Quiet Quitting / Decline in Worker Productivity

[It_is_my_time]

How to kill American Industry 101

Yes, it is just a march into the bottom of the pit. Everyone clawing, scrapping and fighting to avoid it, by any means necessary. Often throwing their fellow American under the bus if need be. And no one is coming to save us, heck, I can't name a politician who calls out the Wall Street big three for selling Americans out and having record profits in the hundreds of billions kept largely by the top brass.

And anyone not calling out the big three on Wall Street, and how they own every corporation and push wokism and get giant breaks from our govt. in all forms, is not serious about fixing any of our problems.

 

[bucky]

I had a video interview yesterday, and the manager interviewing me was chewing gum! If he would be my direct manager I'd be a bit hesitant to accept the position.

Agreed. St. Paisios mentioned this as well in his Spiritual Counsels. Mentioned a man working in the fields until he was over 90, not because he needed to but because he wanted to. I don't understand the idea of retirement, doesn't sound like something that used to be a thing before the ponzi scheme of pensions was invented.

I'd love to be retired right now, if I could afford it, but it would be an active retirement where I'm still working on achieving things that are important to me. When I was single I once took six months off and lived in a random third-tier city in Ukraine, just because I like the FSU. Every day I'd work out (unless it was a rest day), spend at least two hours working on my Russian, and at least another two hours working on writing the code for a project I was working on at the time. That amounted to at least four or five hours of being productive a day. After that I could feel good about wasting the rest of the day playing video games or something like that if I felt like it.

I'd do something like that if I were retired now. By the time I can actually retire in 20 years or so I'll hopefully have grandchildren I can spend time with in addition to working out and working on other projects. I agree with what someone else pointed out above, that spending decades playing golf or something pointless like that sounds worse than working.

 

[It_is_my_time]

I'd love to be retired right now, if I could afford it, but it would be an active retirement where I'm still working on achieving things that are important to me. When I was single I once took six months off and lived in a random third-tier city in Ukraine, just because I like the FSU. Every day I'd work out (unless it was a rest day), spend at least two hours working on my Russian, and at least another two hours working on writing the code for a project I was working on at the time. That amounted to at least four or five hours of being productive a day. After that I could feel good about wasting the rest of the day playing video games or something like that if I felt like it.

I'd do something like that if I were retired now. By the time I can actually retire in 20 years or so I'll hopefully have grandchildren I can spend time with in addition to working out and working on other projects. I agree with what someone else pointed out above, that spending decades playing golf or something pointless like that sounds worse than working.

I have been fighting tooth and nail, working 7 days a week, for over 2 decades straight so I could retire young.

By "retire" I mean no more doing work that I don't want to do, for people I don't want to work for, and in companies that hate me and my family because we were cursed to be born of European heritage.

But if I could escape this prison sentence, I would spend my time working on self improvement, traveling and seeing my ethnic homelands, learning more and more about philosophy and history, and spreading Christianity and helping young White men find their way in this wicked world.

 

[bucky]

I have been fighting tooth and nail, working 7 days a week, for over 2 decades straight so I could retire young.

By "retire" I mean no more doing work that I don't want to do, for people I don't want to work for, and in companies that hate me and my family because we were cursed to be born of European heritage.

But if I could escape this prison sentence, I would spend my time working on self improvement, traveling and seeing my ethnic homelands, learning more and more about philosophy and history, and spreading Christianity and helping young White men find their way in this wicked world.

That all sound like good stuff. It also sounds like you very much need a break. Maybe six months to a year in Latin America, I don't know. For what it's worth, white women do exist south of the border. Who knows, maybe you meet a nice one and she at least makes a dent in your odd belief that you need millions of dollars before you settle down.

The possibilities open up even more if you're willing to accept "white enough" as someone once entertainingly described my wife. Anyway, I'm loving life with her and our kids and I've got a few thousand saved up, at best. Clown World doesn't really affect us.

 

[It_is_my_time]

That all sound like good stuff. It also sounds like you very much need a break. Maybe six months to a year in Latin America, I don't know. For what it's worth, white women do exist south of the border. Who knows, maybe you meet a nice one and she at least makes a dent in your odd belief that you need millions of dollars before you settle down.

