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" then you have the option to build something that does pay you what you are worth." It's just that simple then? Starting a business is a risky and difficult
by grammaton 16y ago
" then you have the option to build something that does pay you what you are worth."
It's just that simple then? Starting a business is a risky and difficult proposition, and few people are cut out for it - and of those, even fewer realistically have the option to do so. Not everyone can build their way out of a problem, and it has little to do with their free will. If that's the case you can't argue that it's their "choice."
There seems to be this ever present assumption on the Hacker News forums that if you don't like your job, why, it's just as easy as putting together a CRUD app and iterating until you get customers.
It's not. Plenty of people try the "build something" option and never get anywhere close to being paid what they're worth. You just don't hear about them because no one wants to hear about someone who tried and didn't make it.
"It's not up to me, as a boss, to take care of someone."
No one is implying that it is - but they are implying that that's part of the problem right there - a system where no one has to care about anyone else, only exploit them.
- nhangen 16y agoIt's not easy, and that's the point. You can take the easy road, which is to get a job and work for someone, hoping that you haven't wasted your life away, or you can take the hard road and build something. Both have benefits, and both have risks. There's no easy ticket, at least in this life, so employer and employee have to meet in the middle. The market helps that happen. You had me until your last point, which was when you used the term exploit. I think that tells the tale right there.
- grammaton 16y agoAs an employee, you have to do what your employer tells you. If you do not, you will not have the means to continue feeding yourself and putting a roof over your head. As an employee, the vast bulk of the wealth you create will never end up in your hands - it will end up in the hands of people who did not do your work. How exactly is that not exploitation? What would you call it? "The market helps that happen." The market helps whoever has the most money, or the most of a scarce resource.