[EddieDante]

We need a new New Atheism to push against the religion of work, then. Preferably one that doesn't decide to branch into social gospel sans gospel as too many of the original New Atheists did because they couldn't figure out how to make their lives meaningful without a Cause.

[klyrs]

I've heard some accuse Gen Z of dropping out altogether because of the futility of it all. In that case, New Atheism is nihilism.

[orangepurple]

It's not just "Gen Z" that is doing it. Look up "lying flat." It's not limited to China.

From the wiki:

Tang ping (Chinese: 躺平; pinyin: tǎng píng; lit. 'lying flat') is a lifestyle and social protest movement in China beginning in April 2021. It is a rejection of societal pressures to overwork, such as in the 996 working hour system, which is often regarded as a rat race with ever diminishing returns. Those who participate in tang ping instead choose to "lie down flat and get over the beatings" via a low-desire, more indifferent attitude towards life.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_ping

[EddieDante]

I suspect these people used to call Gen X kids "slackers", too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X

[toomuchtodo]

Unions. Collective organizing provides for power to push back against workism and those who make their work their identity.

Without doing so, corporations and capitalism will squeeze workers until there’s nothing left, for the benefit of the shareholders.

[bjornsing]

Why don’t we exchange citizenships? ;) I’m Swedish. You’ll love it here.

(BTW, you’ll make $55k a year as senior engineer. But that’s worth it, right?)

[toomuchtodo]

Absolutely. When was the last time you were worried about your kid getting gunned down at school, going bankrupt from medical expenses, or unable to find housing due to housing costs increasing faster than wages.

Looking at a sole metric instead of quality of life holistically leads to suboptimal optimization. Total comp in the US is only good for two things: living okay in a dystopian hellscape or aggregating wealth as part of an exit strategy.