I Gotta Wear Shades

Looking forward to a brighter future.

I’m going to start putting the playlists at the top of my posts. I liked the way that looked on a post last week.

Here’s an hour of music for your week, hope you enjoy!

The reality of my situation has set in. I’m not going back to work. At least, not for a while. It’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I have taken a couple of naps. I’m not stressed out about finishing a video game on time. Tackling household chores, sure! I was even thinking of getting a lawn mower again. In part because it would save us a lot of money long term and in part because I think I could find the serenity others have found in that task now.

I am going to write a lot over this year about angst and dread. Systemic failures and personal struggles. But, I want to take this week to talk about some things that are really positive in my life. I’m going to write a lot about my wife, so if romantic feelings aren’t your bag then I probably would skip this week in general.

I’m also going to dig into the creative freedoms I’ve gotten from this decision. There’s a crushing weight that hangs around you when you MUST work to survive. It’s worse for people who don’t exist in a world that allows for them to contribute, at least not easily. So, I’m not taking this for granted. I’m going to let you know some of the creative projects I have coming. Things I get to do this year that I was putting off until I had the time.

I’ve always understood John Goodman’s monologue here:

And I’ve always been in a position to at least be able to walk away from a job, because I could have another one lined up. And that’s an immense privilege.

But should it be? Should any person be beholden to another? Why should any person be stuck in a job? I would say my wife and I are upper middle class, because we have no children. We made comfortably in the 100s and have always lived above the household median. We have owned a house since our mid-20s. We have a credit score in the 800s. We have the flexibility for me to take this sabbatical.

But we still have to work. But there are a lot of very rich people who don’t HAVE to work. And they choose to. And their work is making profit off of our labor. So why are we beholden to rich people? Because they say so? I am valuable enough (to them) that someone will still give me a job at the other end of this. Maybe not the same caliber job, but we also don’t need that kind of money. I’m sure I’ll be a little toxic to some places if they ever read this Substack, but I have a lot of references that will tell you I’m worth it.

There’s a lot of lies we are sold in the world, but the biggest lie you’re sold is that there are people that are better than other people. That life is a competition. That people DESERVE their lives. The old adage - "No War but the Class War" - struggles with the same baggage most leftist slogans carry, but there’s truth in it just the same.

My wife and I were having a conversation years ago about the purpose of a business. Her response, as I’m sure many others would be, was “Profit.” But if the purpose of your business is PROFIT, then the purpose of your business is exploitation. A business should provide a good or a service.

When profit becomes the purpose, you sacrifice both the quality of goods and the service.

“Companies seek to maximize their internal profitability, and as products become successful, it becomes harder to achieve year-over-year growth.  Product teams get larger and as companies search for big wins, they start to homogenize the product vision and fragment their market, or worse, compromise the product quality to achieve gains. As companies grow, each action pulls the company and its products down into the troth.”

Companies will intentionally devalue the quality of the product that built their success because they need to maintain revenue growth. You find it every day - people complaining about smaller sizes for more money. Lower quality consumer goods. These decisions are made with margins in mind.

The business practices aren’t some new secret, it’s public information. Chinese products aren’t inferior insomuch as they are made to spec.

“In addition to its low labor costs, China has become known as "the world's factory" because of its strong business ecosystem, lack of regulatory compliance, low taxes and duties, and competitive currency practices.”

We have always been a nation of consumerism. It’s part of the twin headed snake that feeds our cultural machine.

The other decision businesses make is a reduction of labor. Especially around customer service:

“As they fight for survival in the era of online shopping, brick-and-mortar retailers are turning to an age-old strategy: cutting expenditures on workers. In the U.S. department store segment, for example, head count per store has fallen by more than 10% over the past decade, while wages per employee have dropped by 4%. And payroll isn’t the only thing being trimmed: Training budgets have been chopped as well. A survey by Axonify, a provider of training software, found that nearly one-third of retail store associates receive no formal training—the highest deficit in any of the industries surveyed. Understaffing stores and undertraining workers was never a good idea, but it’s especially bad now, because it takes away the biggest advantage traditional stores have over e-tailers: a live person a customer can talk with face-to-face.”

This isn’t a retail specific issue. Outsourcing has been a major issue for decades. The complaints about non-native speakers are decades old at this point.

