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I'm gonna copy paste a comment I wrote yesterday that I think fits perfectly here: As an engineer if you are gonna be a rank and file employee you need to do i
by bjackman 1y ago
I'm gonna copy paste a comment I wrote yesterday that I think fits perfectly here:
As an engineer if you are gonna be a rank and file employee you need to do it for your own reasons. I think the main good reasons to do it are:
1. It's relatively chill and you value the stability. You deliver competence from 9-5 then go home to your family or some other thing that's more important to you than work.
2. You really enjoy the pure engineering side and find meaning in the technical artifact you're creating. Probably it's open source and has some value/community outside of your employer.
3. You're gaining valuable experience that you can later leverage into something else. Probably you're in the first 5 years of your career.
If the main thing driving you is growing a business, and you don't directly own (not options or RSUs or whatever, actual real equity) a significant slice of it, you are very likely misdirecting your energy.
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It sounds like the staff here thought they were in case 2, but they were not. I think that the article explains the reason why nicely: the thing they were building was not part of the commons.
- A_Duck 1y agoThis is a shame though. We should work towards a world where most people can find meaning in what they do. For now it can work better to be a contractor and have your 'meaning' be a positive reputation in your industry. More like being a medieval blacksmith. You don't mind what you're making, but you're known in your village by the quality of your work.
- terminalbraid 1y agoWhat's your reasoning equating "a medieval blacksmith" serving a village directly with their own work and "a rank and file employee" which is how the post you're commenting on was intentionally framed?
- A_Duck 1y agoI'm contrasting rather than equating them. The medieval blacksmith / freelancer may be in a better position to feel meaning in their work, compared with an employee, because of the system of incentives around them.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- bjackman 1y agoYou can be in case 1 and find meaning in what you do. That's where the blacksmith is. There's absolutely nothing wrong with doing a good job for 40 hours a week in return for a salary. Being a competent professional who does quality work is rewarding! I just think if you're doing work of that nature (which _most of us are_, BTW) you need to recognise it for what it is. Don't burn yourself out trying to squeeze every drop of initiative/creativity/productivity out of yourself. Definitely don't answer emails at the weekend. Don't tolerate under-payment. Don't accept non-legally-binding promises from the boss. Just deliver the best work you can in the time you get paid for, then stop.
- pydry 1y agoAt the same time we can maaaaaaaybe start pushing back on all of the "capitalism is not the problem" and "capitalism is the least worst of all available options" memes? Or is it too soon already?
- appreciatorBus 1y agoAll of the same human dynamics will be present under socialism or communism or whatever you prefer. Under capitalism, a boss might try to persuade you to work hard harder than you might otherwise for dubious or illusionary future reward. Under some form of collectivism, there will still be pressure to attend some sort of goal, even if it is non-financial in nature. That pressure will ultimately come in the form of a leader of some form, and one of the tools they will have to achieve that (possibly collective) goal will be to persuade you to work longer and harder than you might otherwise for some dubious or illusionary future reward. Perhaps this future reward won’t be in money, but that won’t change the underlying dynamic.
- pydry 1y agoYou could equally argue that there is no point making murder illegal because "all the same dynamics leading to murder" will still happen. They will. Society exists to either curtail or encourage our instincts for a collective purpose. This is not about that. This about an institution being rewarded and operating entirely within the law which takes a valuable asset, systematically disenfranchises the people who made it valuable before parasitically sucking it dry for material gain. That is a pretty unique capitalist dynamic, actually.
- pjc50 1y agoI'm reminded of the Vshojo collapse just recently, where a whole load of people were convinced that not getting paid on time was a temporary necessity for growing the business. Which promptly imploded, taking stolen charity donations with it.
- valicord 1y ago4. Golden handcuffs
- leokennis 1y agoOr the combination of 1 and 4. If a company is willing to pay you a lot of money for “9 to 5”, there’s all the reasons in the world to just take it.