The possibilities open up even more if you're willing to accept "white enough" as someone once entertainingly described my wife. Anyway, I'm loving life with her and our kids and I've got a few thousand saved up, at best. Clown World doesn't really affect us.

So lets say I go to Latin America and meet my dream woman...

Then I have to come back to this disgusting country (USA) and find a new job as a middle aged white man with very average skills. And no, I don't want to go study and spend months learning skills that bore me to tears and give me no happiness, all to make a paycheck that is spent before it is in my hands. I would be far more miserable. I know how I am wired, this would make me extremely stressed out and unhappy. I couldn't be an average worker bee as a kid, and I certainly can't be one now. Either I am a slave or I am free, there is no in-between for me, that is how I am wired, it is how I thought as a very young child.

Finding a wife and having kids will never bring me happiness alone. The only thing that can make me happy is to be financially free from this hell on earth. Leaving the USA is not an option for me. I am stuck here, and the only thing I want is away from working a job and spending my life either doing something I don't want to do, or running myself ragged trying to catch up on errands so I have free time to go back to working the job I don't want to do.

I don't know how other guys can work a job all day, and spend their time chasing kids and dealing with a wife. Little to no workout, no self improvement, no self awareness, knowing things are wrong but not knowing why, and no escape from this for decades on end... If you get lucky. But I can't live like that, no way, no how. And I knew this when I was 10 or even younger.

 

[homersheineken]

I don't know how other guys can work a job all day, and spend their time chasing kids and dealing with a wife. Little to no workout, no self improvement, no self awareness, knowing things are wrong but not knowing why, and no escape from this for decades on end... If you get lucky. But I can't live like that, no way, no how. And I knew this when I was 10 or even younger.

You make the time for it. It's as simple as that. I work my 40hr, lift in the gym for an hour, play with the kids in the evening, read or hang out or work on my hobbies at night. Then the weekends I catch up on house work, play with the kids, etc... I don't spend nearly as much time on my hobbies as I want to, but they are young for such a short time and this is too precious to them - and me. I'll get that time back when they get older and their own lives (and if not, I'm living the dream now).

Time management and efficiency is key.

The rest is just black pilling. Don't mean to be mean. You seem like a smart guy based on your comments, but I have a very hard time believing you working 20 years 7 days a week in IT and you can't afford a kid. I think all this time working has left your drained, physically, mentally and spiritually. @bucky is right you need a break. There will be jobs in IT when you return - especially if you're as hard of a worker as you say.

 

[It_is_my_time]

You make the time for it. It's as simple as that. I work my 40hr, lift in the gym for an hour, play with the kids in the evening, read or hang out or work on my hobbies at night. Then the weekends I catch up on house work, play with the kids, etc... I don't spend nearly as much time on my hobbies as I want to, but they are young for such a short time and this is too precious to them - and me. I'll get that time back when they get older and their own lives (and if not, I'm living the dream now).

Time management and efficiency is key.

The rest is just black pilling. Don't mean to be mean. You seem like a smart guy based on your comments, but I have a very hard time believing you working 20 years 7 days a week in IT and you can't afford a kid. I think all this time working has left your drained, physically, mentally and spiritually. @bucky is right you need a break. There will be jobs in IT when you return - especially if you're as hard of a worker as you say.

Well, that is the first thing, what job allows you to get by working only 40 hours a week? I know tons of professionals, and I don't know one that works 40 hours a week. I work around 60, and I am par for the course, certainly below many other professionals I know. I often work about 7 to 7 at my full time job, sometimes 7 to 8, since I work from home. I can come on here and blow off steam, or in my time waiting on approval/new work to come in.

The term "blackpilling" is thrown around WAY too much and the term isn't understood. "Blackpillling" is saying "there is no hope or chance". I never said anything close to that. I said that for me, the way I am wired, I wouldn't want to live like most working class Americans work. It isn't material things, I am pretty well off and drive a 15 year old car and live in a house well beneath my standards. It is the freedom, it is the knowing I don't have to work another day in my life unless I CHOOSE to do so. And yes, I would choose to do so, but that choice is the purpose of life for me. To choose to do what I want. I have been this way since I was a child. I hated studying and learning most things in class, then I would spend hours on my own free time reading encyclopedias and world atlas books, because I was choosing what I wanted to learn.