We also stifle the natural creativity of humans. If the purpose for invention and discovery is profit, we make profitable things not always beneficial things. How much automation exists? Why shouldn’t we automate labor? And transportation? The only good reason is to maintain a beholden labor force.

If we strive for profit, we save money where we can. But, if the purpose of a business is to meet the needs of the community, it suddenly becomes a much different thing. Most successful companies actually start out that way. Mercantilism laid a foundation for unfair trade in the 1400s. And we’re sold a lie that unfair trades are just a way of life.

We’re also told that SOMEONE has to do the dirty work. Which, is where a lot of people falter. I agree, someone does have to do the dirty work. So what? That doesn’t mean they are any less a person or deserve any less than another person.

Some people are so desperate to prove they are better than the animals that they forget the animal side of humanity. A strive for greatness - humans can be remembered throughout the ages. To make an indelible mark on the history of humanity, that’s a driving factor for a lot of people. It sometimes leads to great art or feats of athleticism. It also leads to dictators, cult leaders, and business magnates.

I definitely understand the appeal and the drive.

But humans are still, at our core, animals. We build nests and have social hierarchies. I’m not so naïve that I believe we can just flip a switch and make the world fair or just. But we can take steps toward that. I asked earlier why we are beholden to rich people? Should we not be beholden to all people? I agree that we have a debt to society and we should repay it how we can.

People want to work, they want to create, they want to play and they want to enjoy life. All people. I frequently challenge the notion that humans are smarter than animals because multiple animals get to live a much less stressful life than humans. Many of the things we need for life have been automated and that will continue to happen. If we start seeing our lives as a duty to all humans, instead of duty to people who DEMAND that duty, you can see paths forward.

The US’ military spending is out of control, sure, but if we just spent the money they LOST and cannot account for, we could have no homelessness in the us, end food insecurity, eliminate tuition at public universities and provide childcare free to all working adults. With billions left over. We can’t account for $1.35 TRILLION in assets.

We have an obligation to other people. Yes, some people aren’t able to contribute in the same way, but so what? Think about the things you actually like doing. Watching TV, reading books, solving puzzles, farming, whatever floats your boat. People work for a profit - but they don’t get to do what they love. We need to start pushing the needle back from the rich. You don’t owe them anything more than you owe anyone else, even if they created a world that tells you you do.

We have a crumbling infrastructure that we continue to not invest in. We budgeted $1.73 Billion in military spending for 2023. Companies continue to dangle jobs in front of us like we need what they provide. They have entire nations believing that they can’t walk away from this job because the world will fall apart. But we’re sold a myth about these rich people because they want to leave their mark on the world.

They are carried by brilliant people who love efficiency. People who love to farm or love to cook or love to research. People who love to build connections. People who love to fix things. We gate knowledge off to make it profitable, but the reality is we need to not just make knowledge available but we have to make it accessible.

People will still make movies and play games. The best of those people will still rise to the top. People will still be better at making things more efficient, or smarter, or easier. It’s what we do. How do we eliminate greed in this world? We don’t. But we eliminate a reward for greed.

Nothing I’m talking about here is easy. But, we have tools that we are told we can’t use. We can’t vote because it won’t change anything. We can’t unionize because… We can’t build a viable train system or have functioning public schools or universal health care (despite the massive amounts of money it would save long term) because we need profit.

And we’ve made it even easier for companies to have control because we believe them. Because we’re sold a lie that some people are better than others. But the reality is, people are animals. We have a need for social hierarchy, but that doesn’t mean we have a need for that to be exploited. Some people are better at delegation, some are better at teaching, some are better at doing. Some are better at supporting. Some are better at networking.

People will do what they are good at if they are given the opportunity. And for the people who can’t, give them the resources to help them contribute as much as possible. Mental health care, access to food and housing, and educational opportunities. Even if they don’t take advantage of them, the people that can will.

We can’t control other people. Think of how many relationships you have that are damaged by someone trying to control it. Friendships, work relationships, family relationships. That’s not to say that a relationship shouldn’t have give and take. And there’s nothing wrong with ending a relationship that is taking more than it is giving. But, a relationship should never be about control. It should be about community.