The Exhaustion Of Consistently Placating The Fragility Of The Affluent

In reality, that’s what so many vocations are.

I will not come out and go full young socialist on you (I’m also not young), but I think we generally know that people feel very busy these days, there are numerous reported increases in burnout, and there’s increased loneliness and isolation, especially in work contexts. All of that is increasingly common and reported out. It obviously varies tremendously by person, job, and family situation. Let’s caveat that up front.

Most jobs, for better or worse, are about doing something for those with more means than you. That could include the owner of the company, your boss’ boss, or some customer at the fried chicken place who wants their order now. Even at dive bars, employment can be tending to the needs of the affluent, because a lot of guys I’ve met in my arc use such locations to avoid their family for 44 minutes at a time.

For better or worse, many affluent people — and this is, yes, a generalization but often true — are extraordinarily fragile. While they might have a strong work ethic or a good ability to form revenue-producing relationships, they’re often constantly worried about their perch, wanting to showcase some aspect of their personal brand (as they see it), down in the weeds on details…