overwork(3/0)
Overwork is a response to lower value production
Tim’s thoughts on the breakdown of value production as a source of American overwork are novel. He uses many well-trodden arguments, but I think there’s something to be said for the “arms race” that exists in white collar professions. My work at Relativity met this description; even though we were firmly ensconced as the number one e-discovery software company, serving a community notorious for its reticence to change, we worked like Cold War arms dealers to stay ahead.…
Future of remote work
My personality leans towards the “don’t bother me, I’m getting **** done” at times, but Sean makes clear a few hard truths about a remote work future: Wage depression. If my software engineer job can be done by anyone on the earth with my skills, why should I be paid $100,000 when the Malay will do it for $75,000? Forgotten. I witnessed this months after taking a remote worker in at Relativity.…
Loss of social meaning drives overwork
There is an unprecedented loss of meaning in our culture. Family had been a source of meaning, but now people rarely live near their families, which are often both physically and emotionally distant. Religious identification has also suffered a decline, with religion identified with institutions and devoid of meaning. Even living in close proximity to other people no longer supplies a sense of meaning, as the life of one’s neighbor is as distant as the walls are close.…