10 Ideas that are Changing the World Right Now
The #1 idea of the Time’s “10 Ideas that are changing the world right now” is having a job. Apparently, having a job now is a good way to make money. Rhetorical question here, but when did they stop being a good way to make money?
It felt kind of odd reading this. It feels somewhat insulting in a way. Like when trust fund hipsters check out the homeless to get fashion cues. It’s written with the assumption that everyone is an investor or wants to be an investor. Part of the mixed feelings I guess is the idea that just having a job was/is viewed(by 5% or less, I think) as a dead end and that investing was the way to the american dream. Check out the first paragraph of the #1 idea that’s changing the world:
Remember when jobs weren’t worth your small talk? Think back a year or two. Picture yourself at a cocktail party or maybe picking up the kids from soccer. How did the conversation go? You talked about your house. A new deck! You talked about your portfolio. Gotta go small cap. Did you mention how much pleasure you derived from bringing home a steady paycheck? Probably not. “Land was valuable, and capital was valuable, and labor — who cared?” says David Ellison, a Boston-based money manager. “The attitude was, As long as I buy a few homes and invest in a hedge fund, I’m done. I can sit in my chair and watch football games.”
I though that the Times was a populist publication, not an “uppity” mag like the New Yorker. Hell, not even the New Yorker would publish something as pretentious as that. But overall I get the point and the article is worth a read.
I have to agree that “Jobs” are the “it” thing these days. For me, my career or job at the time was always an issue and not just a trend. My friends and I always asked each other how was work and then talked about the other things going on in our lives.Since my family was low-income, working was the most important thing to us.My friends parents were the investment bankers, lawyers, doctors, etc. When Black Monday occured in the ’87, all of my classmates were worried for their parents. I thought to myself,”My parents don’t have to worry about losing money in the stock market because we don’t have anything to invest.”
Enjoyed reading your perspective.
Lucy @lucymfel on Twitter
Thanks for the comment. Like everyone, I’m still trying to grasp what’s going on.