Re:Charles Bukowski: The Slavery of the 9 to 5
by yetihehe on Tuesday January 24, 2017 @02:54AM
(#13469578)
Not all people have talent in music, also not all people have talent in founding companies or working on their own. Some prefer onvenience of working a known routine and having liveable amount of money given to them. Doing something for themselves would mean leaving their zone of comfort and they just don't want to do it for fear of failing. It's basic risk-aversion. Why risk being homeless when you can just go to work doing what you already know and get paid.
Re:Charles Bukowski: The Slavery of the 9 to 5
by dvt on Tuesday January 24, 2017 @03:08AM
(#13469626)
> Why risk being homeless when you can just go to work doing what you already know and get paid.
That's incredibly hyperbolic. You don't risk financial ruin by trying to take a start-up off the ground for 6 months (~0.6% of your lifespan), especially if you're single in your 20s or 30s. I'd also argue it's probably a lot less talent than you think, but then again, I am a Malcolm Gladwell fan.
Re:Charles Bukowski: The Slavery of the 9 to 5
by yetihehe on Tuesday January 24, 2017 @04:20AM
(#13469903)
Yeah, and when after 6 moths your startup doesn't work, no one wanted to invest in it and you got some debt to pay, what can you do? You work 9-5 trying to pay off the debt (which is not massive, but needs to be paid), but you failed, and you don't want to take such risks again. You underestimate risk-aversion of common people. Also, when you don't have your own home (owned, not on mortgage), you MUST work to pay for it. How do you get money for it otherwise?
For most people, one failed startup is enough to make them homeless. They don't have enough resources to be safe when their idea doesn't work. Also most of them just don't have viable ideas which can be used to make a good business.
Re:Charles Bukowski: The Slavery of the 9 to 5
by coldtea on Tuesday January 24, 2017 @06:48AM
(#13470605)
Yes, but this can also be put as "not all people have talent for freedom".
Re:Charles Bukowski: The Slavery of the 9 to 5
by yetihehe on Tuesday January 24, 2017 @09:46AM
(#13471653)
I think this actually IS the case, but it isn't polliticaly correct. From my observation most people are not "in constant search of freedom to do anything they want" and just don't bother actively searching for being free from 9-5. There are even people with talent for slavery. There are people on every end of any spectrum you might choose, just look at BDSM scene as an exmple. According to "normal people": "Who in their right mind would choose to be a sex slave and get beaten?". Yet such people exist, I've met them and understand them.
I would say that we are the prototypical "company men" of the new millennium: non-essential cogs in a machine that are easily replaced. I think that's Bukowski's point and I wholeheartedly agree. With all this talk of culture, and paid time off, and personal development, the world hasn't changed that much in the past 50 years. At least I have the good sense of knowing what I am.
We all would like to think we're Steve Wozniaks. But we're not. Because if we were, we would've co-founded Apple. And this is precisely why I'll be leaving my cushy 6-figure job soon. As Nassim Taleb put it, "Risk takers can be socially unpredictable people. Freedom is always associated with risk taking, whether it led to it or came from it. You take risks, you feel part of history."