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by wiseowise 1045 days ago
> but at the same time there is something deeply dysfunctional about our mercenary attitude toward our work relationships.

Mercenary attitude is the healthiest attitude there is. It’s not hypocritical, it’s not elusive it’s what it is.
1 comments
deciplex 1045 days ago
In the context of our current work culture, yes I think I agree with that. But I think that's a symptom of how dysfunctional our current work culture is.

edit:

> Can you tell us more?

I literally can't actually, at least not as a reply to you, because dang has once again limited my ability to post on HN. Too many left-leaning folks here already, I guess. Here is what my reply would have been:

> If you're happy with the wholly adversarial relationship between employee and employer along with management practices that pit people against each other etc then more power to you. If you think this results in the best outcomes both in terms of working conditions and also productivity, then go off king. I don't think anything I could say here would convince you otherwise, anyway.

...and now I'll be exiting this conversation as I've been given no other choice - see ya!

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Sohcahtoa82 1044 days ago
Nobody is happy with the relationship between employee and employer being adversarial.

It's just a consequence of what each person wants out of the relationship. The employer wants to extract as much labor as possible for the minimum price. The employee wants to extract the maximum price for minimum labor.

Many employers have an unrealistic expectation that their employees will have the same passion as they do about the product/company. What makes it especially heinous is that the employer will become wealthy off the labor of the employees, and then be upset when the employees want a piece of the pie.

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wiseowise 1045 days ago
Even in context of an ideal world where people work for ideas, not money, it should be acceptable to have mercenary attitude. We’re all different, after all, but we should respect each other’s motivations.
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andsoitis 1045 days ago
> dysfunctional our current work culture is

Can you tell us more?

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