The Pnictogen Wing

"Work" has become such a poisonous word in contemporary American discourse that it's tough to figure out how to talk about it. I've done way more than my share of angry blithering, partly informed by experience (but not all that much of it), about how being a boss or an investor isn't "real work". But these people all think they work very hard indeed, and while it's easy to say that they're lying or puffing themselves up, it's also possible that in some sense they're telling the truth. They feel like they're exhausting themselves, putting in long hours, hustling and pushing themselves and sweating hard over the tough decisions that "unskilled workers" couldn't even begin to imagine the complexities of. That's the REAL "hard work"! I guarantee you that Elon Musk thinks his factory workers have it easy compared to him—and if Musk doesn't believe that, his entire fanbase does, because "Elon Musk is always working hard" is part of the Musk catechism.

cw: more polemic about why capitalists seem to think they work hard

I'm sensitive to the accusation of envy that's constantly being hurled at anyone who gets too angry or critical at the antics of the rich and powerful. "You're just seething because they're successful and you're not," says the true believer in capitalism, and you know what? Yes, I am. I'm not happy to be almost fifty and unable to stick at a job because of my chaotic brains. I don't like being a burden to Gravislizard and dependent upon his income. So yes, I am stained with the sin of envy (and all the others, so far as I can tell.)

I'm not sure how much it's supposed to matter. Aren't capitalists motivated by sins themselves? Aren't they themselves envious? For no matter how much money and success you hoard for yourself, the exponential curve of wealth inequality soars infinitely high above you. It's always possible to grab more. There's always someone who has more than you do, usually a LOT more—and even if you're lauded as the richest person in the world, like Elon Musk has been, your position is never too secure. So everyone in this system is always "competitive"—scheming, sneaking, backbiting, cheating, betraying, sometimes even fighting to seize more money and influence and market share and prestige and everything else that goes into being successful. And we're told there's no other way to live. There's no room for sentiments; there's only winners and losers. "It's war out there, Johnson! It's kill or be killed! They'll eat you alive if you don't take whatever you can grab!" How on Earth can this state of perpetual competition possibly be achieved without being hurtful and hateful towards others?

Quick, someone tell Elon Musk that he should "invent" a new keyboard, with an 𝕏 key of course.