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It comes down to the MacLeod hierarchy. For a lot more on this, go here: http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/gervais-macleod-4-a-world-without-losers

It comes down to the MacLeod hierarchy. For a lot more on this, go here: http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/gervais-macleod-4-a-world-without-losers/ http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/gervais-macle... Losers (bottom/workers): trade away expectancy and long-term growth for stability and risk reduction. Rationally checked-out. Strategically minimize discomfort. Clueless (middle/managers): non-strategic, eager people who clean up the mess made by Losers below and Sociopaths above them. Give a lot to the company, get mediocre returns. Losers are actually less "losing", because they know the trade they are making. Clueless expect to be rich, respected, or secure one day but hit a glass ceiling (Effort Thermocline, the highest one can go by working hard rather than smart) and never get it. Sociopaths (top/executives): strategic and hard-working, but insubordinate and risk seeking. Take the other side of Loser risk-selling and turn it into personal gain. Good at engineering situations so that upside risk goes to them and downside goes to others (often Clueless). MacLeod Losers are most of the workforce, and it's relatively easy to turn a reliable profit on one. You pay him a pittance X, and he gives you labor worth 1.25X, and at scale you can make a lot of money this way. However, if you're trying to build a brand or reputation quickly and impress people (press/investors) your average* productivity per person matters, not your sum profit. MacLeod Losers, who reliably return a small-but-positive profit for the company, bring that economically unimportant but socially relevant average down. VC-istan is a world without MacLeod Losers. MacLeod Sociopaths are the investors and tech press and executives who are brought in by VCs after the company's de-risked. But VC-istan startups (founders and employees) are all-Clueless. That's why "you should want to work 55 hours a week because you really want to" in VC-istan. That's why being a "true believer" in the company matters more than being able to do the job. That's why there's such an age discrimination problem. They're looking for Clueless. What keeps a company or system stable is the Effort Thermocline. It's the interface between Clueless and Sociopaths and it's the point where jobs become easier with increasing rank instead of harder. (Clueless are often oblivious to its existence.) It's the glass ceiling that you can't cross unless you work smart and "get it". The unconditional work ethic of, e.g., the macho brogrammer only gets you to upper-tier Clueless. VC-istan's Effort Thermocline is especially stable because it exists between companies.

gregpilling 14y ago
From your list of positions one might occupy, I find none appealing to me. Since I own the business I work at, does that automatically qualify me to be a sociopath? Having nice work conditions works for the boss too. Who wants to own a crappy business? I want to go work somewhere nice, and if I am in charge of the place, I think it is then up to me to make it happen.
- bravohippo 14y ago
  >Since I own the business I work at, does that automatically qualify me to be a sociopath? No. The sociopaths are the ones who control the economic system and the bulk of the capital, who, if your company becomes worth anything, will make you an offer you can't refuse and you will no longer be an owner. If you refuse to be bought out due to some kind of lifestyle ideology, then you're clueless and suffering from Protestant Work Ethic brain damage. You're describing an instability. You are an instability. The laws of capitalism dictate that your situation as business owner should either set you up as a sociopath maximizing your outcome, or sell the company to a sociopath who can make more money using your company than you're able to make. If you then could retire but choose not to, you're clueless, because you're enthusiastic about being a cog in a dehumanizing capitalist machine. Only clueless people and sociopaths feel good about that. Clueless people like it because they have no clue, and sociopaths like it because power and destruction is what turns them on. Personally I just find that most people who willingly engage in commerce without a financial need to do so lack imagination. I do make exceptions for hacker types like pg who seem to believe they are subverting the system with their economic activity, but the line between being a subversive capitalist and being the most deluded sort of clueless person is very fuzzy.
  - gregpilling 14y ago
    Wow. Now I have gone from a sociopath to clueless. Perhaps there are s subset of people that you have not met, or do not understand. I would identify with those people who enjoy work (I must suffer from Protestant Work Ethic brain damage, despite being an atheist), because when I do work I accomplish things, and this accomplishment makes me happy. Why this makes me a clueless sociopath I am not sure, but the several companies I have started in the last 23 years have at least let me live in modest comfort. I could have retired around 30 and lived of passive income but that is really quite boring. Maybe you should try starting a company since you know so much about it.

gregpilling 14y ago

From your list of positions one might occupy, I find none appealing to me. Since I own the business I work at, does that automatically qualify me to be a sociopath? Having nice work conditions works for the boss too. Who wants to own a crappy business? I want to go work somewhere nice, and if I am in charge of the place, I think it is then up to me to make it happen.

bravohippo 14y ago
>Since I own the business I work at, does that automatically qualify me to be a sociopath? No. The sociopaths are the ones who control the economic system and the bulk of the capital, who, if your company becomes worth anything, will make you an offer you can't refuse and you will no longer be an owner. If you refuse to be bought out due to some kind of lifestyle ideology, then you're clueless and suffering from Protestant Work Ethic brain damage. You're describing an instability. You are an instability. The laws of capitalism dictate that your situation as business owner should either set you up as a sociopath maximizing your outcome, or sell the company to a sociopath who can make more money using your company than you're able to make. If you then could retire but choose not to, you're clueless, because you're enthusiastic about being a cog in a dehumanizing capitalist machine. Only clueless people and sociopaths feel good about that. Clueless people like it because they have no clue, and sociopaths like it because power and destruction is what turns them on. Personally I just find that most people who willingly engage in commerce without a financial need to do so lack imagination. I do make exceptions for hacker types like pg who seem to believe they are subverting the system with their economic activity, but the line between being a subversive capitalist and being the most deluded sort of clueless person is very fuzzy.
- gregpilling 14y ago
  Wow. Now I have gone from a sociopath to clueless. Perhaps there are s subset of people that you have not met, or do not understand. I would identify with those people who enjoy work (I must suffer from Protestant Work Ethic brain damage, despite being an atheist), because when I do work I accomplish things, and this accomplishment makes me happy. Why this makes me a clueless sociopath I am not sure, but the several companies I have started in the last 23 years have at least let me live in modest comfort. I could have retired around 30 and lived of passive income but that is really quite boring. Maybe you should try starting a company since you know so much about it.