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Poll

Have I sold out?

Completely, you bastard.
- 2 (20%)
Not at all: you're worth the cash.
- 6 (60%)
Cowboyneal.
- 2 (20%)

Total Members Voted: 9

Voting closed: December 20, 2004, 04:31:43 am


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Author Topic: Have I sold out?  (Read 3162 times)

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Choop

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Have I sold out?
« on: December 20, 2004, 04:31:43 am »
So I've been gone for a while; sorry, I'm busy now. After being self- then un-employed for four months, with the wife also self-the un-employed for three months, we were ecstatic upon hearing about a new job each on the same day (not two hours apart!). This one here's a consulting gig, making an Arthur-load of money.

Trouble is, I was also in contention for a stable, full-time job loosely associated with the federal government. Its pay was good, but only about half what the consulting gig pays; the issue was stability. I could ride for years on this job, maybe end up heading a small team (my real strength) versus taking a short-term contract, then hoping either it would be renewed or I would find a new contract.

Long story short, if it's not too late for that, I've already got a new video card, fine sweater, and a pair of dress sneakers, plus I'm damned near caught up on all my debts. Did I sell out or effing what?
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V-Adore

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Have I sold out?
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2004, 05:08:10 am »
Stability is good, but there's also something to be said for taking the money and running, honestly. If you're not going to be wedded to a job emotionally in any event, why worry about your long-term prospects in it?
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AugustWest

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Re: Have I sold out?
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2004, 05:22:32 am »
Quote from: "Choopernickel"
an Arthur-load of money.


Heh.

I don't understand why you think you've sold out.  OK, so you're getting paid to do whateverthehellitis that you do.  Are you compromising your moral, ethical, artistic, aesthetic or some other such beliefs by taking this job?  I have virtually no information to answer such a question, but it doesn't sound like it.

Sounds to me like you're asking a more pragmatic question of economics (among other things.)  Sounds like you want to know whether you should take the a) high-paying job that may be short-term or b) the stable, secure long-term job that pays less.  I don't see much of a moral component to that decision; therefore I don't think you've "sold out", whatever that means.

I don't know you, the jobs or the rest of your life-situation well enough to even begin to help you make such a decision.  However, advising people is my job.  Here are some random thoughts you may find helpful.

It's not wrong to get paid for doing you job.  Getting paid more doesn't mean what you're doing is wrong.  Poverty does not equal integrity.

We have material needs and wants.  We need financial resources to obtain these needs and wants.  The human condition is such that we will find a way to obtain sufficient financial resources to get what we need and as much of what we want as we can justify to ourselves.  Finding a method to earn money that does not unjustly deprive you or others of life, health, property or sanity is one of our biggest challenges in life.

It sucks to work every day at something you do not like.

Money isn't everything but it sucks to not have any.

Faugh!  Enough hot air from me.
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Va

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Have I sold out?
« Reply #3 on: December 20, 2004, 03:05:05 pm »
I have been working for the federal government for almost 10 years (4 as a military member, almost 6 as a contractor) and my only advice is, like smoking, the easiest way to quit is not to start.
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Nabubrush

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Have I sold out?
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2004, 05:37:48 am »
I'm abstaining from the voting - the last time I did it my country was stolen. However, get while the getting is good. I work for a subcontractor of a planet-raping multinational, but I have really cool shoes.
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jough

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Have I sold out?
« Reply #5 on: December 21, 2004, 05:58:37 am »
Your country wasn't stolen - the majority just up and GAVE IT AWAY.
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AlohaDawg

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Have I sold out?
« Reply #6 on: December 21, 2004, 07:43:09 am »
Don't worry, those of us that took it will be giving it back in a few years. I was pissed for 8 years too. It goes quicker than you think.

Selling out is an odd way to describe it. I would think no differently about you in either work situation if you were happy with your compensation and if you were happy, successful and felt fulfilled in your job. So do what you want and don't assign value to those 8 hours a day or so that is out of proportion with the rest of your life. Because there is definitely more to your life than what you do for someone else in exchange for money.
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arkabee

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Have I sold out?
« Reply #7 on: December 21, 2004, 02:55:07 pm »
Quote from: "AlohaDawg"
So do what you want and don't assign value to those 8 hours a day or so that is out of proportion with the rest of your life. Because there is definitely more to your life than what you do for someone else in exchange for money.


i've heard this often over the years, or sentiment similar.

and i agree, a person is made up of more than their work/professional experiences.

however, i disagree with the notion that work/professional experiences make up a negligible amount of a person.

24 hours a day.  sleep 7 hours (if you are lazy and lucky, i'm sure parents are laughing heartily at my quaint notions of a "good night's sleep"), get ready for work and drive to work.  work for 8 hours, plus an hour for lunch, but an hour that is hinged entirely within the work day.  if you don't work late, 1/2 to finish that stupid conversation with a coworker and get home and etc.

17.5 hours of a 24 hour day is gone.  5 days out of the week.

not counting any overtime.

to me, and maybe/probably only to me, _that's_ what "selling out" is all about:

dedicating a large, a tremendous, a huge amount of my LIFE to something i hate, doing something i hate, for something i hate, so that people i hate can do better, etc, etc, etc.

if you like what you do, and you aren't committing "Evil" (whatever you definition of it might be, but hell, maybe you are evil, so i guess you'd be a sellout if you had to commit "good" at work.  you know what i mean, though, i hope), and you are getting the moneys for the foods, then no you aren't a sellout.

i dunno, i'm rambling.
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sjlimmer

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Have I sold out?
« Reply #8 on: December 21, 2004, 03:54:34 pm »
We've all heard someone say that if you do what you love, success will follow.  There's an interesting article about this here.  Basically his argument (and I'm not saying I agree completely with him) is that most people just won't be able to make it if they only do what they love.  

Adult responsibility sucks, but somebodys got to do the work.  Might as well try and make the best of it, I guess.


P.S. Choop, I thought you meant "would it be selling out to work for the Man?"
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jough

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« Reply #9 on: December 21, 2004, 04:29:24 pm »
I always thought it was "Do what you love. Poverty will follow."

I am doing what I love and am about to be homeless again come February.

So Choop - take the money and run!
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Nabubrush

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Have I sold out?
« Reply #10 on: December 21, 2004, 10:14:45 pm »
Do what you love, and McDonalds/Taco Bell/Arby's will go out of business.
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AlohaDawg

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« Reply #11 on: December 21, 2004, 10:21:59 pm »
Jough, sell everything and move to Hawaii. It's the best place there is to be homeless.

Kev, you're right - I would just clarify that I think a sense of proportionality is important - I don't think one's worklife is negligible either.

A long time back, we had a discussion about Wellness in general - I generally believe in the model that looks at different aspects of a person's wellness. Occupational, Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Social, and Emotional wellness are the areas on which your life's activities generally impact.

I think all these things in balance make for a generally healthy person. Of course, everyone engages in kind of an internal bargaining between these things, and everyone is comfortable with different amounts of each - my dad was way into the Occupational and not so good with the Social, for instance. But each of these areas should be served in some way in order to have a high level of Wellness within the model.
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