I find myself saddened by the 'quiet quitting' meme. If people were simply promoting trying to find a new employer if your current employer doesn't value your

I find myself saddened by the 'quiet quitting' meme. If people were simply promoting trying to find a new employer if your current employer doesn't value your hard work properly, that would be great. That would benefit workers. If people were simply promoting a balanced life in which it is okay to take leisure time and not make your whole life about your career, that would be great. That would benefit workers. But 'quiet quitting' isn't just those things. It actively encourages people to stay where they at but to perform the minimum required to maintain employment. In many cases, it promotes a sense that you are sticking to the man; you're finally causing your your employer to get what they deserve. But adopting apathy towards your career hurts you proportionally far more than it hurts your employer. 'Quiet quitting' is a meme that can easily harm the people who are most enthusiastic to put its tenants into practice. Years ago I read an autobiography of a Black gentleman who came from very poor beginnings in the US South but ended up having an accomplished career laid on the foundation of the hard work he had put into being successful in his academic pursuits when he was young. He discussed some of the challenges that other young Black boys and men faced. In some parts of the Black community, young Black boys would insult their peers who were interested in academics by saying they were 'acting white'. Although it is virtually certain that these young boys had legitimate grievances about the 'white' society in which they were growing up (which was early to mid 20th century America), this had developed into a meme in which trying to be successful at learning was derided as pointless or as selling out. This was a tragedy since becoming successful at learning was in fact one of the best things that young Black men could do to raise their standards of living. The similarities with the 'quiet quitting' meme seem sadly clear to me. Hopefully it will pass before too many young people's future growth is inadvertently self-sabotaged. To be clear, I don't mean to deny that there are problems with the typical 21st century "employee-employer bargain". Let's just try to find a way to fix those problems without spreading a self-harming meme.