[conartist6]

Tech jobs have always contained a bunch of work that didn't matter much: everything to do with perf reviews for example, and most of those reports.

Here's the thing: after we took care of all the little overhead crap that "needed to get done," *we were allowed to go after the real work, the "illegible" "trim tab" work that doesn't really show up on your perf review but actually determines the course of the business over the next 10 years.*

What we've lost is our ability to secure a future for ourselves. The grief is the negative image of the bright future we once saw ourselves building: a vision now replaced with the specter of the wholesale destruction of the fabric of society. That apocalyptic vision is now touted as what we should labor towards since it is apparently THE bet to place that society will collapse. People will shower you with money so long as you make this exact bet.