I am the classic cliche of the modern age. I have two degrees (Bach and Masters of Environmental Studies) and ten years in "client management" roles in the financial sector.

Currently unemployed (just finished the 2nd degree), I have begun to realize just how pointless my career has been. I have accomplished next to nothing (despite getting top evaluations in every job), and my current job search is unfocused ("what exactly can I do" is a tough question when all my skills are "soft" skills)

I really regret not going through either a profession (doctor, lawyer) or a trade (carpenter). I think I'd be happer a) accomplishing something every day and b) not having to deal with cubicle insanity.

If you are currently unemployed, maybe you have some time to learn a new skill? Take up carpentry or another trade, even if it doesn't become a new profession for you, it could be enjoyable and you'd be doing something real. You can't beat it for a sense of accomplishment, and it can help keep you from dwelling on things that you can't control like the economy. It worked for me after a layoff many years ago, when I was at a depressing cross-roads.

You must be good at learning new things, your years of education prove this...it's never too late. Best of luck to you.

Plenty of lawyers accomplish nothing all day long in cubicle insanity.

Also, plenty of doctors fake their way through semi-correct or wrong diagnoses all day long, prescribing antibiotics for everything from a hangnail to a cough.

Carpenter sounds more like a pure version of applying skills for a clear result.

Carpentry? Have you done any lately? By which I mean slugging it out in sub-zero temperatures with 4 x 8's of OSB, air nailers, dust, screaming saws, and F***ing classic rock blasting in your ear all day long, day in and day out for 50 weeks a year. No? I'm sorry, is this messing with your "pure vision" of applying skills? I can't, for the life of me, figure out why so few see that the broad influences that made their particular work a living hell haven't also royally screwed up everyone else's work life. I can bet that the so called philosopher writing the book in question is a naive objectivist - doesn't realize that his out look is framed with cognitive models from the objectivist mindset.

Cold Standing:

Carpentry? Have you done any lately? By which I mean slugging it out in sub-zero temperatures with 4 x 8's of OSB, air nailers, dust, screaming saws, and F***ing classic rock blasting in your ear all day long, day in and day out for 50 weeks a year. No? I'm sorry, is this messing with your "pure vision" of applying skills? I can't, for the life of me, figure out why so few see that the broad influences that made their particular work a living hell haven't also royally screwed up everyone else's work life. I can bet that the so called philosopher writing the book in question is a naive objectivist - doesn't realize that his out look is framed with cognitive models from the objectivist mindset.

Are you a disillusioned carpenter-turned-philosopher? This is very interesting. Sounds like you don't like the concept of the book.

Cold Standing:

Carpentry? Have you done any lately? By which I mean slugging it out in sub-zero temperatures with 4 x 8's of OSB, air nailers, dust, screaming saws, and F***ing classic rock blasting in your ear all day long, day in and day out for 50 weeks a year. No? I'm sorry, is this messing with your "pure vision" of applying skills? I can't, for the life of me, figure out why so few see that the broad influences that made their particular work a living hell haven't also royally screwed up everyone else's work life. I can bet that the so called philosopher writing the book in question is a naive objectivist - doesn't realize that his out look is framed with cognitive models from the objectivist mindset.

amen. i remember years back when i was an academic between grants, looking to get a job for the summer as a bicycle mechanic just to get some money coming in. something i had a reasonable amount of skill and experience with. the store owner asked "you enjoy fixing up bikes? getting things to work right? fixing busted stuff and making it like new?" I nod vigorously. "well, you'd hate this job then. the customers come in, they just want you to get their piece of junk back on the road again as cheaply as possible"

but you could do variations of that repair job. Find a shop (or open one) where you built bikes. Or found classics and refurbished them.

A parallel would be that it probably isn't too rewarding to work at jiffy lube. But if you were restoring some kind of classic car that you loved, then you would be on the track where you can combine the passion with the skill.

I pursued a corporate job with zeal when i was in college. I did internships with big name corporations. Landed jobs in consulting with top firms. But once i was there, i realized that it was completely empty for me. Every workplace has a subset of people who realize this. and a larger majority who are either oblivious to it, or in deep denial of it.

I found that i enjoyed 'studying' this sense of alienation more than the work. I became a master at faking it. At one point, i had it down to being able to do a month's worth of 'work' in about half a day. Naturally i waited until the last day of the month to cram in that work.

I went back to school to pursue an academic career. It was just the same shit in another pile for me. Finally, i jumped through the hoops necessary to become a teacher, and found something that fulfilled me. Yet, when i look around, there are still a good number of people who hate it and probably consider me delusional or oblivious.

