Permit me to be bold.
Well, I'm not actually being bold, I'm just telling the truth. It's just I have the audacity to speak it, which comes off as being bold and arrogant, but still, it is the truth when I say:
Not one,
NOT
ONE
boss I've ever had
was smarter or better than me at either his/her job or mine.
And this is an important point to make, because as many of you youth are finding out, you are being challenged ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE NEAR your full capacity in your careers. You are working jobs that are way beneath your skills, education, and training. And if you don't find out why this is, it WILL lead to decades of confusion, angst, depression, frustration, and anger.
Thus, in order to have this mental peace and sanity you need to understand what is going on in a macro-economic sense to understand the environment you're in, why you are in a job that seems to be going nowhere, and dealing with bosses that are seemingly illogical, constantly lecturing you, and are never happy. And to do this we need to compare two very different economic environments - WWII and today's economy.
To this day I am still amazed at just how much responsibility young men (and women) were giving during WWII. Fighter pilots at the age of 17 (because they lied on their applications), 22 year old captains in command of men. Majors who haven't even made it to their 3rd decade of life. And let's not forget what governments on both sides were doing with their youngest, best, and brightest.
The Manhattan Project had tons of 20 something men.
Hitler's rocket program was headed up by a then 28 year old Verner Von Braun.
And I don't think anybody back at home on either fronts were required to have a bachelor's degree with "master's preferred" in order to work in the factories and help in the war effort.
But that was the thing. There was a war going on. All countries on all sides NEEDED everybody to produce at their absolute potential, at their absolute best. Because if they didn't, then it would spell the end of that country. To that end, all the hurdles, hoops, and other bullshit was eliminated.
Don't care if you're not related to the boss, you are the best welder. WE NEED YOU!
Don't care if you aren't sleeping with the owner, you are the best secretary. WE NEED YOU!
Don't care if you are only 18 years old, you scored well in flight. Here's your P51. WE NEED YOU!
It was the closest we've ever came to a meritocracy.
Now, contrast back then to today's economy.
The economy is growing 40% slower than it was back then. There is no war that threatens the country to galvanize the people. Thus with neither growth nor compunction to use and employ everybody, including our youth, now people are employed based on an increasingly petty amount of irrelevant traits.
It's not merely if you're the best. You need to network and have an in.
It's not merely if you're the brightest. You need to "have adequate people skills."
It's not merely if you are the best man for the job and can replace your boss at a fraction of the price. You have to pay your dues.
And it's not merely if you're more than capable. You need to answer the idiotic questions of a math-impaired 25 year old HR ditz.
Ergo, our economy is not a meritocracy like it was in WWII as much as it has become a bureaucracy. And advancement and success is no longer dependent upon skills, excellence, ability, and potential, it is based on the (veritably) psychotic and sociopathic laws and rules the current managerial class sadistically applies.
This is why you go to college, become amazingly skilled, but are then hired to do a job you could have done when you were 13.
This is why you ram heads with management because all you want to do is work hard and get promoted, but your boss constantly and miserably fails to provide clear and concise leadership, and blames their failures on you.
This is why no matter how many jobs you get, you aren't "having bad luck." It's just that employers are that lousy.
And to top it all off they drown you in a sea of propaganda telling you:
"you just aren't cutting it"
"you just don't get it"
"you just don't take your job seriously"
confusing you to think you are the one with the problem.
The question is, is it worth it?
Is it worth wasting your entire youth going to school, and then further busting your ass off for another 6-8 years getting advacned degrees and certifications, so that by the time you're NEARLY 30 and have easily spent 25 YEARS IN SCHOOLING AND EDUCATION and THEN and ONLY THEN does society allow you to start working? Only then are you deemed "worthy" to file and fax?
It's the biggest lie (bar social security, medicare, Obamacare, and socialism) told to the younger generations.
Here's the truth kids.
The modern day "employment system" is so dysfunctional, so bureaucratic, so corrupted, and so nepotistic, it's no longer worth participating in.
I don't care what they tell you about working hard and "putting in your dues" and a "steep learning curve," the pay is plain just not worth it. You will NEVER get promoted. You will NEVER be challenged. And you will NEVER make the money that will make your quarter century of education-slavery worth it. It is a scam, it is a lie, and you will easily waste 50 years trying to pursue it only to get laid off and die poor.
However, the true testament as to just how impossible modern day employment is, is not the bum deal you get. It's the fact that SELF-EMPLOYMENT is not only much easier, but statistically more likely to bring you financial success.
Look, if a 17 year old kid who lies about his age can pilot P-51 fighter planes, then you can start a business.
If a 28 year old can build the first successful ICBM, then you can become self-employed.
And if men in their 30's and build an atomic bomb, then you can come up with a better mousetrap.
But you can't do that with $70,000 in student loans, blathering idiotic professors stealing 4 years of your lives in pre-requisite classes, bloviating Pointy Haired Bosses keeping you in the mail room until you're 27, and more idiotic professor holding you hostage in an MBA program until you're 33.
The key is to play a split strategy. Yes, keep one toe in the "traditional route," get some schooling, do what you need to do. But at the same time it is VITAL you immediately start pursuing a business venture of your own, starting as early as the age of 18. 100% of your efforts will go to benefit you, as opposed to the .2% of your efforts that a corporation allows you to have. And while there is no guarantee you'll be successful, and it is likely you'll have to try multiple businesses before one sticks, in the end it is a much wiser and better strategy than putting 100% of your faith in the "corporation" and being a good, reliable "corporate man."
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