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How did we come to this? How did a country that once dreamed of freedom, innovation, and human potential end up here — in offices we don’t want to return to, do

How did we come to this? How did a country that once dreamed of freedom, innovation, and human potential end up here — in offices we don’t want to return to, doing work that drains more than it gives, under leaders who measure our worth by output, not humanity? Is this what we were building toward — a world where leaving becomes the only act of resistance left, where silence fills the space of those who walked away, and those who remain carry twice the burden? Is there still a place for meaning in all of this — or are we simply cogs in a machine that forgot why it was built in the first place.

danaris 1y ago
This (in the specific) is the result of decades of tech workers saying "Unions? That's for blue collar workers. Also, they're corrupt. Also, I'm the Bestest Negotiator Evar, so I can definitely get myself better compensation just by using my leet negotiation skillz than I could ever get as part of a weak-ass collective bargaining agreement! That stuff's for girls, not alpha—no, wait, sigma—males like me!" In general, it's the result of the closely-related broader trends of the gutting of unions nationwide, and a devastatingly permissive attitude toward consolidations, which leave all our industries with increasingly few, but increasingly large, companies, who are thus able to exercise disproportionate control over the expectations around work, and the conditions of workers. This is then exacerbated by a resurgence of the American individualist attitude, which says that the most important thing is to work hard so you can get yourself a prestigious title and a fat paycheck—and ignore all the other stuff that's going on; only focus on your career ladder.