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I greatly respect the writer of this article (Tina Brown), however the post left a bad taste in my mouth. I disagree that workers being independent is disempowe

I greatly respect the writer of this article (Tina Brown), however the post left a bad taste in my mouth. I disagree that workers being independent is disempowering (she didn't say it explicitly, but she said people were struggling), or that it has to be annoying for the businesses employing them. My unsubstantiated hunch is that she's writing this from a mildly older-industry perspective, and that those businesses and workers might be struggling more with this. I have many friends (in admittedly newer industries) who are thriving as independents. Not just financially, but the freedom and opportunity it gives them to travel and challenge themselves is great. Sometimes they take well paying gigs, sometimes they work for peanuts on crazy projects. I guess I just disagree with the "attitude" of the article. That independence isn't something to "settle" for, but something to strive for. She writes like it's a result of a bad economy, but I think many kinds of work would be headed in this direction anyway, even if the economy were sailing.

osipov 18y ago
How old are your friends who are thriving as independents? The "freedom and opportunity" are a great deal less glamorous for those in their late 40s who are just trying to raise kids and provide for the family...
- larrykubin 18y ago
  You mean there are people who don't like freedom and opportunity? I am doing well working independently in my 20's, but I hope when I'm in my late 40's I still appreciate freedom and opportunity. I would think that new opportunities would be beneficial for me, my kids, and my family as well.
  - dionidium 18y ago
    You mean there are people who don't like freedom and opportunity? What do the words "freedom" and "opportunity" imply? The freedom to take interesting jobs for which you "get to" travel isn't much of an opportunity if your goal is to spend every night with your family.
    - larrykubin 18y ago
      Freedom != travelling and having a salaried job != being able to spend more time with family. For me, I have the _freedom_ to stay at home with my wife, and I see her and spend time with her at 2pm when she gets home from her job every day. I know others who work salaried jobs who get home at 2am.
  - alex_c 18y ago
    You are implying that you appreciate the freedom and opportunity to succeed - of course, who wouldn't! However, I don't know if you can separate that from the freedom and opportunity to fail (can you have good without evil?) How much are you factoring that into your calculations for your late 40's and beyond?
    - jscn 18y ago
      Let me try and make sense of this: freedom and opportunity to succeed is good, but entails possibility of failure, which is bad. You're saying you don't want the freedom and opportunity to do either when in your late 40s and beyond? Or are you saying that you want to have the opportunity to succeed, but not to fail, when you're in your late 40s? Didn't you just say that's not possible? I'm confused...
      - alex_c 18y ago
        I honestly don't know how I will think in 20 years - that obviously depends on what will happen between now and then. What I'm trying to say is that as people get older and have a family to support, they might get more risk averse, and begin to prefer safer options (which likely involve less freedom and opportunity). The cost of failure then is much higher than the cost of failure now.
msluyter 18y ago
That independence isn't something to "settle" for, but something to strive for. She writes like it's a result of a bad economy, but I think many kinds of work would be headed in this direction anyway, even if the economy were sailing. Well, yes, the implication of the article seems to be that this isn't something people are freely choosing, but rather that it's being forced on them by our current economic state. Whether that's borne out empirically is somewhat unclear, but by my own anecdotal (and thus virtually irrelevant) experience, most people like having some form of job security.

osipov 18y ago

How old are your friends who are thriving as independents? The "freedom and opportunity" are a great deal less glamorous for those in their late 40s who are just trying to raise kids and provide for the family...

larrykubin 18y ago
You mean there are people who don't like freedom and opportunity? I am doing well working independently in my 20's, but I hope when I'm in my late 40's I still appreciate freedom and opportunity. I would think that new opportunities would be beneficial for me, my kids, and my family as well.
- dionidium 18y ago
  You mean there are people who don't like freedom and opportunity? What do the words "freedom" and "opportunity" imply? The freedom to take interesting jobs for which you "get to" travel isn't much of an opportunity if your goal is to spend every night with your family.
  - larrykubin 18y ago
    Freedom != travelling and having a salaried job != being able to spend more time with family. For me, I have the _freedom_ to stay at home with my wife, and I see her and spend time with her at 2pm when she gets home from her job every day. I know others who work salaried jobs who get home at 2am.
- alex_c 18y ago
  You are implying that you appreciate the freedom and opportunity to succeed - of course, who wouldn't! However, I don't know if you can separate that from the freedom and opportunity to fail (can you have good without evil?) How much are you factoring that into your calculations for your late 40's and beyond?
  - jscn 18y ago
    Let me try and make sense of this: freedom and opportunity to succeed is good, but entails possibility of failure, which is bad. You're saying you don't want the freedom and opportunity to do either when in your late 40s and beyond? Or are you saying that you want to have the opportunity to succeed, but not to fail, when you're in your late 40s? Didn't you just say that's not possible? I'm confused...
    - alex_c 18y ago
      I honestly don't know how I will think in 20 years - that obviously depends on what will happen between now and then. What I'm trying to say is that as people get older and have a family to support, they might get more risk averse, and begin to prefer safer options (which likely involve less freedom and opportunity). The cost of failure then is much higher than the cost of failure now.

msluyter 18y ago

That independence isn't something to "settle" for, but something to strive for. She writes like it's a result of a bad economy, but I think many kinds of work would be headed in this direction anyway, even if the economy were sailing. Well, yes, the implication of the article seems to be that this isn't something people are freely choosing, but rather that it's being forced on them by our current economic state. Whether that's borne out empirically is somewhat unclear, but by my own anecdotal (and thus virtually irrelevant) experience, most people like having some form of job security.