3 ms·

There is a relation of order-giver and order-taker. If you are a wage slave, you obey someone called a boss. Though I agree that wage slavery is better than ch

• AndrewDucker 15y ago
  And if you're a startup-owner then you obey a bunch of people called "customers". There is nobody who is free of all relationships.
  • _delirium 15y ago
    That's the general point of the discussion, I think: trying to get yourself into a position where you have the most personal freedom, even if there is no such thing as perfect freedom. I agree "slave" is being a bit overdramatic in most cases, though. I'd only really apply the metaphor to desperate people who really have no choice but to work a shitty job with no alternatives or prospects of escape (the quasi-indentured-servitude 19th-century working conditions that led to the term "wage slavery" being coined, and today applying to some migrant farm laborers and similar). But I saw the post using it mostly as a half-joking counterpoint to the "quit your wage-slave job and start a startup!" sentiment that gets passed around a lot.
  • exit 15y ago
    the point of calling it slavery arises from having to take orders from some boss, not just from any particular boss. if startup owners had few choices in life but to service some group of customers, i'd expect it would also be labeled slavery.
  • codexon 15y ago
    Most start-ups have a wide pool of "customer" bosses. If a few of them are uncooperative, they can refuse to serve them. Employees can be ruined by the idiosyncrasies of a single boss.