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by miguelazo 994 days ago
True, but the larger point stands: your job has a huge influence on who you become. And the organization's mission and culture also will impact your identity. I have seen a lot of former colleagues make a lot of gross compromises for career advancement over the years. People who wanted to make a positive difference in the world who end up working for weapons manufacturers and the intelligence agency cutouts that create the conditions for our forever wars.
2 comments
jppope 994 days ago
Strong disagree. I am reminded of the quote: "If you don't have a plan of your own you'll become part of someone else's plan." Your job has as much of an influence on who you become as you let it have... the contention that you are your job really shows nothing more than a lack of ambition.
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DeltaCoast 994 days ago
I don't think it's crazy that what you do for half your waking time has an effect in shaping you? It's like saying you're immune to advertising, you probably don't even notice all of the ways your work influences you.
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miguelazo 994 days ago
Not sure where you have worked, but that's not most people's experience. You can have all the ambition in the world and with the wrong environment or culture you will slam into a brick wall very quickly. And sure, you can change jobs if your skillset is in demand, but guess what-- most other orgs function exactly the same. In fact, the people who are willing to compromise themselves most are often the ones who get ahead. That might be what some consider "ambition."
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threeseed 994 days ago
> create the conditions for our forever wars

If there were no weapons manufacturers or intelligence agencies you would still have wars.

Humanity always finds a way to resolve disputes through violence and aggression.

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miguelazo 994 days ago
>If there were no weapons manufacturers or intelligence agencies you would still have wars.

There would be far less of them.

>Humanity always finds a way to resolve disputes through violence and aggression.

This has been the case for a long time, doesn't mean it will persist forever. For example, slavery is mostly illegal and stamped out (except in Libya, one of the victims of US "intelligence" complex's forever war) compared to less than two centuries ago, which is a blink of an eye for human history.

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