2020-12-15

The New American Dream

I recently met a up with a friend I hadn't seen for a while. For a few uncontrollable reasons, his responsibilities at work really ramped up after the pandemic hit. He's been working 12 hour days and time on weekends to scrape by. But, like so many others, he's making it work.

The really unfortunate part of his situation is that he doesn't like the actual work. You know, the actual things he has to do. He likes his co-workers, he likes the company, he likes the industry itself, but the actual work? Not great.

[[How We Pick Careers]]

It does pay well though. And like many other American's, that is enough to hang on.

Eventually, my friend lays his big idea on me. There is a New American Dream - escaping the 9-5.

We've known each other for awhile, and he knows I've been a fan of "self-improvement" books like [[The Four Hour Workweek]] and [[Think and Grow Rich]]. He now sees those books, especially 4HWW, as the first signs of this new dream.

We feel stuck to our jobs because of financial obligations or cultural ideals that scare us away from riskier paths that have more potential for success and happiness.

Debt

Many Americans are strapped by debt. In August, Business Insider estimated the average American debt totals $51,900. In December, CNBC estimated the average American has $90,460 in debt. To add on, USNEWS estimates the average student loan debt for recent college graduates is more than $30,000. Whether any of these numbers are exactly right or not, they point in a clear direction - most Americans have significant debts. And when you are in debt, you aren't afforded the liberty to make risky career decisions, even if you made a bad choice of college major when you were 18.

Cultural Norms

Many people would not be willing to give up high status jobs, even if it meant they would enjoy life more. For example, I'm not sure if I would give up my job as a software engineer for a job as a mountain bike trail guide, even if I was guarenteed financail stability. Do I think I would like that work more? Yes. But even still, I have reservations. Most of which are social.

Where to Next?

In my notes on [[American Individualism]] on [[2020-11-02]], I pose that current American obsession with entrepreneurs is because of our individualistic tendencies.

However, this idea made me think again. Maybe it's not individualism, but it's the fact that entrepreneurs have escaped the trap that so many people feel they are in. The imagined freedom and control of running your own company seems to wonderful to people working humdrum, nose to the grindstone job that the idea becomes an obsessive fantasy.

The fear of the monotonous life their parents lived is why so many kids today are driven to become entrepeneurs, even when they have no business ideas or experience. All they know is they don't want to work 9-5. I know that feeling. And I know that fear. And now I've seen many friends and myself take the opposite path any way. Some are worse off than others and I feel I've learned a lot about what it means to really work a job, and live an acceptable American life.

What I've been lucky enough to find is that not all 9-5 jobs blow chunks. My job is better than I could have ever asked for. I don't wake up every day chomping at the bit to get back on my computer, but I'm genuinely interested in my work, and the environment is very healthy. I've been lucky to be awarded a lot of space to work with a small developer team building an experimental platform. It's a great experience and led to a lot of growth.

What my job has shown me is that you don't need to be an entrepeneur to live a happy life. You need to find an environment that allows you to live with entrepeneurial principles.

I also don't think that people appreciate enough the freedom that comes with low responsbility entry level jobs. Sure, you get paid less, but when shit hits the fan, you aren't on the hook. That is a freedom meant to be enjoyed, not rushed out of to get onto the next level.



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