If someone else wants to work until they are 70 or 75, and raise a family, I bless them with this choice and wish them the best. I can't do it, I would blow a fuse. And knowing this about myself is a huge realization that has brought me a lot of peace in my life.

 

[Maddox]

I have been fighting tooth and nail, working 7 days a week, for over 2 decades straight so I could retire young.

By "retire" I mean no more doing work that I don't want to do, for people I don't want to work for, and in companies that hate me and my family because we were cursed to be born of European heritage.

But if I could escape this prison sentence, I would spend my time working on self improvement, traveling and seeing my ethnic homelands, learning more and more about philosophy and history, and spreading Christianity and helping young White men find their way in this wicked world.

You say you've been working 7 days/week for over 20 years now and you're currently middle-aged.

I'm curious...how close are you to the financial goal you'd need to retire if you wanted to?

 

[Blade Runner]

Leaving the USA is not an option for me. I am stuck here, and the only thing I want is away from working a job and spending my life either doing something I don't want to do, or running myself ragged trying to catch up on errands so I have free time to go back to working the job I don't want to do.

The rest is just black pilling. Don't mean to be mean.

You say you've been working 7 days/week for over 20 years now and you're currently middle-aged.

I came away from the same conclusion. I've been reading It_is's posts for a while, and he's intelligent, but it's starting to get absurd reading again and again how working for that long of a time (if true) still doesn't matter. If so, why post? You clearly can't see a future or aren't able to achieve it, especially if you can't go overseas. I'm not trying to be mean either, just straight forward and honest. I don't buy it. If he's this black pilled or borderline black pill, he understands the reality of the USA. So what's the point to keep bringing up how one is seemingly working hard but without hope? I don't get it.

 

[It_is_my_time]

I came away from the same conclusion. I've been reading It_is's posts for a while, and he's intelligent, but it's starting to get absurd reading again and again how working for that long of a time (if true) still doesn't matter. If so, why post? You clearly can't see a future or aren't able to achieve it, especially if you can't go overseas. I'm not trying to be mean either, just straight forward and honest. I don't buy it. If he's this black pilled or borderline black pill, he understands the reality of the USA. So what's the point to keep bringing up how one is seemingly working hard but without hope? I don't get it.

Why post? Because I have been down the road, further than many other men, and I am doing my best to warn them of what is coming. Did God give me these great opportunities and experiences so that I could say "meh, tough luck guys, not my job to give you any insight". Someone asked basically if I had worked this hard, for this long, how much longer would it take. My answer to this is I now have no idea. I never thought the "leadership" of the last 25+ years would let things get this bad. Inflation, high interest rates, stock market flatlining, lost war, failed economic sanctions, etc., etc. It has taken a toll on both my investments and what my goal would be to quit working.

And I am far from "black pilled", again it seems this term isn't understood. You are taking the information I share, and it causes you doubt, which causes you to think black pilled". I am actually white pilled on the situation for a few reasons...

It appears China and Russia have combined to tell the disgusting anti-Christian west "enough is enough". This is the first major blow to this system we have lived to see.

More and more countries, even former US allies, are joining with the Russia/China side of things. The LGBTQ/Trans/BLM was the straw the broke the camel's back. Especially trans-kids.

More and more young men are waking up to the situation, and I can see this online and in real life.

A lot of personal experiences, with blue pilled normies, who are starting to wake up. I can see it in their eyes, I can feel it in my bones. The normie is asking "what is going on?" and the answers are slowing coming to them. The number of women, who 10 years ago would have put career before family, are collapsing. More and more women seem to be instinctively understanding that working in a cubicle and calling themselves "independent" will never make them happy.

We are going to win this, but it isn't going to be easy, and it will not be done by voting alone. We must speak out and red pill our friends and family slowly, and let it spread.

I think the first big test will be if the system gets desperate enough for a military draft and how we Americans respond to it.

To swing this back to the topic. I see more and more guys, who work for woke corporations, doing the bare minimum or even less. They no longer care, and when you stop carrying and putting pressure on yourself to be someone you don't want to be, life starts to really open up and get fun. I see a collapse in materialism, because more and more realize materialism is just a prison sentence to a job that makes you unhappy.

I'm excited about what is to come, because the excuses, censorship, and talking points are no longer working.

 

[Blade Runner]

Ok, but you didn't answer the question of if and why you are so far from your desired destination.

