundations for do-gooder-ism.
If you want to be pure as the driven snow, wean yourself off their money.
For more information on how the titans of industry like the companies OP works for, particularly private equity, are actually sucking the life of the American economy like a tick sucking blood, read Bad Company by Megan Greenwell
You need to cleanse your youtube algorithm. "Private equity is the boogeyman" is tired already. "Private equity" just means not publicly listed. So what. Now you're saying that the publicly listed corporations are actually better, come to think of it? No. Of course not.
And to be clear, I'm no apologist for all these corporate ticks and the income inequality that means my kids won't be able to buy a house, etc.
My point is, until the rules of the game are changed, you might as well play to win. Earn what you can to take care of your family and give to charity. Many good examples of this in The Life You Can Save by Peter Singer. He is awful on a lot of topics, but he is right on target with wealth transfer in this book.
Your argument for “playing the game” is not compelling for me. I have the education to work to change the game and that’s what I’m doing with my life. It’s more satisfying than accumulating money.
You are deluded. Especially if you think you are going to change the game by virtue of some education that you received.
You are where OP was 10 years ago. You'll catch up.
Anonymous
09/25/2025 20:08
Subject: midlife crisis - realizing my lobbying job is bullshit?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Sounds amazing! Just curious, can you share how much you make a year?
PS - I don’t think you should feel bad at all!
Why? Do u believe in meaningless jobs? Do u care about money and not whether if you are doing anything of value?
Oh come on, a decent amount of jobs — if not most — are meaningless and/or bullshit. It’s almost always about money. And I think it sounds amazing because the OP has “ found an easy/fun path and making lots of money…”.
That sounds pretty good to me!
Signed, someone who does meaningful work.
Anonymous
09/25/2025 19:49
Subject: midlife crisis - realizing my lobbying job is bullshit?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Everyone wants to hate Rockefellers and Carnegies, etc., but they sure don't mind going to their beautiful libraries or universities or Colonial Williamsburg, etc., or applying for grants from their foundations for do-gooder-ism.
If you want to be pure as the driven snow, wean yourself off their money.
For more information on how the titans of industry like the companies OP works for, particularly private equity, are actually sucking the life of the American economy like a tick sucking blood, read Bad Company by Megan Greenwell
You need to cleanse your youtube algorithm. "Private equity is the boogeyman" is tired already. "Private equity" just means not publicly listed. So what. Now you're saying that the publicly listed corporations are actually better, come to think of it? No. Of course not.
And to be clear, I'm no apologist for all these corporate ticks and the income inequality that means my kids won't be able to buy a house, etc.
My point is, until the rules of the game are changed, you might as well play to win. Earn what you can to take care of your family and give to charity. Many good examples of this in The Life You Can Save by Peter Singer. He is awful on a lot of topics, but he is right on target with wealth transfer in this book.
Your argument for “playing the game” is not compelling for me. I have the education to work to change the game and that’s what I’m doing with my life. It’s more satisfying than accumulating money.
Anonymous
09/25/2025 19:41
Subject: midlife crisis - realizing my lobbying job is bullshit?
Anonymous wrote:Op here- ok i read a synopsis of Bullshi jobs, and i feel my job as lobbyist is bullshit but not for reasons described in book.
The book:
Goons, who act to harm or deceive others on behalf of their employer, or to prevent other goons from doing so, e.g., lobbyists, corporate lawyers, telemarketers, public relations specialists;
What I think;
It just feels like bullshit rhat we spend so much time socializing and hanging out, not building anything “real.” I would say lobbyists do have a value in education and explaining to the public how things work - and many of us are transparent and honest —- but it still feels like bullshit because 99% of my meetings are not about work but about relationship buoldong and fun bantor.
PP with the book rec. The typology of b.s. isn't the interesting part...and the goons part kind of assumes you're lobbying for something "bad" like oil drilling in a nature preserve.
