Money $$ or Self-respect?

So I keep seeing a lot of people who are in the two comma club, that are very dissatisfied with what they do. They are not respected and made to work like a slave and they only stay there cause it pays them. They always keep complaining how their boss/chairman//founder is so unworthy and just got lucky.

What are your thoughts on this?

Would you give up Self Respect for the High 6/7 figures?

 

I feel the same though I'm not in the two comma club. SWEs in most tech companies have the same issues. And my coworkers still feel overworked and underpaid.

I don't how bad it could get but people in the 6 or 7 figures definitely are not under paid. Yes, there is too much work sometimes. Thats why they hired you in the first place. Cause you do work of 3 people for the salary of 2.

 
Funniest

That is the best part about owning the means of production. I can't believe how much I get paid to do nothing but make sure you little slaves do not fuck up. I would happily throw two commas at a dude willing to work his ass off, teach him the ropes on how to run shit and then send him off so we can both play golf together while he trains more slaves for himself.

 

I don't like half-baked dichotomies like "$$$ vs SELF RESPECT??". What do people asking this question imagine the alternative to status quo is? Some job where you get paid a lot of money while simultaneously getting to be the proverbial "#1?"?

A job is a job for a reason - it's what pays the bills. What you're talking about - the intersection of your unrestrained passion and huge money, too - is a fantasy for most people. Even those who do have it (artists, athletes, etc.) frequently have problems living that apparently enviable lifestyle.

Once you abandon the juvenile notion that someone is ever going to pay you to enrich yourself as opposed to them, you will no longer see the above situation as a choice between money and self respect.

Array
 
BobMerkin:
I think it’s important to ask which is more valuable though because that is going to impact your choice of work. It’s not just about earning income.

Again, you completely fail to escape the paradigm that work is what gives value to your life. Finance in general promotes this worldview, because at the end of the day it isn't rewarding as an industry and doesn't create much in the way of value for the world, especially not at a junior or mid-level, and so they have to convince you that you can derive value from your job.

You don't have to. You can work a day job and find meaning on your own time. You can paint or play music or volunteer or just learn something new every day. Once you accept that the primary driver of "meaning" in your life is your career, you've already failed. Maybe don't work the extra hour at night, and go do something you love instead. Sure, you might not make the top bonus bucket, but you'll be more fulfilled. It isn't one or the other unless you've completely bought into the scam that's being sold - that whoever pays your bills owns not only your time, but your interests as well

 
Fugue:
I don't like half-baked dichotomies like "$$$ vs SELF RESPECT??". What do people asking this question imagine the alternative to status quo is? Some job where you get paid a lot of money while simultaneously getting to be the proverbial "#1?"?

A job is a job for a reason - it's what pays the bills. What you're talking about - the intersection of your unrestrained passion and huge money, too - is a fantasy for most people. Even those who do have it (artists, athletes, etc.) frequently have problems living that apparently enviable lifestyle.

Once you abandon the juvenile notion that someone is ever going to pay you to enrich yourself as opposed to them, you will no longer see the above situation as a choice between money and self respect.

With athletes and other celebrities, I've noticed that they're rarely happy from doing whatever talent they have as entertainment for other people. I find them showing a greater degree of happiness when they own something and run that as their sense of identity, moonlighting in the entertainment field as singer/rapper, athlete, actor, etc.

 

it's possible to have both. as Nassim Taleb says, the 3 worst addictions in the world are carbs, heroin, and a monthly salary. I have issues with the first, but the third should make you think. once you learn to make rain, you call a lot of the shots, so you can maintain your self respect while still getting paid. however, the road is less clear, has a lot of potential failure, and is not as quick as rising to VP by your mid/late 20s, but the ceiling is infinite

 

As someone stated above, don't make your career your life. Find interest in other things and progress in them. This is key. Personally, I felt neutral about my job for years, not satisfied or dissatisfied, and I didn't have any hobbies besides going out with friends. But once I started getting into fitness like doing calisthenics and MMA, I look forward to starting my day every day because it's so much more fulfilling. I progress in my normal job as well as in other activities outside of work. I truly believe fitness combined with good nutrition should be a requirement for human beings. You just feel better in every way possible.

 
BlimpBananas:
So I keep seeing a lot of people who are in the two comma club, that are very dissatisfied with what they do. They are not respected and made to work like a slave and they only stay there cause it pays them. They always keep complaining how their boss/chairman//founder is so unworthy and just got lucky.

What are your thoughts on this?

Would you give up Self Respect for the High 6/7 figures?

This is written like an awful Instagram post with a pic of some buff dude with tats, clutching a Bentley wheel with a gold Rolex on and all kinds of flare.

 

it's about relativity - speaking as someone who is in (and is also complaining) about the same position.

I get paid good for my age group, bad for my peer group (team actually brought in zero rev last year), and very bad compared to people who I know are utterly useless to the firm and a massive cost.

and because I (and most of the complainers, I'd bet) equate pay with self worth and the value of the person, when I see someone whose value really doesn't measure up to how much economic benefit they're getting, being paid waaaay more than me, it creates internal conflict.

we've all been taught (as hardworking high achievers from target schools) that money / prestige is an indicator of success and is a function of how smart you are and how much effort you put in.

it is most definitely not

if he weren't earning so much I'd just ignore him - no one every complains about a useless middle / back office person (there are as many useless ones as really hardworking ones) who is alot happier than them and being paid a decent living wage (no models and bottles that's all), because he's getting paid way less than them in absolute amounts

 

This topic makes no sense, because you worded it as, "person with a lot of money still has a boss". Look, people with no money tend to have an even more aggressive, nuisance of an overseer.

What you're talking about in the OP comes down to what most regular folks go through, not something that comes as a result of having money.

And by that notion, a person with "two commas" has a hell of a lot more self-respect than the person relying on the government or even the one generating his ENTIRE over-priced, cramped apartment, minuscule livelihood on a single arrogant prick. The millionaire at least can see generous income to complement their paycheck.

 

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