 

[It_is_my_time]

Ok, but you didn't answer the question of if and why you are so far from your desired destination.

I did answer, let me try another way...

If you told me 10 years ago that I would have a net worth of what I have now, owning the investments that I own right now, I would guess that either I was already retired, or had gone part time.

Things have gotten that much worse. I met my goals, but the goal posts have been changed by how bad things have gotten over that period of time.

- I had no idea the stock market would just become a giant ponzi scheme that is simply just a hedge against USD weakness.
- I had no idea the powers that be, would let tax payers lose their homes and businesses, and had $5 trillion to Blackrock Financial. I thought there was some kind of limit as to how bad things would get.
- I had no idea the powers that be would watch the economy go into the drain and then raise interest rates to levels that are simply unsustainable.
- I had no idea the powers that be would be more than happy to lose a war, in incredible fashion, and not even try to hide how badly economic sanctions have backfired on us.

I figured there had to be some serious professionals, somewhere in our federal govt., to pull aside our "leaders" and tell them this was a bridge too far. But I was mistaken.

My guess now is that once interest rates do come down, and I can refinance some investments loans + the savings over those few years, I will be where I want to be.

But I don't know if this is true or not, because I am sure the "leaders" will find ways to not even sustain our level of living we have right now.

 

[Road2Damascus]

Black pilled thread in a sense. Yes, some people are stuck and issues can be systemic but it's not as bad as posts here indicate. Even when it comes to the job market or investing. I've been alive for the 2008 to 2020 crashes and everything in between. I did nothing every single time except keep my plan of investing weekly, while diversifying and buying gold and bitcoin. I don't think I'm smarter than others, but I don't make emotional decisions and can stomach unrealized losses. Also been laid off twice in these times. Everything has come back and then some.

One caveat. I live below my means and have no lifestyle creep. What would change my plan? Probably a nuke going off, but then we're all done.

 

[It_is_my_time]

Black pilled thread in a sense. Yes, some people are stuck and issues can be systemic but it's not as bad as posts here indicate. Even when it comes to the job market or investing. I've been alive for the 2008 to 2020 crashes and everything in between. I did nothing every single time except keep my plan of investing weekly, while diversifying and buying gold and bitcoin. I don't think I'm smarter than others, but I don't make emotional decisions and can stomach unrealized losses. Also been laid off twice in these times. Everything has come back and then some.

One caveat. I live below my means and have no lifestyle creep. What would change my plan? Probably a nuke going off, but then we're all done.

I live well below my means too, actually impressively so, to the point I have people asking me how I do it.

But I realistically know that no woman would be able to live the way I live. For you, have you found women that would be willing to live the way you do? I know I will have to be willing to spend a lot more, just to live still beneath my means, if I want to one day find a wife.

 

[Blade Runner]

I did nothing every single time except keep my plan of investing weekly, while diversifying and buying gold and bitcoin.

Bingo. If people miss out on the next 10 years of gold, btc, and commodities they only have themselves to blame.

But I realistically know that no woman would be able to live the way I live. For you, have you found women that would be willing to live the way you do? I know I will have to be willing to spend a lot more, just to live still beneath my means, if I want to one day find a wife.

Given the arms race in America and how you need another generation to come about to change the "woman" thing culturally, it can't be done anymore with any woman that is generally above average. My view, which many know, is that the high cost and the lack of commensurate quality makes overseas truly the only option, where you get the youth factor to boot. Of course, that comes with other challenges, but the cost of living and youth fertility generally trump all.

 

[rainy]

How to kill American Industry 101

It’s complicated.

I agree with those calling out Wall St giants for their incredible greed. I would add Big Pharma as well.

But by and large, small-mid size companies aren’t suffering from overwhelming greed. Funny enough, it’s also leftist tech companies who tend pay their employees handsomely.

But back to my point, most SMB’s outside tech are in survival mode. The margins are decreasing year on year due to the rising cost of business. They have two choices, pass that increase onto their customers or be completely handcuffed in giving employees raises.

The latter means employee compensation doesn’t keep pace with COL and inflation. Which leads to a job of lesser value and looking elsewhere.

