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It looks to me that in the last several decades, and I don't think the blame is exclusively on Silicon Valley, the concept of dignity being an integral element of work has disappeared.

All these jobs you list in your essay 50, 70 years ago, while not sexy, would certainly give a person a sense of dignity in most cases. You're a waiter and you do your job right. You're paid fairly. In may parts of the world you actually got an education for it. There was a way to advance (from a café waiter to high class restaurant, or cocktail maker, or doing high-end parties, etc). You work your hours, have a right to breaks, sometimes in the law, sometimes in an unspoken covenant with the boss (smoke breaks), and doing your job well was met with a base level of respect from the rest of society.

It feels like this disappeared, and now those of us doing "traditional" jobs cannot shake the feeling of being a sucker, while the rest sell their soul for the chance of becoming the next Tik Tok sensation...

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Nov 22, 2021Liked by Thomas J Bevan

I'd say the biggest issue with tech is that it managed to totally separate actions from consequences. From our overlords' POV, it's easier to "disrupt" a sector and destroy thousands of jobs when you will never have to face these people. In a way, tech enables this destruction "from the comfort of your own home", where you can shield yourself and only see what you want to see ("I didn't contribute to throw these people under the poverty line, I actually helped building the technology and services of tomorrow"). This was harder in past times, because your decisions often impacted your own community/city and there was these things called reputation and accountability that could bite you in the ass some time later.

From our POV it's the same. How many liberal-thinking, progressive people are going to protests for human rights and at the same time, see no issue ordering UberEats 3x a week and have their burger delivered by an unregistered refugee biking in the rain 10 hours a day and making way less than minimal wage ? But the app is well designed, and the ads always show healthy smiling people, happy to bike in the rain for us, so no need to look the other way.

Btw, one of the things I've heard the most in the tech world is the phrase "Reducing friction", as in "Our app reduces friction between X and Y", which usually means eliminating the middle man. Ironic since friction is what you get when you bother someone.

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“I am not necessarily saying to fight the bad, unless you feel a particular calling to do so. Instead you should champion the good.”

This. Right. Here. A huge part of the “disruption” narrative is its’ depiction of itself as a magical force of destiny, one which you may write about in thinkpieces but you simply have no ability as a human to withstand. That’s convenient. The reality of course is that even the smallest positive action taken repetitively in your context is worth 100 or so negative doom pronouncements into the ether. And to take your advice and back my own words up, I’m off to our local bookstore tomorrow.

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Nov 21, 2021Liked by Thomas J Bevan

Preaching to the choir TJB, but enjoyed the essay. To wit, I heeded your call to "the action of choice" and renewed a subscription to a beloved print publication, and I did bring over 100 American persimmons to a local botanical garden for over 90 people to sample and taste without any Insta-influencing. While your trophy may be plastic, the sentiment is real and appreciated. In a crazy world where for all too many people the only remaining shred of authenticity is their online 2-factor authentication, I know I am in the right place....in The Commonplace.

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Nov 21, 2021Liked by Thomas J Bevan

I shall continue to intermittently ruminate on this budding thought, in short… we are losing our local culture to the global profit of convenience. Only what we do in real-time to preserve meaning, will remain.

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