# What would it take for you to give it all up? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 23, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-take-for-you-to-give-it-all-up/607205 "2011-12-23T18:41:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-take-for-you-to-give-it-all-up/607205/21 "2011-12-25T06:50:13Z")
> [@Shawn1767](#): > > Why not chuck it all? Sure, people can say “it wouldn’t take much” but to really mean it? What’s holding you back then? Inertia. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-take-for-you-to-give-it-all-up/607205/22 "2011-12-25T08:02:45Z")
I’ve already made a big transition like that. I am no longer as willing to do so again, as I believe I’ve found where I want to stay, but a very large amount of guaranteed money would make me change my mind, like the kind with seven digits in front of the decimal. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-take-for-you-to-give-it-all-up/607205/23 "2011-12-25T13:23:38Z")
> [@Shawn1767](#): > > Okay, so a number of you are responding with “not much” or something similar. Not my intention when starting this thread. However, if it wouldn’t take much, then why don’t you do it now? Why not chuck it all? Sure, people can say “it wouldn’t take much” but to really mean it? What’s holding you back then? What WOULD it take? Uh..because no one is offering superpowers or alien spaceship rides? I guess the question is what would people be giving up and what would they be giving it up for? Most people are content to continue their lives as is and not take risks because they think they are comfortible with the way things are. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-take-for-you-to-give-it-all-up/607205/24 "2011-12-25T16:04:19Z")
At bare minimum? Success and profit. Under 200k / year, easily. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-take-for-you-to-give-it-all-up/607205/25 "2011-12-25T17:04:22Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > This reminds me of something I’ve reflected on for years. > > It wasnt that long ago that when you moved, maybe even to just the next village over, that you DID leave behind most (and perhaps all) that you had known. Think how many folks came to America. Sure in theory they could go back home or homefolks could come visit but how common was that? Maybe some letters here and there if you were lucky. And in the times before reliable letter delivery not even that. Over human history many folks have for all practical purposes done what many consider today to be almost unthinkable. I think about this a lot. Or, folks who ‘went West, young man!’ to find opportunity. As a kid I used to fantasize about what would happen if I was offered a chance to go live in the Star Trek: The Next Generation universe . . . due to some time-travel-worm-hole thing. I don’t think I ever came to a conclusion that I would really just hop on board and accept it. I felt bad about how my family would feel if I just left them. _And_ I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to listen to any of the music I liked, since there was no evidence of 20th-century rock and roll having survived that long! But, now, I don’t know. I think life is a constant struggle between making the choice to stay and making the choice to leave, so to speak. As much as I like to dream, I have a strong natural tendency to stay. I’m sure there are things much more realistic than a one-way trip to the future to make me want to leave my girlfriend, family, and friends . . . but I don’t know if, when push came to shove, I’d be willing to take the jump. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-take-for-you-to-give-it-all-up/607205/26 "2011-12-25T17:07:19Z")
> [@Shawn1767](#): > > Sure, people can say “it wouldn’t take much” but to really mean it? What’s holding you back then? Poverty. Shortage of better ideas. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-take-for-you-to-give-it-all-up/607205.md?page=1)