When i started job hopping, the biggest barrier to trying new jobs was ridiculous hiring requirements. Most jobs don't really require a specific degree or even prior experience. A talented, generally educated person could do it well, but many organizations put up all kinds of barriers to keep out people who didn't jump through very specific hoops. When i pointed out that i'd been pretty good at everything else i'd done, and that the job didn't seem too hard, it tended to kill my chances for the position. (i didn't actually ever say that, but i meant it, and usually they caught the drift).

The long and short of all this is that the world conspires to push you down until you realize that you can only live on your own terms. As long as you play someone elses game, you either have to accept that you put your soul on hold, or learn to enjoy it.

I don't really think the world "conpsires to push you down." You may have found corporate life empty, but obviously not everyone is either oblivious or in denial. Even the most soulless corporation must ultimately produce something of value, or else it wouldn't exist. Everyone working for the corporation is somehow advancing that goal, or else they wouldn't have a job. So I personally, as a small cog in a big machine, may not feel like I'm having an impact, but is this honestly anything more than the narcissism of needing immediate and obvious feedback on my actions?

Furthermore, my perspective may be skewed, but my father was a mechanic for many years, and he always told me the reason he worked so hard was that so that I would have the opportunity to get educated so I wouldn't have to bust my chops the way he did. I have to wonder if this romanticization of manual labor is anything more than a sense of guilt at being the recipient of that kind of generosity.

wintermute47:

I don't really think the world "conpsires to push you down." You may have found corporate life empty, but obviously not everyone is either oblivious or in denial. Even the most soulless corporation must ultimately produce something of value, or else it wouldn't exist. Everyone working for the corporation is somehow advancing that goal, or else they wouldn't have a job. So I personally, as a small cog in a big machine, may not feel like I'm having an impact, but is this honestly anything more than the narcissism of needing immediate and obvious feedback on my actions?

Furthermore, my perspective may be skewed, but my father was a mechanic for many years, and he always told me the reason he worked so hard was that so that I would have the opportunity to get educated so I wouldn't have to bust my chops the way he did. I have to wonder if this romanticization of manual labor is anything more than a sense of guilt at being the recipient of that kind of generosity.

Look at AIG- true they started out as an insurance company providing something of value to society.

But they ended up making a trillion dollars worth of essentially casino bets on what would happen to worthless, fraudulent mortgage-backed securities - concocted for the sole purpose of providing huge bonuses to a small group of top executives.

Or Enron - they deliberately manipulated the California Power System, which led to tens of millions of consumers being blacked out for weeks at a time. Just to fill the pockets of a small group of traders.

Enron is gone now - I think society is MUCH better off for it.

Many corporations are not only not productive at all, but are PARASITES on society.

MisterPerson:

wintermute47:

I don't really think the world "conpsires to push you down." You may have found corporate life empty, but obviously not everyone is either oblivious or in denial. Even the most soulless corporation must ultimately produce something of value, or else it wouldn't exist. Everyone working for the corporation is somehow advancing that goal, or else they wouldn't have a job. So I personally, as a small cog in a big machine, may not feel like I'm having an impact, but is this honestly anything more than the narcissism of needing immediate and obvious feedback on my actions?

Furthermore, my perspective may be skewed, but my father was a mechanic for many years, and he always told me the reason he worked so hard was that so that I would have the opportunity to get educated so I wouldn't have to bust my chops the way he did. I have to wonder if this romanticization of manual labor is anything more than a sense of guilt at being the recipient of that kind of generosity.

Look at AIG- true they started out as an insurance company providing something of value to society.

But they ended up making a trillion dollars worth of essentially casino bets on what would happen to worthless, fraudulent mortgage-backed securities - concocted for the sole purpose of providing huge bonuses to a small group of top executives.

Or Enron - they deliberately manipulated the California Power System, which led to tens of millions of consumers being blacked out for weeks at a time. Just to fill the pockets of a small group of traders.

Enron is gone now - I think society is MUCH better off for it.

Many corporations are not only not productive at all, but are PARASITES on society.

Yeah, but that's just because society glorifies its parasites. AIG executives or executives of other financial outfits who provided quality financial products reliably got a handsome salary, but once they started coughing up ridiculous derivatives with huge profits along with equally huge risk, they were rock stars. EXTREME!!! WHOOOOO!!!!

We lionize greed, risk taking, and in general, stupidity.

Or course, when I say society and we, I mean the media; we just follow. And the media, they're just corporations. Parasitical ones. Which means they're adapting to what works with us. Society.

of course, if you study actual parasites biologically, you see this behavior as a natural end point of parasitism.

My husband is a master carpenter, is absolutely excellent at what he does, and loves it. Or, I should say, loved it. Because now he is out of work like so many other people. Carpentry (and similar professions) is not a ticket out of the recession. People still need money to pay you, after all.