I disagree strongly. This is a dangerous advice. I've been watching this from the sidelines and yes, someone can get a trickle down that does not even buy you a cup of coffee. But revenue streams beyond that? Highly non-trivial, especially in the niche-hobbies (of which there seem to be an infinite amount of them). Not all things worth doing, are monetizable in my experience (or my experience is horribly skewed).
However, I've seen people monetize the craziest things (and quite well at that). The more niche, the more money even. People pay good money for the most unbelievable things. The biggest issue is more likely to be market inefficiencies, i.e. bringing buyers and sellers together. But I almost guarantee you that somewhere out there is someone willing to pay a ton of money for that one weird problem you can solve for him with your niche skill or interest.
Apart from the difficulties of finding that person or audience though, I'd be curious to hear what things you've been thinking of that are dangerous or impossible to monetize in a way that allows you to humanly subsist at least.
If the hobbyist and the market should meet?
There is a very good but also complex set of reasons why creative professionals stereotypically are not very well off and have poor labor conditions.
Agree it's not impossible to create something out of nothing when you are not motivated by following the market, but also very unusual.
Ditto for music and many other things that often fall into the category of things that lots of talented people are happy to do for free.
What can or can't fulfill someone in their specific situation is highly dependent on their inner constitution, their peers and societal and cultural environment. In ancient Greece being free from menial duties and being able to freely engage in science, philosophy and politics was regarded as the highest state of existence.
I know someone who had to show up 8 hours a day for 20 years without anything to do and he's practically the most energetic person I know (bordering on annoying actually), spending time with family, gardening, traveling and collecting memories.
In practice you probably want a healthy middle way of work and leisure and OP presumably wants the focus on leisure which I can understand :P...
Also, monetizing your hobby to a degree that you can be financially dependent on it causes it to no longer be hobby by definition (more like hobby-equivalent work)
Well, now don't keep us in suspense! What was his job? How did he get it? That's kinda the point of this whole thread ;-)
Also, yes to your part about people being dead inside because of their job (these exist as well and there life basically ends when they retire... can be equally sad).
As for the ancient Greeks, well, that's a bit like saying "Bill Gates is free from menial work". Yes, true in theory but with little to no relevance for our daily lives because his (and equally the ancient Greeks') circumstances are just so different. In case of the Greeks, their system was heavily based on slave labor. A comparable level of freedom nowadays (10+ full-time domestic staff plus people who dress you and carry you around in a litter) requires you to be a multi-millionaire and at least slightly deranged ;-)
Also, it's not like they did nothing all day. Studying, philosophy, military and political careers were incredibly important in ancient Rome and Greece, and I am certain that many an aristocratic young man would rather have spent time in the bath houses or on the forum than practising Greek declensions with his "Paedagogi" (teacher slaves) ;-)
The next time we (all) might have a chance to get close to ancient levels of "dolce far niente" for a majority of people, is probably in a post-scarcity society with fully autonomous robot assistants (if they don't murder us first). Sure would be nice to focus on wine and philosophy all day, no doubt about it.
Abridged version: ~1970s Germany, vocational training as welder, employed at Hoesch (later ThyssenKrupp), well-paid factory job. He later lost his position due to automation, became depressed and was placed into a "Sozialbetrieb" (this can mean many things. In this case it's a workshop meant for the disabled to ensure means to participate in the workforce. Big firms like ThyssenKrupp have to have such an offering by law).
Well turns out, there wasn't all that much to do there so he could listen to the radio and nap or the like (thanks social democrats). Today he's getting a pretty good pension (unfairly one might say, especially in the face of Germany's pressured pension system).
His situation is definitely an anomaly even in sort-of socio-economically egalitarian Germany, but he's thriving :) Note: He's a very different sort of person than I am or the typical HN user presumably is.
> The next time we (all) might have a chance to get close to ancient levels of "dolce far niente" for a majority of people, is probably in a post-scarcity society with fully autonomous robot assistants
There's plenty of nuance in the space between mass-precarity and mass-decadence. It's a question of societal will and organisation to enable common guaranteed standards of living (I know this is heresy in the US). It's definitely possible already, though it may come with its own set of problems regarding e.g. fair distribution of welfare or disincentivising self-improvement to some degree, that may have to be kept in check via other means.
In modern times essentially all of the important battles that kept humanity in the dirt have been won (think antibiotics, fertilizer, energy, machinery, communication, logistics).
Everything that comes now is restrained not by lack of knowledge or technology but by human psychology, behavior, politics and social dynamics.
I'm passionate about playing a competitive sport. I could spend my days practicing / working out / thinking about tactics. Unfortunately I am not a world class athlete so money is not an option there :). I'd just be happy having enough time to go as high as I can on the local tournament scene.
