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>"My view has been that someone always works for someone else." Taking that thought exercise a step further--I've tried to think of professions where one truly
by shostack 11y ago
>"My view has been that someone always works for someone else."
Taking that thought exercise a step further--I've tried to think of professions where one truly is beholden to no other individuals.
The only thing that comes to mind is a securities trader. If you are trading, sure the markets change, but you can make money on the upside or downside, and you really don't have any "customers." Now in theory you can be part of a larger bank, and being a solo trader can be harder, but it is possible.
Are there any other careers where one truly is independent and accountable to ones self and nobody else?
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- TheOtherHobbes 11y agoSome artists get to a place where no fucks are given. If there's adequate money from royalties or an inheritance or donations or marriage - even if it's not much in absolute terms - then there's no external pressure to produce. E.g. A composer called Conlon Nancarrow spent most of his life in Mexico, punching holes in player piano rolls to make music that was impossible for humans to play. He was pretty much ignored until he was 65, by which time he'd been writing music with no audience for most of his life, making next to no money from anything. His career finally took off in a big way when he got a MacArthur award at the age of 70.
- gozur88 11y agoAnother would be professional poker player, an idea I toyed with for awhile. You have customers in the same way sharks have customers. Every other person at the table could hate your guts (though that's not optimal), but they'll still sit there and give you money, provided you're sufficiently skilled. The two professions are pretty similar - they both involve a zero sum game you're playing against other people.