So you're upset about lobbying that's really more like marketing and schmoozing? Humans are social creatures. That doesn't trouble me. What would trouble me is if the things I was lobbying for would be pointless, selfish, dangerous, etc. Or anti-progress by my own standards.
I'd love a job with fun banter. I don't live near DC anymore and people where I am basically talk about pro sports, college sports, and wine mom kind of things. It's been years since somebody gave me a book rec in casual conversation.
Anonymous
09/25/2025 19:31
Subject: midlife crisis - realizing my lobbying job is bullshit?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Everyone wants to hate Rockefellers and Carnegies, etc., but they sure don't mind going to their beautiful libraries or universities or Colonial Williamsburg, etc., or applying for grants from their foundations for do-gooder-ism.
If you want to be pure as the driven snow, wean yourself off their money.
For more information on how the titans of industry like the companies OP works for, particularly private equity, are actually sucking the life of the American economy like a tick sucking blood, read Bad Company by Megan Greenwell
You need to cleanse your youtube algorithm. "Private equity is the boogeyman" is tired already. "Private equity" just means not publicly listed. So what. Now you're saying that the publicly listed corporations are actually better, come to think of it? No. Of course not.
And to be clear, I'm no apologist for all these corporate ticks and the income inequality that means my kids won't be able to buy a house, etc.
My point is, until the rules of the game are changed, you might as well play to win. Earn what you can to take care of your family and give to charity. Many good examples of this in The Life You Can Save by Peter Singer. He is awful on a lot of topics, but he is right on target with wealth transfer in this book.
Anonymous
09/25/2025 19:25
Subject: midlife crisis - realizing my lobbying job is bullshit?
Anonymous wrote:Everyone wants to hate Rockefellers and Carnegies, etc., but they sure don't mind going to their beautiful libraries or universities or Colonial Williamsburg, etc., or applying for grants from their foundations for do-gooder-ism.
If you want to be pure as the driven snow, wean yourself off their money.
For more information on how the titans of industry like the companies OP works for, particularly private equity, are actually sucking the life of the American economy like a tick sucking blood, read Bad Company by Megan Greenwell
Anonymous
09/25/2025 19:19
Subject: midlife crisis - realizing my lobbying job is bullshit?
Anonymous wrote:Okay, so I have been in various parts of media, law firms, and lobbying over the past decades and am increasingly realizing that I have found an easy/fun path and making lots of money, but that my job, itself, feels like bullshit. Feeling some regret about not actually building a business, or anything of value, and just being paid to be a spin master. Does anyone else feel this way?? I am so good at it, and it is just - bullshit. Maybe this is a midlife crisis, I am funding my kids lifves and they are on purpose driven career paths.... should I just be grateful for the paycheck?
Congratulations. You have come to the point where you recognize you have one life to live. And you have been spending your limited years on Earth advancing absolute BS for other people - and generally it's rich "shareholders" who couldn't care less about your wellbeing.
So now what? Time is the only thing we never get back.
Anonymous
09/25/2025 19:14
Subject: midlife crisis - realizing my lobbying job is bullshit?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Everyone wants to hate Rockefellers and Carnegies, etc., but they sure don't mind going to their beautiful libraries or universities or Colonial Williamsburg, etc., or applying for grants from their foundations for do-gooder-ism.
If you want to be pure as the driven snow, wean yourself off their money.
Don’t kid yourself. The plutocrats of yesteryear felt a sense of noblesse oblige and actually funded useful public institutions. The ones of today do jack shit for the public. There’s no sense of duty or responsibility, just the desire to extract as much value as possible from everything possible, leaving American society an empty shell.
Really? I feel like I can't turn around with hearing about the Gates Foundation. And all of Buffett's is going to charity, and started already. You sound like a crank.
Anonymous
09/25/2025 19:14
Subject: Re:midlife crisis - realizing my lobbying job is bullshit?
OP: You are not a "lobbyist", you're a salesperson. Your career is sales. If you prefer to label your sales career as bullshit, then fine, but you are rich and you facilitate the survival of your company and the paychecks of its employees.