I Will Not Participate in the Rat Race

Let me be abstract, what is the purpose of "work"? Why are you going to the same place, doing the same thing, the same hours, day after day? Because it's efficient.</p>

I like to see it as a scale from 0 - 100, where 0 is you do absolutely everything yourself. You are a literal caveman in the woods — building a shack with sticks and rocks. By 100, the only thing you do is the job you specialize in. Someone else built your home, grew your food, drove you to work, cut the food on your plate, wiped your ass. Most of us fall somewhere in between, we like to cook our own meals, however with ingridients that someone else provided, we like to program using compilers someone else has made. Some of us like to DIY, other people call handymen and craftspeople. That's fine, that is how modern society is structured.</p>

Grug</h3>

Imagine a tribe, where everyone fends for themselves, they're all at 0 on the scale. Everyone spends all their time to achieve their baseline life quality. However, one person decides to specialize, let's call him Grug.</p>

Grug decides to focus on producing more firewood, which he trades with his other tribespeople in exchange for food and shelter. Not having to worry as much about food and shelter frees up time to produce more firewood, and having more time allows Grug to become more experienced and work more efficiently. This tribe of 16 people, who used to spend an hour a day collecting firewood, is now supplied buy Grug, who can provide everyone with firewood in just 12 hours. Grug in exchange is provided the resources to achieve his normal baseline life quality, and now has 4 hours that he can use for what he wants.</p>

Perhaps he will use this time to find a better rock for his axe, allowing him to work even more efficiently. Perhaps he will spend this time collecting resources to get a bigger shack. Perhaps he will even just relax, and you know — enjoy life.</p>

Grug has moved up the scale, and has more time to enjoy life, or enjoy a better quality of life.</p>

Kevin</h3>

Now imagine Kevin, he works in Nos Langeles for a tech startup. He works twelve hours a day, six days a week, and he earns bank. Unlike Grug, Kevin doesn't cook his own food, he is able to pay a chef to cook it for him. Kevin doesn't drive to work, he pays for a chauffeur so he can clock in some extra hours on the ride to work. Kevin doesn't watch movies, he pays someone else to do that and tell him Kevin if he enjoyed the movie or not. Kevin doesn't wipe his own ass..</del></p>

You probably understand where I'm going with this. The short abstract of this is that.</p>

• The more you specialize, the more you can achieve — and the more you can buy.</li>
• However, the more you specialize, the less you live.</li> </ul>

  There is a point of diminshing returns on specialization.</p>

  • I am currently writing this from a warm building, built by an expert. In return, I'm willing to specialize in something myself (personally, software development)</li>
  • You may want to hire a handyman to build a fence, personally I would like to do that myself. However, that is subjective and you have a choice.</li>
  • Neither of us want's to work so much that we can afford a mansion, which we can't live in because we are to busy working.</li> </ul>

    Please refer to this completely real graph with real values</em> First you gain free time and quality of life, however eventually your free time plateous, but quality of life keeps increasing. The further you go however, the less free time you have. You may have everything you could dream of, but you don't have time live it.</p>

    Take a moment to reflect on yourself, your friends and people you know — where they end up on this scale.</p>

    That friend that works part time and lives in a small apartment. While they don't spend a lot of time at work, they instead have to spend time cooking their own food with raw ingridents. They have to hand wash their dishes, because they can't afford a dishwasher.</p>

    That relative that always drives expensive cars, but never shows up to get-togethers. That old neighbour that is always home, but is always fixing something.</p>

    I don't want to be rich</h2>

    I'm not going to found my own AI start-up. I'm not going to invest in the orphan crushing machine. I'm not going to work weekends to buy a new car.</p>

    I'm going to work my 7,5 hours a day, 5 times a week. I'm going to take the bus, so I can spend less time driving. I'm going to live in my house out in the country, where I can thrive.</p>

    When I have payed of my mortage, I will probably work 80% instead, I don't want the money,</p>

    I'm content. I'm happy.</p>