I was reading an interesting viewpoint that echoes my own, that the people fighting for working from home are doing themselves a lot of damage. Yes, there is the lack of socialization and therefore opportunity to rise up through promotion, but there are other factors to consider too.
One of the ones that I have been mentioning for a long time is how people who work from home are far easier to replace, because there isn't the internal social network to even notice that they are being replaced. This replacement can come in many forms, like through automation, but because people are able to work from home, it doesn't really matter where they work from, including which country. This means that people are increasingly able to be replaced by cheaper workers in other locations, without having to worry about pesky things like immigration.
Immigration is only needed to fill jobs that require physical presence, not intellectual.
While companies are always looking to maximize profits, this move is likely to be perpetuated in times where companies are looking to cut costs even further, like in the case of recessions and economic uncertainty. The more isolated the employees are from each other, the easier it is to cut ties with individuals without it impacting on others in the organization.
But, what I am interested in seeing is just what many are going to do with their time once they don't have to do any of that pesky work stuff. One of my friends the other day was talking about someone he knows who is from West Africa and even though he is working here in a decent job, he still has several "side hustles" going.
This is likely a cultural thing that has been born through necessity of his situation from his home country, where multiple revenue streams were necessary. And, it is likely one of the habits that is very hard to let go of, as even though it might not be necessary, relying on the security of a single job is a risk. However, "locals" tend not to do this kind of work at all, as they feel that they are more secure in their employment situation and if they do lose their job, they can always find another one. This means that they aren't "culturally" cut out as much for the gig economy hustle.
Of course, it doesn't mean that they are unskilled, but it is a mindset change to move from being employed steadily to chasing pieces here and there and, living with the uncertainty of not knowing the amount of the next income is challenging. Some people are born into situations where they are essentially forced to live like this, and they are generally the ones who have something on the side, always with their eyes open for another opportunity.
For many of the people who seem to be looking to minimize their employed work with companies, they don't seem to have a very good picture of how they are going to make it through to whatever their old age is going to look like. They seem to be looking to maximize their free-time opportunity, but think very little about how to spend that free time. And, since they tend to be younger and less experienced, plus conditioned by the pushed culture, they also seem to be instant gratifiers, so they aren't driven to be investors either.
What do they visualize their future to be?
Remember when kids would talk about what they want to be when they grow up? Even though very few actually became those things, there was a mindset that there was something to work toward, an expectation that work was required. Now, people seem more willing to do whatever gets them by to their next hit of entertainment, without considering the longevity of what they do. It is like someone who dreams of having a house, wife and kids, but spends all their money on hookers and blow.
At some point though, reality bites and a lot of people are going to be faced with the fact that they are now far behind the eight ball. Instead of being where they wanted to be, they haven't even started taking the journey to get there and instead, have just been spinning their wheels in the mud. They will look around at their immediate peer group and perhaps see their own reflection, but if they range a little wider, there will be the people who they used to know living the life that they want for themselves, because those people worked at getting there.
Work is no guarantee, but not working pretty much seals the deal that financial success will remain out of reach. And, it could be that even moderate results are out of reach, because over the space of perhaps decades, there hasn't been adequate advancement in skills, social capital or work advancement to keep up with the inflation of the costs of of living. This means that living standards get increasingly chipped away at to lower them, rather than slowly chipping away at the barriers to financial wellbeing that facilitates a better living standard.
Rather than tasting green, many are green with envy.
Yes, we are nearly all envious of people who have what we want for ourselves, yet we rarely consider the journey they took to have what they have. It isn't always about material things either, because relationships are also sources for envy for many, where they want something special, but do not have what it takes to have it. And financial security does impact on our relationships, because financial insecurity is a major cause of stress on individuals and couples.
Love isn't all you need.
Humans seek out security and whilst in the past there was a high need for physical security in what was a dangerous world, now it is money that provides that protection. It is money that ensure there is food on the table. It is money that buys a roof over the head and a shirt on the back. It is money that pays for an education. It is money that increases opportunity. And it is money that covers the cost of entertainment, whether that be a subscription to a streaming service, or a private flight to a tropical island. Pretending this isn't the case, does no one any favors.
That is not true.
It does help those who understand economics and markets to extract more money and power from the economy, because it takes competition off the table, meaning less people competing for the pool. If everyone was invested, the ROI would be far lower, because the distribution would be far greater. If people rally care about improving wealth inequality, they should stop whining about it and start competing for it.
Note: this doesn't mean competing only in the traditional markets.
While the average person is minimizing their workload, the average hustler is increasing the impact of their time spent. While the average person is watching Netflix, the average content creator is creating something that they believe will garner for attention. While the average person complains about not having enough money, the average investor is trying to understand mechanisms to generate more wealth.
They are all competing for value.
It might not be a utopia, but it is the way economies work and those who choose not to compete, will find themselves living in a dystopic world of increasing hunger for all the things that they are unable to afford. It isn't about a Lamborghini in the driveway, it could just be about a pair of shoes to walk in - but everything has a cost and if we are unable to pay the price, we are going to pay a price.
There may be no good options in life, but some are worse than others.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
