I got an email about resistance
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I am the author of the email. Sort of surreal seeing myself on Lobsters as a long-time lurker. Sean and I kept talking for a while over email. He was really magnanimous. I think we found the real heart of our disagreement. When conditions get worse, we have three options: leave, resist or adjust expectations. Sean is a fan of the “adjust…
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> For programmers, I think of it as analogous to the Industrial Revolution in England I keep seeing this comparison being made, but I just can't seem to fully agree with it. That revolution surely did that lots of good things, but aren't we now dealing with a global climate crisis, partially because of what that initiated? Are we really…
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Precisely -- worker protections, child-labor laws, days off, social security, etc. weren't magically bestowed onto employees via gentlemanly democratic processes, but were literally written in the blood of workers who physically resisted and revolted. There are probably more workers-rights-focused books on the topic, but I recently read [The Ages…
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I think we need people leading each camp. We need people leading the "Leave" camp and building a place for them to go. People leading the "Resistance" that have the power and space to do so. And Sean is clearly helping the "Adjust Expectations" camp. I think you should try writing about your opinions to the public. Instead of trying the change…
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Yeah the analogy bothers me. I think it's in general very pernicious to assume that if one similar thing has happened before, it is inevitable that it will unfold in the same way again. That's rarely how history has worked out. Events don't happen in a vacuum, but are affected by a very complex environment usually does not share the same…
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My biggest concern is that this doesn't end with programmers. If this were merely programmers being automated, that would suck. But sometimes professions die. (And let's remember, sometimes it's the programmers who killed them.) We'd be talking about millions of comfortable knowledge work jobs gone. My retirement sure doesn't love it, but I have…
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I really buy what the author is saying, here and elsewhere. The points are well articulated. But, I also think his perspective is shaped by working for some notoriously large companies. Regarding the Industrial Revolution analogy, I think it holds insofar as it describes a dangerous and unpredictable situation for workers at the time.
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fair enough! You are just right. It’s his niche. The more we talked the more I realized this. I'm with you. It would be more generative to broadcast my view.
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And how much worse would we all be had it not been for that movement, and the following centuries of struggle for dignity and self-determination in labour and craft?
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It's a sad place to be. He's not wrong in the short term if that's what your organisation cares about. But, long term they'll still fire you if this intelligent adventure fails, hell even if it succeeds. So the question becomes how much money/time does it buy you? How much does it damage your growth and ability to adapt? When it gets…