20

Not That Bad

One of the girls in the front office just got let go at my company. She either got let go or she quit. I think that she quit but the way the email was worded makes me think she was let go. She seemed pretty good at her job but she was really taking advantage of this COVID thing. She did not want to work from the office. I think she’d tell you she was worried about getting sick but I really think she just wanted to work from home.

She reached out to me when we got the email about coming back to the office. She thought it was “too soon to go back.” I told her that I couldn’t afford to lose this job. The job market isn’t great right now and if they wanted me back in the office you can guarantee I’d be there. She was pretty upset at me when I expressed this opinion. She seemed like she wanted me to get on her side and push back against management.

Well I’ve been here for close to 5 months now and I haven’t gotten sick. Even if I did get sick I live by myself and could easily quarantine for 2 weeks. I’ve made the right decision for myself. I’m a healthy individual so I think I’d handle the virus just fine. I do think the country vastly overreacted to this thing and scared a lot of people.

I’m a proponent of radical individualism (from the political philosophy standpoint) so I think people should be able to make decisions for themselves. If a business wants to keep its doors open it should be allowed to. If you are afraid of getting sick you can stay inside your home and wear masks and gloves when you go out. I understand the argument against this. “It’s like saying you can only urinate in the shallow end of the pool” I heard one economist say. I just think that line of thinking is a slippery slope to authoritarianism.

My one friend reached out to me today and said that the amount of people applying for jobs in the area is unbelievable. “Employers have too much power” he told me. I understand where he’s coming from and he’s right in certain respects but this line of thinking is exactly why so many business are going overseas. The cost of doing business in America is so high. Try to open up a sandwich shop in your town and you’re going to run into a lot of local and federal business regulations along with local and federal taxes. Regulations and taxation are the enemy of freedom. It’s still better than many countries but I’m not sure how long this will last.

I consider myself a lower case L libertarian. The thinkers that appeal to me the most are those that classify themselves as “anarcho-capitalists”. Murray Rothbard, a student of Ludwig Von Mises, coined this term. Rothbard wrote Anatomy of the State, which really opened my eyes to a different way of thinking. The book that really got me interested in this philosophy, however, was The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous. Like many people, I got interested in Bitcoin to make money but it sent me down a rabbit hole of Austrian Economics and Radical Liberty.

This really changed the way I view the world. I understand that America began with radical liberty and individualism in mind, although incredibly hypocritical with how black people were treated. Any form of slavery is a horrible institution that not only robs people of their liberty but also robs economies of wealth.

A slave owner is similar to a politician in a socialized or centrally-planned economy. They are much wealthier than the people around them but they are poorer (in real value) than they would be in a free society. There’s a reason why GDP skyrocketed after slavery was abolished in the U.S. Liberty (also read capitalism) is the tide that raises all boats. A necessary distinction that needs to be understood is that slavery and capitalism cannot coexist. If slavery exists in a society than it is not a free market. Your skills and labor are the greatest capital that you own and you have the right to market that capital (within physical and contractual limitations) as you please.

Today we live in a compromised society. Our prosperity is great thanks to our ancestors who were able to delay consumption and lower their time preference to produce things of great value. Our freedoms and liberties, however, are greatly compromised. It’s very hard to start a business and when you do it’s very hard to comply with all the ongoing employment regulations. If you make it impossible to fire an employee businesses are going to stop hiring people. They are going to move to places where the business and compliance costs are the lowest so they can increase their bottom lines.

I want to make it as easy and profitable to employ me as possible. I don’t want to be headache to management, they have enough to deal with. They’re worried about complying with local and federal regulations. They’re worried about keeping our suppliers and our customers happy. They’re worried about keeping the office conducive to getting work done. I want them to see the value I’m adding to be greater than the value I’m subtracting (my salary). As long as that equation stays positive (in their eyes) they will keep me on.

Currently, I do not have a life-changing entrepreneurial idea that I can pursue. If I ever get one or a better employment opportunity I will pursue that. Until then I will be the best employee I can be and pursue things in my free time that I feel will increase my happiness and net worth. I’m invested in precious metals and Bitcoin because I feel this is my best way to get wealthy. My day to day employment is to cover my bills. My job is not something that I love or find truly fulfilling but it gives me the opportunity to live on my own and and have some spending money.

My job also isn’t that bad. I show up at 8 and leave at 5. The people are pretty cool and I can usually have some pretty interesting conversations. My boss sucks but everyone’s boss sucks. It’s only around 20 minutes from my apartment so the commute is pretty easy. I’m grateful for my job even though it’s not something that I love. Someday I hope to find myself in a job that really excites me but for now this isn’t that bad.