Hustle culture?

[Nebulous]

What do you think about “hustle culture”, by that I mean: only having hobbies if you can make money off of them?

 

[Arantor]

I find it grotesque to be honest. The notion that a hobby is simply a gateway to a second (or third) job is the result of our extreme lurch towards sacrifices to the capitalistic god.

Fun fact, I was reading a story yesterday about the birth of WordPerfect. One of the early guys in it talks briefly about the job hopping he did, that between being a part time grocery clerk at $4/hr (mornings only) and part time drapery salesman (5 appointments per week), this was enough to cover his mortgage, and the grocery clerk role only happened because the drapery business was slowing down.

Imagine that combination paying a mortgage today. (Guy was married with a couple of kids, and the wife didn’t have time to go also hold down a job)

That was in 1980. Here we are in 2023 where prayers to the capitalistic god mean people in some of the richest countries on Earth have to decide between putting the heating on in winter or having food.

Hustle culture is merely a reaction to that need for profit at almost any cost.

 

[Jason]

I don't think it's wrong, but I wouldn't apply it to all hobbies. For instance, I might create music for free and then write about finance for money and I might find finance topics less interesting (but not always boring), but it's a way to make money just like cooking French Fries at BK.