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The Toxic Grind

vadimkravcenko.com

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Re: The Toxic Grind

#11

Post by gammabetadelta »

The problem with a lot of these posts is that there's a spectrum of people.

On one end you have the sigma grind who work all the time and on the other those who don't do anything and complain.

Both are toxic in their own ways since accomplishment is so critical to self-worth. Yet, at the same time you have to listen to your body and rest.

I find that the happiest people don't read the hustle culture and just focus on their family and are happy with what they have.

The problem is some of us can't help but work so we have to accept that grinding is better than self-loathing. For some that's a false dichotomy, for others it is truth. That's sad.

Re: The Toxic Grind

#12

Post by president »

It's an inevitable part of late-stage capitalism, no? Union busting, off-shoring, and imported labor are all needed to prop up the system. Pair this with ever-increasing costs of living and you get a collapsing society. But hey, at least you get cheap goods right?

Re: The Toxic Grind

#13

Post by pbourke »

douglaswlance wrote: post #7

The point of work is to contribute to society. Sustaining your own life is a side-effect, though it is an important one, as it allows you to contribute more to society. Overworking can negatively impact how much you can contribute, so in that sense it should be avoided.

The point of your work is to contribute to society. The point of my work is to sustain my own life.

Re: The Toxic Grind

#14

Post by krembanan »

throwaway9980 wrote: post #6

Hitting my mid-40’s with a reasonably successful multi decade career in tech and I’ve recently realized that some gigantic percentage (plurality, maybe majority) of all the hard work has gone into competing against the people around me for opportunities. Not into actual value creation for others, not in service of others, purely focused on beating out other people for the chances. I’m not sure how to reorient myself.…

What exactly do you mean by this?

Re: The Toxic Grind

#16

Post by czbond »

kaudby wrote: post #5
fullshark wrote: post #2

There are some things that are zero sum or reasonably approximated by a zero sum game, and they are increasingly the tickets to multigenerational prosperity, namely real estate, promotions, job offers, and college admission slots. If you are a start up, your market can realistically only support X companies each getting a piece of the pie. I contend that the rat race exists not because of collective delusion but beca…

I agree. For me, it comes from a place of negative emotions (like the article explained). I want: 1. to have a family 2. to provide security for my family 3. to provide a reasonable education/upbringing for my family All of these things are becoming more expensive if you take the traditional route.

we'll have a large recession - which will knock prices back down. The Fed has prevented this from happening but have to let the air out soon - but they have to make it look like it isn't their fault. (Cue gas prices)

Re: The Toxic Grind

#17

Post by dislikedtom »

fullshark wrote: post #2

There are some things that are zero sum or reasonably approximated by a zero sum game, and they are increasingly the tickets to multigenerational prosperity, namely real estate, promotions, job offers, and college admission slots. If you are a start up, your market can realistically only support X companies each getting a piece of the pie. I contend that the rat race exists not because of collective delusion but beca…

>I contend that the rat race exists not because of collective delusion but because of basic economics.

I think it's a combination of delusion and basic economics, with a huge pinch of cultural heritage.

Re: The Toxic Grind

#18

Post by Havoc »

I had always interpreted the grind as a bit wider. ie not just work but also say hitting the gym at 6AM would count.

Doesn’t make the authors point any less valid though I do think this mindset applied to self improvement is less harmful than pure work

Re: The Toxic Grind

#19

Post by JumpCrisscross »

president wrote: post #12

It's an inevitable part of late-stage capitalism, no? Union busting, off-shoring, and imported labor are all needed to prop up the system. Pair this with ever-increasing costs of living and you get a collapsing society. But hey, at least you get cheap goods right?

> an inevitable part of late-stage capitalism, no?

No. There is no playbook or inevitability playing out. "Late-stage capitalism" is just lazy cynicism by a different meme.

Re: The Toxic Grind

#20

Post by CoastalCoder »

douglaswlance wrote: post #7

The point of work is to contribute to society. Sustaining your own life is a side-effect, though it is an important one, as it allows you to contribute more to society. Overworking can negatively impact how much you can contribute, so in that sense it should be avoided.

> The point of work is to contribute to society.

That seems to assume work has just one purpose. That strikes me as false, in that different persons can have different purposes for doing work.

Can you elaborate?

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