The Cult of the Job

[ChrisGinsburg]

Originally Posted by Donatas Kaulinis

You could do that selling seemen. Not a very good career personal-development wise though

Why not?

[newmark]

Because you'd have to be a big wanker.

[Still Growing]

Originally Posted by CroMagna

"On The Leisure Track
by D. JoAnne Swanson

The Cult of the Job

I am job-free. Out of the rat race. Unemployed, as they say, but definitely by choice. My self-esteem is intact, thank you, I'm not "in transition", and I have no intention of getting a job again.

That's right--I'm on the leisure track permanently. I don't have a cushy nine-to-five job with profit-sharing, "security", stock options, health insurance, advancement opportunities, or free parking. I also don't have to deal with office politics, attending motivation seminars, climbing the corporate ladder, employee evaluations, increasing productivity, the absurd "team player" mentality, brown-nosing, mandatory overtime, stressful commutes in rush-hour traffic, being trapped in a cubicle, or the threat of being pink-slipped. Oh, and let's not forget--I don't have the expense of a "professional" wardrobe, strong coffee to wake me up every morning, or "power lunches".

I wouldn't have it any other way."

http://whywork.org/about/features/stories/jobcult.html

I am not impressed by this post at all. To me it sounds more like "I am not going to take risk, I am not going to exert effort because its not worth it"

When you find your mission in life, you will be glad to attend seminars, to deal with traffic or whatever obstacle comes your way in order to achieve your goals.

Life is about challenging yourself and having the courage to go for your dreams not about checking out of society and figuring out how little we can do for ourselves and for others.

[Vaganova]

While I would agree with 'not being impressed with the post', it seems to me that they had to go to a bunch of seminars that were assigned to them, not ones they actually know how to use.

Either that, or they go to seminars to actually get information from the seminar speakers, which is useful, but can be found other places for cheaper. The real value of seminars is the people you meet there that share your ideas.

[pjhaggerty]

Originally Posted by aelle

There are 2 reasons why the attempts of the majority of the "down with the jobs, out of the rat race" movement baffle me. First, all of their desires are achievable within an employment framework. Hi, I'm an employee and I get up whenever I want, I can work in my pjs if I want to, I make up my own schedule, I travel a lot to places I love, I take the time to prepare home coked meals 3 times a day and to take 2 hour-long walks with my dog, I only talk to people I enjoy talking to and I don't take stupid orders. The money and benefits aren't half bad either. The second thing is that most self-employed people or business creators go bankrupt within 3 years, the next larger group having an even more undesirable fate: making just enough profit to survive (and not want to put your business out of its misery) but never enough to rise above the poverty line.

Now here's my question: why do the people who never managed to achieve an exceptionally awesome life situation within the employment framework believe they will be able to do it within the unemployment framework?

I would love to see the statistical evidence that most self-employed people/business creators go bankrupt within 3 years.

The evidence i've heard is that 90% of entities that start a new business and file appropriate taxes with the IRS are not filing those taxes 5 years later. That 90% that stops includes people who re-incoprorate under a different name/structure, people who's companies get bought, people who return to nice jobs afterwards, and people who's companies fail. As I understand it, this is where the commonly cited statistic that 90% of new businesses fail within 5 years statistic came from.

However, if there's evidence out there that most (I presume that means 50%+) self-employed people/business creators file for bankruptcy within 3 years of starting their venture, that would be interesting to see.

[pjhaggerty]

Beyond general recommendations such as "cut expenses", I would have to know your specific situation to make specific recommendations.

Personally I'm starting a business while living with my parents, but I'm 20 years old, in college, and have a part time job, single, and on my mom's health insurance.

This path probably wouldn't work for you, I presume. Then again, your path probably wouldn't work for me.

I don't see why we're arguing about this- there is no one right way that can apply to everybody which is also specific and practical. Generalizations like "cut expenses" apply to most people (not all- it depends on your level of expenses). For super specific advice on how you could quit your job and start a business, I'd have to know super specific details about your personal financial situation, career background, standards of living etc. etc.

Without such specifics, it's hard to give specific advice that will apply to you. I could tell you to schedule a college class in the afternoons so that all of your piano students would be forced on to two days of the week, saving you from gas money running all over silicon valley every day of the week. But that probably wouldn't apply to you, because it's unlikely you have a part time job teaching piano lessons and spend too much money on gas. That's one thing I did to cut my gas expenses. I could give more examples, if you're curious, but I doubt they'll be helpful.

Part of using advice is taking generalities and applying them to your situation. Advice will not be handed to you on a silver platter, perfectly customized. Sorry. Maybe the new iphone will have that app. In the meantime, some of the work of using advice is figuring out how general tips like "spend less money" can translate to your life.