But you do something else so that you won’t die. You’re not relying on playing video games.
Some people do. Check out Daigo Umehara or Justin Wong. Or look at this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_farming
Good one. And you’re right, mechanization does lead to fewer jobs. But unemployment is not a function of the amount of jobs in an economy. “Creating jobs” does not lead to less unemployment, and a “loss of jobs” does not cause unemployment. And here’s why (simplifying). In a normally functioning economy, available labor is distributed across the work that needs to be done. If labor-saving technology is introduced, part of the labor force will not just be unused from then on. The price would go down and at some point it becomes profitable to hire them again. Or they gain new skills to become a different kind of labor. I say would, because we don’t let this happen. We keep trying to artificially set the price of labor. This has the effect that part of the workforce is banned from working at the price they are competitive at. So unemployment is an effect of intervention, not of there being to few jobs to go around. If we abolished some modern machinery to immediately create a huge amount of demand for labor, or nuked China to get all those jobs back, but stuck with the same labor laws and unfree markets, unemployment would just go back up to more or less the same level as before. Just that now we’re producing less stuff, so we’re poorer.
@Muffinburg: Can you point me in the direction of some articles or, better yet, specific leads where I can learn more about this? I really want out of this corporate rat-race but I can’t afford to just “quit my job” as James Altucher recommends… I have too many obligations right now. But I feel like I need to get out of this and get into doing some real work that challenges me and forces me to develop myself.
Clayton -
Specifically, on what?
I don’t know what your personal situation is, but you could do something on the side, or partner up with somebody. You could build a business and then sell it for a couple hundred thousand and then use that capital to build another business, and so on.
What’s your attitude like; do you want to change the world, or do you see the making of money as a means to your own ends while relieving the felt uneasiness of others? (As an aside, I don’t believe for one second that Zuckerberg was solely interested in changing the world, but it was a great marketing story.)
If you have the time, you could re-wire your brain, to get into the capitalist/entrepreneur-promoter mindset by following people in the start up scene, reading books, videos, etc.
Reading Niall Ferguson’s books on the Rothschilds made me realize that undercutting can lead to greater future business. Reading Folsom’s T**he Myth of the Robber Barons is a great motivational book because it shows you that you can compete with the state (until they shut you down, but by then you have made a lot of money). Also, I like watching http://www.youtube.com/user/ThisWeekIn, specifically the ones on Startups, VC, and Social Media. I like Altucher, but he loses me when he talks about suicide and depression.
I think I’m a little of both. What I’m doing right now is developing my own programming language. This is a “change the world” kind of project but I don’t expect to repeat it ever again. I view it as more of a personal rite of passage.
What would be my dream job would be able to do both - change the world and build a great business. For example, I sometimes fantasize about doing motivational-type speaking on the subjects that I write a lot about on these forums (how to be happy, what morality and law really are, the importance of escaping the pervasive fears in society and just doing what you want to do with your life, etc.) I cannot even conceive how to go about getting something like that working.
I guess what I’m saying is I have absolutely no clue whatsoever what it really means (nuts and bolts, day-to-day activity) to start/run a business. When you say something like “you could build a business” I am baffled by what that even means.
Thanks for the resources, I’ll check them out.
Clayton -
Some advice I think in terms of wanting to become a motivational type speaking on subjects like “how to be happy” or “Doing what you want to do in life”- the most important step in selling something like that is to have it be your personal experience. If you’re truly happy then people really will want to listen to you as opposed to someone who thinks he figured out happiness but doesn’t live it- it’ll also come off in your product and presentation.
Building a business doesn’t have to start and end in a day- you could begin by compiling everything you wrote and putting them into all different types of formats you could sell as a package. Books, audiotapes, all of that. Keep working to make sure your writing or recording is as simple and clean to understand as possible. Figure out some good words to catch someone’s attention to describe your products- throw a price on it and see what happens- appealing to people’s gut instincts is a common theme when it comes to building a business(look how popular nearly anything to do with sexual imagery is), and from what I see there’s always a market for people who are into self-development. Learn some basic accounting and the day-to-day of it aren’t too bad.
As auctionguy10 pointed out, you should definitely compile what you have written. A website might a good way to do it.
Also, since you are a programmer, have you considered writing any iphone/android apps? Most don’t make much money, if any, but if you can come up with something simple and useful, it may be a good way to start out.
I know I would love to have an iphone app that worked well with the Mises site and maybe throw in lewrockwell.com. I would pay for an app that made posting and reading on the forums much easier (even if no one else would). If you’re looking to make $$$ then that’s probably a bad idea though. Maybe it’ll spark a good idea though.
not sure I get what you’re saying and not sure you got what I said. I meant, that ultimately, most people should reach for those things they prefer the most doing, and if in a process they have to take an uninteresting job.. well, that’s how the world works. Most people would also be better of if they brushed their teeth everyday, but pretty much majority of people disliked this process in their childhood. That’s kinda similar.
I got lucky and I have quite interesting job even though I don’t want doing it all my life. If somone asked me if I hate my job I couldn’t say positively, but there are many people I saw and heard who really despise their jobs..That’s sad.