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I agree with the white-collar BS story. People work hard in Europe, and especially in cities, some need to work multiple jobs to afford a very basic life. But t
by mikejb 8y ago
I agree with the white-collar BS story. People work hard in Europe, and especially in cities, some need to work multiple jobs to afford a very basic life. But there's one part I disagree with:
> One thing I love about America is that people still get shit done here. One reason that Europe has very few innovative new companies created in the last 25 years is that everyone is at the coffee shop writing poetry.
I mean, you're disagreeing with yourself here: first you say that many don't sit in a coffee shop writing poetry, only to then try to make a point basing it on everyone sitting at the coffee shop writing poetry.
There's plenty of innovation in Europe - but there's also limitations that go beyond the personal limitations of people, e.g. lots of regulation and market fragmentation. And often enough, that innovation finds its way into foreign companies, where it then seems as they got shit done.
- exelius 8y agoI would argue against the author’s entire premise. The nature of (white collar) work is changing, even in America. I work a job that is 80% remote. I work from a coffee shop in the morning (and in fact, I am there right now!) I block my calendar and go work out whenever I feel like it. I rented a mountain cabin for a month and went skiing every day while working in the mornings and evenings. I get my work done and show up when needed for meetings — so my coworkers / supervisors don’t need to know any of this. Remote work is definitely the future for most industries. Collaboration tools are only improving, are cheaper than office space, and allows access to a global resource pool.
- quaffapint 8y agoWhile I agree that is the future for now that is very much the exception for most of the country.
- exelius 8y agoIt’s changing pretty quickly at big companies; most of my friends are in a similar position. If you’re already working on a global team, it doesn’t matter much where you sit.