I don't want to be self-employed, actually
This might just be a gen Z thing (though it started before our generation), but I’m starting to feel more and more like the societal expectation is for us to want to be self-employed in some way.
As in, that should be the dream.
As in, you know you’ve made it when you can quit the day job and pursue that thing you’re super passionate about full-time. Even better if you never have to have the day job.
And I’m probably wrong. This is probably just me projecting whatever insecurities I have that are exacerbated by my circles of influence onto society, but I feel like everyone I know is trying to start some kind of business. Almost all the people I watch on YouTube are freelancers, full time YouTubers, or some other type of entrepreneur. The university I go to is known for startup culture and I’ve run into some decently successful startup founders.
And now I feel weird for wanting to have a job that doesn’t involve me being my own boss.
I feel like I’ve been told that the ultimate thing anyone can aspire to is running their own business and having it be wildly successful, and I’m not opposed to starting a business if in the future that’s what I decide I want to do. But right now I don’t. It’s a ton of work. It’s a ton of commitment. It’s like making an agreement with yourself that you’re going to spend a significant amount of mental energy worrying about this business you care deeply about for a long time.
I feel like to be a successful entrepreneur, your business kind of has to become a part of your identity, and definitely has to take over your life to some extent.
I’m not really interested in that. What I really want to do is get a job I really love and find fulfillment in that pays well enough that I have disposable income to just… try other stuff in my free time? I feel like the problem with capitalism is this feeling that everything needs to be monetized. And I think the second you decide that everything you are passionate about should be your career… I don’t know. I find that limiting. I honestly think trying to make businesses profitable is limiting and I’d rather that be someone else’s problem.
Look, I’m not against people who want to be self-employed. But I don’t know that I personally would enjoy that, because I want to try a gazillion things, and I want to be able to afford to try all the things without having to 100% throw myself into each of them and then worry about them being profitable.
I also don’t want to have to invent something new or offer some kind of new or special service. Like, I’m happy with that being someone else’s problem? All I want in life is an interesting job where I get to work with cool people and do stuff that matters to someone and be happy and have a life outside of work and yes, I know it’s a dying possibility and this mindset is ridiculously traditional or whatever but… ugh
Can universal basic income be a thing please?
Seriously, I just want to be able to support myself, and try cool stuff, and work with cool people, and exist. Please just make universal basic income a thing.