Dearest readers! :) Get a real job, they said... You know, I actually go on Indeed, I look up terrible job ads on Reddit (always a fun time), and I talk to friends and family who are currently job searching. What do we got, what do we got? Oh, Marketing jobs where employers are trying to make sure you speak English (kind of a prerequisite, unless job applicants disagree in which case we should go with what they say and suffer through incomprehensible ads in the near future). Or, positions with the title manager or executive in them that are remote, Canada only, and pay 35K per year or less. Finally, office jobs that include everything plus might as well add toilet scrubbing at the end of the shi(f)t- someone make a shirt with that one haha. There, rant over- for now. But today, I would like to get you to think about our collective situation a different way. Here is a non-conspiracy theory for you. People cannot afford one million dollar homes because- drum roll- research and development stalled and then some!
Did you know that Lehmann brothers (the original two who founded the famous financial institution) were able to work manual labour, save money for a year and then rent a commercial freakin' space in their city and get their company going?! Yes, times were way different back then- in good ways and bad. It was an exciting time- a time of huge inventions, a time of change. That is something we are lacking now. How much more can we squeeze out of electricity, factories, the Internet? We are going through permutations of one and the same thing, people are getting degrees and certificates for hunger games formerly known as the job market, and most people and their expensive education are not nearly as needed as they used to be. I keep hearing hey go into trades, but what happens when you have one plumber per household? Huh? Exactly!
Look, way back in 2011, McKinsey researched and concluded that even then, the Internet created 2.4 jobs for each job it destroyed. Now, I do not know if you like the stuffy, smug McKinsey folks but I do not know anyone better than them at what they do (open to learning more on this one). Now, do we have an invention, new economic sector or something equally grand that creates 2.4 job for every Internet job it destroys? No sir! That, basically, is a huge problem.
Remember, the compensation you receive depends on the kind of money the company makes, and it is completely limited by the value it creates for its customers and clients. For example, working in HR at Google is better paid and easier than doing HR in retail. Being a marketing guy for a local restaurant cannot pay as much as being a media buyer at Sobeys. So, the best way to get compensated well is to be in something very valuable, and that is precisely what research and development gives us.
So, what are some technologies that, if we divert people from next iPhone iteration and direct them towards these technologies will result in an explosion of valuable companies with valuable jobs? First, GRAPHENE! Those who know the reference, write graphene in the comment section or say hi some other way if you like ;) Next, nuclear fusion and, in the meantime, thorium reactors. Imagine how many direct and related jobs that building and supporting nuclear fusion reactors could create. Yes, I am aware we would not need that many to power the world at current needs but wait, there is more. Can we finally get serious about developing truly suitable battery technology for electric vehicles? Again, jobs galore just waiting to be unlocked. Then, you create jobs by upgrading our electrical grid so all of those cars can actually charge without causing grid failures. Then, the business of scrubbing the pollution out of our air. Then, the business of safely dissolving plastic into something useful. Or, how about the revival of industrial hemp cultivation in North America and more companies built around making stuff from it? Ok, now I really nerded out haha!
Any way you look at it, dearest readers, it is once again time for us to create jobs that we cannot imagine, by bringing into the real world something that we can imagine! Got any other interesting ideas to share on this topic in public or in private? Do so, I am curious to hear about it.
Until next time, enjoy your week and remember there is a new place where you can find my stuff more often than once per week! ;)
Did you know that Lehmann brothers (the original two who founded the famous financial institution) were able to work manual labour, save money for a year and then rent a commercial freakin' space in their city and get their company going?! Yes, times were way different back then- in good ways and bad. It was an exciting time- a time of huge inventions, a time of change. That is something we are lacking now. How much more can we squeeze out of electricity, factories, the Internet? We are going through permutations of one and the same thing, people are getting degrees and certificates for hunger games formerly known as the job market, and most people and their expensive education are not nearly as needed as they used to be. I keep hearing hey go into trades, but what happens when you have one plumber per household? Huh? Exactly!
Look, way back in 2011, McKinsey researched and concluded that even then, the Internet created 2.4 jobs for each job it destroyed. Now, I do not know if you like the stuffy, smug McKinsey folks but I do not know anyone better than them at what they do (open to learning more on this one). Now, do we have an invention, new economic sector or something equally grand that creates 2.4 job for every Internet job it destroys? No sir! That, basically, is a huge problem.
Remember, the compensation you receive depends on the kind of money the company makes, and it is completely limited by the value it creates for its customers and clients. For example, working in HR at Google is better paid and easier than doing HR in retail. Being a marketing guy for a local restaurant cannot pay as much as being a media buyer at Sobeys. So, the best way to get compensated well is to be in something very valuable, and that is precisely what research and development gives us.
So, what are some technologies that, if we divert people from next iPhone iteration and direct them towards these technologies will result in an explosion of valuable companies with valuable jobs? First, GRAPHENE! Those who know the reference, write graphene in the comment section or say hi some other way if you like ;) Next, nuclear fusion and, in the meantime, thorium reactors. Imagine how many direct and related jobs that building and supporting nuclear fusion reactors could create. Yes, I am aware we would not need that many to power the world at current needs but wait, there is more. Can we finally get serious about developing truly suitable battery technology for electric vehicles? Again, jobs galore just waiting to be unlocked. Then, you create jobs by upgrading our electrical grid so all of those cars can actually charge without causing grid failures. Then, the business of scrubbing the pollution out of our air. Then, the business of safely dissolving plastic into something useful. Or, how about the revival of industrial hemp cultivation in North America and more companies built around making stuff from it? Ok, now I really nerded out haha!
Any way you look at it, dearest readers, it is once again time for us to create jobs that we cannot imagine, by bringing into the real world something that we can imagine! Got any other interesting ideas to share on this topic in public or in private? Do so, I am curious to hear about it.
Until next time, enjoy your week and remember there is a new place where you can find my stuff more often than once per week! ;)