31–40 of 48 posts
It sounds like it sucks that this individual has conflated their personal subjective feeling of happiness with a phenomenon from Twitter called “hustle culture.” I’m personally not entirely clear on what the exact definition of hustle culture is, but if it’s a buzzword from social media that defines people’s entire lives that doesn’t sound… ideal. I personally can’t imagine reading such a generic sounding phrase — wr…
And there's your problem. The "culture" changes you so that you see things through the lens of this culture. As you identify with it, then you become that position vs others who don't view the world as you do. It's you who hustles and those who don't. The separation can degrade into a toxic mindset where you see yourself as some sort of doer king, and frustrated why other people can't appreciate it and you expect people who work for you to work like you do.
You can work your ass off without identifying with that work. As soon as it becomes "culture" then you're on the wrong track.
I believe the author has missed the point here. The conversation is not that “working hard is a bad thing”. “Hustle culture” is about making character judgements based on how many “hustles” one has going on at any given time. That is, if you aren’t killing yourself trying, then you aren’t trying. This is obviously awful and not a culture I want to live in. I’m happy that the author is having fun with their business,…
Well, you seem to be rather obviously making a character judgement here. Choosing to value something doesn’t imply a value judgement is being made on all other things of potential value. It certainly doesn’t imply that all other potential values are lesser. Describing the values of others as being for certain gross is most definitely judging them as lesser.
This isn't the same as a hustler making character judgements left and right, pretending not to, all while trying to gaslight their employees into doing more work for them for free.
The parent has a moral argument for their character judgement. A hustler wields character judgements along with guilt and shame as a tool for achieving their own ends.
I believe the author has missed the point here. The conversation is not that “working hard is a bad thing”. “Hustle culture” is about making character judgements based on how many “hustles” one has going on at any given time. That is, if you aren’t killing yourself trying, then you aren’t trying. This is obviously awful and not a culture I want to live in. I’m happy that the author is having fun with their business,…
The author demonstrates that a one-summer hustle had a good outcome. Nobody's trying to take that away from you. Sometimes, I cannot contain my passion for a problem and I need to make a choice: lie in bed with a buzzing brain, or get up and work on it. All that's fine. But, word of warning from somebody who was all hustle for over a decade: burnout is real. Hustle culture says we should all be doing the 996 thing fo…
Maybe "hustle culture" could be better defined. I think it means different things to different people. When I think "hustle culture" I think multi-level marketing, corny fake Instagram ads, and poorly conceived business propositions. You're right, bragging about how little sleep you got doesn't make you admirable, it makes you a schmuck.
I’m basically retired, and writing software for nonprofits.
I really, really enjoy writing software, and the time does not feel like a burden.
During my “day job” days, my corporate task (engineering manager) consisted of a whole lot of sitting around, waiting for stuff to happen. Not too many overlong days. It was fairly 9-5. I guess some folks would love it.
I hated it. It got the bills paid, and helped me to have sufficient investment to retire ten years early (like I had a choice, anyway). I couldn’t work on my own projects, on the company dime, and I did do a few projects for them, but these projects were ignored.
What kept me going, were the projects I did on my own time. Because the job was not too demanding, time-wise, I was able to get quite a bit done.
I have not heard the term “hustle culture” before, but I’m quite familiar with basic concept.
I don’t have an issue with people calling it “toxic,” if they mean people forcing others to “hustle,” or people that are “hustling” being all judgmental of others. If it is how we, on our own, choose to work, and it works for us, I won’t lose sleep over it.
I believe the author has missed the point here. The conversation is not that “working hard is a bad thing”. “Hustle culture” is about making character judgements based on how many “hustles” one has going on at any given time. That is, if you aren’t killing yourself trying, then you aren’t trying. This is obviously awful and not a culture I want to live in. I’m happy that the author is having fun with their business,…
Colloquially, hustle isn't rigorously defined. The things you say are reprehensible, are (imo). However, where a person's primary job doesn't pay well enough, and won't provide future financial security, hustle (defined here as having any second job) is entirely necessary for many Americans, not just for a hypothetical future passive income stream, but also in order to make rent and other basic necessities.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, you seem to be rather obviously making a character judgement here. Choosing to value something doesn’t imply a value judgement is being made on all other things of potential value. It certainly doesn’t imply that all other potential values are lesser. Describing the values of others as being for certain gross is most definitely judging them as lesser.
You're making a false equivalence. It's okay to call out and have a low opinion of someone who you believe is behaving poorly or acting in bad faith. The parent is making a character judgement, but they explained their reasoning for doing so. This isn't the same as a hustler making character judgements left and right, pretending not to, all while trying to gaslight their employees into doing more work for them for fr…
That is exactly the same thing as the parent comment is doing. The only point of difference between the judgemental parent comment and a judgemental “hustler”, is where you or I stand in relation to the position they each take.
You’re also putting forward a straw man argument. I’m not a proponent of “hustle culture”, but I’ve seen plenty of their prolific material. Working hard for your own benefit seems to me to be their most fundamental value. Working hard exclusively for the benefit of your employer seems to be exactly antithetical to the values I see them promote.
The core judgemental (and hypocritical) idea here is that “the things I value are promoted in good faith, and the things I disagree with are promoted in bad faith”, which is simply an attribution bias that displays the same judgemental-ness you’re complaining about.
I've had a bit of an axe to grind with the term "hustle" lately myself. I completely agree with your post and like the term when used as a coach uses it. When you have the motivation, use it! But there's a darker definition; one I see play out inside tech circles quite frequently. The kind of thing that gets you in trouble in seedy bars, or makes you a lot of money if you can get away with it. It's barely legal (if a…
I once met someone who lived and breathed "hustle culture". They even had a giant poster about "the hustle" framed in their living room. They were all about business, (allegedly) making money, and "legacy building". They had endless stories about their luxurious lifestyle and vacations, since work hard and play harder was their motto, after all. I later found out that it was all a ruse. They didn't own any businesses…
I think we have an epidemic of that right now both in the broader culture (e.g., MLMs, crypto hustling) and in tech, where some icons of success (Jobs, Zuckerberg) have led to countless dubious imitators (Theranos, WeWork).