meri

Oops! Missed the general strike in Spain today. Either way, good day to remind you that collective bargaining (strikes, unions, etc) is for losers, and that one of the most important and impactful things you can do in your life is to steer your professional career towards jobs with a high skill ceiling, so that you can negotiate with employers as an individual. One of the reasons why the US is so ahead of Europe right now is because this simple fact is widely understood there, at a cultural level, whilst in the EU there are just millions and millions of people stuck with the mentality of a Victorian-era chimney boy. It's very weird to see so many folks with that relationship towards their work. Just completely surrendering control and assuming that any kind of improvement in their job and their lives can only come through external forces outside of their control. It's a very defeatist attitude towards life, and funnily enough, it hasn't been _that_ true or effective in the past two centuries: the big wins in worker rights have come off the heels of great advancements in technology, and the same thing is going to happen with the advent of AI and automation. But regardless of historical precedent, the fundamental issue is that this is just a very shitty way to live. If you can help it (and most people can!), why would you let your life's goals become hostages of the formless blob of the proletariat? What are the chances that the whims of the mob are actually what's most beneficial for you and your family? I just don't see it man. I look at the people protesting in Spain and they're deeply miserable, and in the vast majority of cases this misery comes straight from the total abdication of their personal responsibility. In the 21st century, it's psychologically damaging to be willingly helpless towards external factors. You can't fix that by protesting. It's self-inflicted. Anyway, back to work.