Not in the sense that I want to start a business and exploit people. I am probably misinterpreting a lot of the ideas of socialism/communism as I feel that if I think about making more money (investments, switching jobs, vying for a promotion) that I’m going against the core ideas and values of communism/socialism. I’ve mostly read/listened that to be a communist/socialist you are putting your community first and thinking of other people while trying to make more money is, to me, inherently individualistic.
The only reason I’d like to make more money is to live a more comfortable life and build upon it.
I hope this makes sense.
No.
I simultaneously hate money, hate the concept of money, and want more of it. I live under capitalism. Additional money lessens my suffering under capitalism, therefore I want more money. I want, more than that, to dismantle an exploitative system and free humanity from these chains.
If I can improve quality of life for me, my friends, or people in general by getting money, I should get money.
This fails to hold when getting money would interfere with another’s quality of life. I have no desire to be a petty tyrant business owner. I have no desire to be a landlord. I have no desire to manage.[1] Exploitation is inescapable in the capitalist system, but it would be immoral to seek to lessen my suffering by increasing another’s. Pretty sure that’s the intended lesson of Omelas.
But that’s not what you seem to be expressing. You also don’t seem to be espousing basic greed, a desire for money because it’s money, which would also be bad.
I think you’re fine, get that promotion. Invest. Switch jobs[2] Just don’t be a dick to your fellow workers about any of it.
Admittedly that third one isn’t a straight truth, I’m applying to a managerial roles because fucking no one is fucking hiring for my actual job; but I’m hoping I can avoid being a dick about it. Kind of excited about the science experiment side of it too: I’ve asked a few observers to check for changes in my behavior in an attempt to disprove a theory put forth by my less sober self that managing might actively turn someone into an asshole in general–not just at work–regardless of their previous inclinations. ↩︎
Fuck, you should ALWAYS be switching jobs–even better if it’s for more money. Fuck company loyalty. ↩︎
I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with managers or management. Such a function is required if larger and larger teams are to work together effectively. Coordination, strategy, and planning are all valuable and sometimes cannot be effectively undertaken by individual contributors.
Probably plenty of managers are petty hitlers, etc. and plenty of managerial roles are set up to pit manager against worker by setting managers up as slave drivers, but it doesn’t have to be this way imo.
Spot on and well said, just what I was hoping to hear. Thanks for the reply.