What we value
Examining what this "value" thing is we are all trying to create
What we value
Freelancing is one of the best ways to make money in a strong economy, but it’s also one of the quickest things to disappear when companies are cutting costs.
Paul Millerd • Designing Your Own Infinite Game In The Creator Economy - Boundless
This seems to imply that creating the impression of a strong economy is a self-fulfilling prophecy that creates more work.
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” ― Kurt Vonnegut
Why wasn’t this here yet?
The binge eating and compulsive spending, the perfectionism and procrastination, the ways we habitually go into hiding.
The Source 🌊
A lot of this is rooted in societal pressures.
Efficiency doesn’t necessarily reduce our workload—it expands it. The more we’re capable of producing, the more we expect of ourselves and others. The more output becomes possible, the further the goalposts are moved on what is considered “enough.”
AI Turned Me Into a Content Agency of One
This statement is the key. The expectations grow with technology, and wages don’t grow with expectations. Wages are based on past values.
the peaks of shame and grandiosity
The Source 🌊
the past telling us we are bad for not conforming to the safety of rules that no longer apply and the future pulling us toward a state that we know surely must exist somewhere, and we’ve just got to get to it, then we’ll be safe.
All we know is that we aren’t safe now. And all we want to be is safe.
Creators make money so they can make stuff, instead of the other way around.
Dr. Gena Gorlin • Fantastic Builders and Where to Find Them, 5th Installment
This is an important thing to realize.
This is the paradox of our time: the very tools designed to free us from labor are trapping us in an endless cycle of escalating work.
Tina He • Jevons Paradox: A personal perspective
Yes.
"There is no way to happiness - happiness is the way." - Thich Nhat Hahn
Happiness makes things easier
- Paladin saves the world? Degrowth story.
- Barbarian masculine energy saves the world? Degrowth story.
- Enlightened sexless bureaucracy saves the world? Degrowth story.
- Nurturing feminine energy saves the world? Degrowth story.
- Unbridled technological acceleration saves the world? Degrowth story.
- Unbridled GDP growth saves the world? Degrowth story.
- Saintly
every story is a degrowth story
These I agree are degrowth stories.
I think the connection he’s making is to the book, so that the loss of complexity in society leaves people feeling lost and unvalued, and that leads to societal collapse.
What if we don’t tie society to complexity?