To fixate on finding work that makes us happy is a luxury

I worked with someone who had something similar to the author. I worked with an Iranian developer at one of my first gigs. He said his family fled Iran after the fall of the Shah because his family had been marked for death since his father was a successful businessman and owned a growing telecommunications company.

When his family got here, he was just happy to be alive. His father used his technical knowledge to land a job at a computer company. He was told the same thing by his father. Work to provide for your family, then create your opportunities to do what you love. His father told him it was more important to be employed doing something, then sitting around chasing your dreams not doing anything.

He said it was because he had to work menial jobs, it allowed him to go to school, get a degree, and move up in the world.

If you're finding something in your work to be passionate about, are you "following your passion"? I always read that expression to be about changing your life, not adjusting your passions to fit it.

The accusations of "bloodsucking millennials" coming from other higher earning millennials (and ones who usually followed their "passions" to get there) is beyond ridiculous, it's actually a bit nauseating. The author starts the piece by saying that he is not only a millennial, but one that does work that intersects with his passions. That preface pretty much destroys any credibility he has to discuss dropping one's passions for a paycheck.

Not everyone has a passion that also involves a high paycheck, and since yours does you really have no right to criticize those that don't.

This line really sums up the sentiment.

> You do not deserve to pursue your passion.

Who are you to judge what someone deserves? From the contents of the piece, you gave up nothing in the pursuit of your paycheck (and if you did you should probably rethink the structure of the piece). Why should anyone else?

Also, did you ever stop to think that maybe Santiago's father's passion was to provide for his family, and so - in a way - he was following his passion?

This is all coming from a millennial that has a well paying job, and one that is also generally pretty damn proud of his generation.

Go back to reading your Ayn Rand novels.

"Screw Your Passion. Get a Job." what a title, and the same attitude throughout the article. While I'm not one of the people your post targets, I really dislike this kind of rhetoric. Where you have to use "strong" words to cause rumble for attention.

Back to the core topic. I would argue about balance though. A lot of people are lucky to be in a position where they have that extra room. It's good to use part of that room,

There are parts of the world where that room was present for a long time, and yet due to fallacy of logic and paternal traditions people were forces to a "safe" choice. Now that this room is not existent, you have the majority of people that hate their job and their "safe" choice is not safe anymore. At least with passion it would have been easier and happier even to the whole society.

Suffice to say, that parents of course will try to do everything to take care of their family. No doubt about that.