Familiar-Antelope316 t1_iwnke12 wrote on November 16, 2022 at 11:25 PM

Reply to comment by ttkciar in is linkedin dying? by diogo_ao

No, it's the commoditization of every aspect of human existence. The idea that the only thing we contribute to the world are the things we can make money off of. Can you paint? Make it your side hustle. Like computers? Better get on that stream and start grinding or using your tech skills to invest or get into programming to get a better job.

Hustle culture ignores the value of contentment, enjoyment, passion for passions sake, it ignores some of the foundational aspects of being a human being and condenses it down into dollars earned, items obtained, and the false sense of feeling more superior than someone who doesn't have those things.

It doesn't respect the individual or their goals and passions. You can have a good work ethic and still want to have time for yourself, time for self discovery, creativity, and artistry all for their own sake.

ttkciar t1_iwno0yu wrote on November 16, 2022 at 11:52 PM

> It doesn't respect the individual or their goals and passions. You can have a good work ethic and still want to have time for yourself, time for self discovery, creativity, and artistry all for their own sake.

I've been told similar things by other people, but I can't really tell if it's just the toxicity of taking this to the extreme that has people set against it, or if they're just against (or don't understand) the concept of deferred gratification.

Deferred gratification is part of having a good work ethic. It can involve temporarily setting aside things that are nice to have (including self-discovery, creativity, and artistry) in order to get ahead or take advantage of an opportunity.

Small children just want to play games all day, but we make them set aside play temporarily every day so they can go to school and get an education. This, too, is an example of deferred gratification. It's putting off something you'd like to do so you can do something with long-term beneficial consequences, even if it's not something you enjoy.

Similarly, it is normal and expected for young adults to set aside things they would like to do for a few years, long enough to get their careers started. There will be time for self-indulgence later.

Relatedly, if someone is in a dire financial situation (as so many people are these days, with inflation, stagnant wages and the housing crisis making it hard or impossible to make ends meet), it is also a good time to defer gratification so that they can take advantage of more opportunities to earn money, and hopefully not fall behind on their rent and get evicted.

Wikipedia has a pretty good article about it, though they don't tie it in to work ethic that I see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_gratification

To someone who doesn't get the point of deferred gratification, it might look like "hustle culture" is just sacrificing one's luxuries and pastimes for nothing but toil and misery, but there's a point to it all. By accepting temporary hardship now, they are securing reward later which would otherwise be unobtainable (like landing a good job in their career track), and/or avoiding greater hardship later (like becoming homeless).

They used to teach this stuff in school. Is that no longer the case?

Familiar-Antelope316 t1_iwodb6s wrote on November 17, 2022 at 3:12 AM

It's not a guarantee, it's the furthest thing from a guarantee, it's a risk. You're risking your present day enjoyment for the hope of future success. My brother tried the same thing when he invested heavily in his car repair company, which burned down and he tried killing himself, he's doing better now.

My dad sacrificed his whole life for me and my family, which was amazing for me and my siblings but it came at the cost of his passions. Work became his identity because it was how he provided for us, which sounds like a romantically self sacrificial great thing to do and it was until he was supposed to retire but because of financial commitments (mostly having to do with a now chronically depressed son who was in massive financial issues after his hop burned down and a host of other issues) he couldn't. And then when someone died at his job, he blamed himself and in the end took his own life even though investigations found it wasn't his fault.

What I've seen of hustle culture and this weird cult of responsibility that says to take on as much as you can for the sake of a myth of guaranteed success with little regard to your current wellbeing or the long term effects the lack of self care can provide.

That's not even getting into people gambling their life savings away on get rich quick schemes like NFTs and investments that often don't pan out but you don't see those stories on MTV cribs or whatever nonsense wealth fantasy shows people watch these days.

Hustle culture is terrible, damaging, and toxic for everyone involved except the wealthy people who are exploiting them.