Economic Inequality is the big news story these days. Whether we’re talking about Occupy Wall Street, the Google Bus protests, the high rents in New York, gentrification, the stagnation of middle class incomes, Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth or whatever.
I suppose all that is cause for concern, but to me, it’s a pretty transient inequality. The BIG inequality, the REAL class divide, is something far more painful and pervasive at the everyday level.
The greatest divide in the labor market is between those who love their jobs, and those who do not. One very enviable state of being and one very tragic; they’re two completely different planets that don’t undertand the other at all, even if the two sit right next to each other in the office.
Learning how to find gainful employment that actaully I loved (as opposed just tolerating) was always my main professional ambition, far more than money or status. It took me over twenty years to learn how, but whatever- It was totally worth it.
Which is why the best career advice I know to give young peeople is, “Fall in love with your work”.
And yes, if you’re not in love with your work, you’re going to find it very hard to compete with the people who are. That’s the other side of the coin, and yes, it’s brutal.
Something to think about…
While we’re on the subject: For those among us who think that the “No more jobs for life” thing is scary, consider the alternative: Consider what it was like back in the old days, when ad agencies still had “Lifers” working for them. My old advertising buddy Raul wrote a short story about our days as rookies in the big agencies agencies, two decades ago. The names have been changed, but the rest speaks the truth. Trust me, it REALLY was like that, it REALLY was that needlessly awful. Ugh.
