4 ms·
> A lot of day jobs structurally inhibit capital formation. If I were a Marxist I'd say "And this is an intended consequence of Capital's desire to keep Labor s
by TOGoS 6y ago
> A lot of day jobs structurally inhibit capital formation. If I were a Marxist I'd say "And this is an intended consequence of Capital's desire to keep Labor subservient to it", but I honestly think it's true even without anybody needing to twirl their mustache.
I feel for the author's Marxist friend. That no mustache-twirling is required is kind of the point. But I guess it's a hard one to communicate in our superhero-focused culture where everything happens because an individual intended it to.
Anyway, aside from Patrick's misguided idea that he's a capitalist, the article resonated with me. I spent 10 years working at a place where I usually had something built by the end of the week that I could show off, or talk about, or put to use on the next project, or that at least made my and my coworkers' jobs easier, and that kept me going. But I'm now at a job with a sprawling swamp of a codebase where it's plainly clear that nothing I do is going to matter.
Over the years I had moved away from software side-projects, but am finding now that having one now is kind of important for my sanity. It helps me feel like I've actually accomplished something more than just a paycheck, keeps the brain somewhat sharp, and might turn out to be useful as a thing to show off/talk about to potential employers, if not a useful tool in its own right.
Oh for a long vacation where I can just work on my side projects.
- sokoloff 6y agoWhat makes you think that Patrick is mistaken about his claim that he is a capitalist?
- ljp_206 6y agoI'd guess the commenter means, that from a Marxist perspective, most workers are not 'capitalists,' i.e., they don't make their living from owning capital. These 'non-capitalist' workers get wages primarily from capitalists. Perhaps the author is moderately successful and does live off of investments now. That could technically make him a 'capitalist' - again, from a certain perspective. I'll readily admit this is mostly a semantic difference, but to me it serves as a good reminder that, for example, calling even the most ardent free market supporter minimum wage WalMart worker a 'capitalist' is about as sick of a joke as pretending that the majority of jobs offers workers a chance of building 'capital' in the first place - as the author points out.
- darawk 6y agoPatrick runs his own software business afaik, so I think he definitely qualifies as a capitalist in terms of his economic role in society. However, I assume by 'capitalist' he meant more the suite of economic beliefs he subscribes to than his own personal role in the economy.
- kirubakaran 6y ago> Patrick runs his own software business afaik He used to. Now he works at Stripe.
- wyclif 6y agoA bit of a shame that the Miniconf talk he linked to was taken down on this old post.
- sjg007 6y agoAgree and in fact employee ownership gets lumped in with socialism as do unions. An equity option at least allows you to be paid in virtual capital that may or may not materialize. Direct stock grants or RSUs at least give you the option to be a capitalist. Otherwise we all have our retirements in 401ks makes us de-facto capitalists too. We're supposed to eventually live off of those investments.
- sokoloff 6y agoEvery online dictionary SERP on the first page lists something of the form “(noun)-a person favoring capitalism”, which is pretty clearly the use Patrick implied from context. About half of them list that first and half second to the usage you describe above.
- TOGoS 6y agoEven if Patrick is or has been a CEO of some sort (I don't know anything about him past what I've read today, but another commenter mentioned that he's working at Stripe), the fact that most of the article talks about how to make yourself more marketable to employers (by building up a capital of sorts, as he calls it) indicates that he has spent a good portion of his life selling his labor for wages. Something that people who own real capital (i.e. lots of money, infrastructure, the means of production, etc), i.e. capitalists, generally don't bother doing.
- balfirevic 6y agoDo you think his Marxist friend... owns Marxes?
- DC1350 6y agoAnd a monarchist is the same thing as a monarch