I understand and accept what you say about the high-paying all-in job option. It's not for everybody and can also be damaging.
If you want part-time dev jobs, of course they're out there's lots of competition and not necessarily a lot of job safety. The lowest end are gig economy jobs (like Upwork and Fiverr) but again, buyers there are sometimes also looking for an easy, reliable, part-time go-to guy for regular jobs that maybe have a unique skill set. You can always give it a try. Chances are that you will not make enough money doing this (most likely) to live comfortably in a highly developed country (I don't know how to express this in the "political correct" way du jour but you know what I mean). However, the advantages are guaranteed 100% remote and no long-term commitment, so if you find something better, you can always take it.
Wishing you all the best. And seriously, do report back some time how it works out for you. I'm sure many have the same dream and wonder "what if..."
These definitely exist, at least in some companies. One of my former employers had several developers who worked 3 days (i.e. 22.5 hours) per week.
That being said, I don't believe you ;-) (I say this with affection). You'd be surprised what people are capable of doing if economic needs require them to do it. People will do every cleaning job they can get or wait tables if it means they won't starve to death or get closer to their dream job as an movie star...
I've often thought about this and I would encourage others to try and adopt this mindset: There are always jobs you can do, even very menial ones, if you really need the money (and no, I don't mean prostitution). But knowing that you always have options, can and will help you a lot, especially when times get tough.
It means you will never have to give up, even if you're desperate. You will never have to put up with being abused by your boss for years. You will never have to starve. If you scrub enough toilets (or do the equivalent developer job) to make enough money to buy a suit and travel to another city and try something new, well, you can do it. I think this is pretty central to the American dream, actually. Nobody's saying it's easy. But you absolutely CAN if you really have to!
Some people can work at peak performance no matter what. These people have, in my experience, a hard time understanding those who cannot. They are also rare and tend to clime the career ladder quickly. You might be one of them.
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If my life would be at stake, things would look differently. But I've seen people who work in survival mode for years and years. They pay a heavy toll. Nothing I'd recommend (or could fake myself into believing, either your survival depends on something or not. My tech job doesn't need me going all out ).
I strongly disagree, it totally depends on the type of person you are. I have a brother-in-law which is into that kind of job (not tech-related at all, he is a concierge. And he is totally fine with this, he lives for his hobbies (surfing, hiking, snowboarding etc), lives with the minimum amount of money he needs (basically to buy gear if it breaks and gas for the van) and... he is happy!
It makes you rethink about life sometimes, but I do know for example that I would die of "boreout" for sure. But not everybody.
These jobs you mention, they DO exist. But they break people and make them intensely miserable. Look into "boreout" (as opposed to burnout) to learn more about this.
You will be very happy for the first few months, being able to browse HN, news sites and Reddit all day while nobody cares about what you do, nobody wants your input, you've got no responsibilities other than pressing a button, writing a half-page report once a month and saying "yes" on the rare occasion someone asks you something in passing. But it will get old quick.
I've met people who have been in these kinds of jobs for decades and you can see it in their eyes. They are dead inside. I've even heard that in some large companies and cultures with strong workers' rights / labor laws this is actually used as a punishment: We can't fire you, so we'll just put you in a small, shabby, single office on the far end of the campus and give you nothing to do. Nobody will care that you exist and your existence will be pointless.
I do not believe that you can compensate for this 100% with private endeavours and hobbies as long as you still have to show up 8 hours a day (even remotely) and "be bored".
You can try it though, and report back how it went. Why not.
Jobs like this can be found in large, highly bureaucratic but ultimately not very important government organizations/agencies and mid to large enterprises, often in niche markets and the manufacturing sector where things can move pretty slowly.
However, to actually help you, I recommend you try the opposite: Get a high-paying job, slave for two three years, go all-in for 60+ hours a week if you have to. Only do this while you're young, no longer than 3 years. Save (and safely invest) every penny. And if you have enough money, stop immediately or phase it out over 1 year max. If you did it well enough, you'll have also built a network that will enable you to do the odd consulting gig on the side or get a more relaxing steady part-time job.
Alternatively, look into part-time office administration jobs, substitutes for people going on maternity leave etc. If you can use Word, Outlook and express yourself coherently, that will often be enough. Again, beware of the boreout.
Also, I'd really like to know what your passions are because practically all passions and hobbies can be monetized somehow (even a little). If you're into them so much that you want to do nothing else 24 hours a day, then surely you can find a way to monetize them. Even if you're into sleeping all day, there are ways to get paid for that ;-)
HTH