Reality is most businesses are held captive by the same environment we all exist in. Just pay employees more…. then your doors close. Well just pay them the same….ok but insurance, rent, utilities, keep going up. And cost of supplies/inventory has shot thru the roof. So I can’t keep all my employees on payroll, keep paying them the same and survive. As expenses have risen substantially.

So raise prices. Great, until the consumer decides they can’t afford your services or items due to their own COL issues. So you get a short term bump and then lose clients….

There is a vicious cycle out there for most businesses.

Offshoring talent actually does make a lot of sense and it’s not American businesses pissing all over their fellow yanks. It’s survival and in the long run actually allows them to keep more Americans employed. As they remain in business. Which in itself is becoming more of an accomplishment.

Ideal? No. But I can only consider the reality in front of me.

 

[It_is_my_time]

There is a vicious cycle out there for most businesses.

Offshoring talent actually does make a lot of sense and it’s not American businesses pissing all over their fellow yanks. It’s survival and in the long run actually allows them to keep more Americans employed. As they remain in business. Which in itself is becoming more of an accomplishment.

Ideal? No. But I can only consider the reality in front of me.

The fix is actually very easy. Slash income taxes on the middle class and reinstate the tariffs on goods made overseas and shipped back. Let the billionaire class, the only class who consistently does well in our crooked system, actually pay their fair share. You wouldn't even have to raise wages, just the tax savings alone would be a big boost to many middle class families. And if the Nike CEO wants to pay a child $10 a day to make his shoes, that is fine, but they will cost you a fortune to send them back here to sell. More so than just hiring an American and paying them a livable wage.

Everyone is hurting, except the C-level and their Wall Street satanic friends. Their bonuses get larger, even in the face of layoffs for their company. The big three on Wall Street (Blackrock, State Street, and Vanguard) own a controlling share of every major corporation. This is why the woke crap is shoved down our throats. Make these satanic entities actually pay for it. Let Larry Fink, the most powerful man in the west, actually pay for all the hell he shoves on the rest of us.

And if a politician isn't calling out these big three, they are not serious about fixing the issue. No if's/and's/but's about it.

 

[Blade Runner]

The fix is actually very easy.

You are technically correct, but it's hollow to point this out. Why? The fix isn't easy, because the reason we are here is because it isn't - as you point out, the control and momentum is with the rich, increasingly centralized corporate-gov alliance. At this point, things will just keep getting worse in terms of disparity and insolvency for the rest of the people and then, programs.

 

[It_is_my_time]

You are technically correct, but it's hollow to point this out. Why? The fix isn't easy, because the reason we are here is because it isn't - as you point out, the control and momentum is with the rich, increasingly centralized corporate-gov alliance. At this point, things will just keep getting worse in terms of disparity and insolvency for the rest of the people and then, programs.

The fix is easy. To acquire the power to fix the problem is the giant hurdle that mankind has been fighting for 80 years.

You are correct, things will just get worse, until we finally reach a tipping point. How bad things have to get, and how long this will take, is something I cannot predict. I would have thought by now we would see some kind of real reaction, but at least the discussion is spreading like a wild fire while dieversity is causing the institutions of the state to crumble upon themselves. So, I think we are getting close.

 

[grenade001]

Time management and efficiency is key.

The rest is just black pilling. Don't mean to be mean. You seem like a smart guy based on your comments, but I have a very hard time believing you working 20 years 7 days a week in IT and you can't afford a kid. I think all this time working has left your drained, physically, mentally and spiritually. @bucky is right you need a break. There will be jobs in IT when you return - especially if you're as hard of a worker as you say.

The notion that one couldn't afford to raise a child after working 7 day weeks for two decades in ANY JOB, and investing prudently, is frankly quite ridiculous. Even the lowest paid worker could afford the expense if he was somewhat frugal.

It seems that holding onto such a notion stems from a fear of failure, or success. Your most recent comments allude to a progessive moving of the goalposts of being "financially ready" for children over time.

I have gathered that world events have a profound effect on your psyche. Whilst we cannot control external conditions (Great Depression, COVID, etc.), we can control how we mitigate the effects and continue to survive despite such circumstances.

I can only infer that there is something deeper fundamentally that is preventing you from achieving the objective of starting a family.

It is not an uncommon issue to have in these current times, and there are countless fellow men who share a similar predicament. Perhaps it would be of some benefit to explore ways to properly address the issue in a healthy manner.


All the best and Godspeed.