on corporate and cowardice
was i a coward before corporate?
i can't remember. but i know i am now.
sure, i speak up at work. decry the injustice brought about by Product Managers and Middle Management. but these are all symptoms whose root cause i shall not name.
but it goes something like this:
lie: tell them no one will be fired, tell them we'll still be focused on what matters. tell them for-profit venture capitalists encourage the same work as our nonprofit. you know none of this is true, but your livelihood will not be affected enough to care.
smash: take a sledgehammer to it all. no work protections in the US means no reason is needed. but you're better than this. you'll give a great reason, an "organizational restructuring" so we can "better align ourselves to market needs" and "increase our velocity." a saccharine balm, 4 weeks severance pay. you wish them luck.
replace: because they could do it better, faster, and cheaper overseas. because we have agents that can do the whole coding, shipping, and delivering thing for us.
descend: into mediocrity, into a vessel without any value, except for the money its bringing in. profit off the name until there's nothing left.
i cower in the shadow of this machine.