Saturday, May 26, 2012

Patriots and Mercenaries

Every year on my birthday, I get a card from my employer and a check for a day's wages. It is a generous gift all things considered. I certainly appreciate the thought behind it, but I do not care for the delusion that it generates. This is the delusion that a company actually cares about you as an individual. This is simply not the case.

A patriot is a soldier who believes in the cause and will suffer and fight despite tremendous adversity. This is because the patriot is a believer. Believers will forgo pay, food, and other comforts for the sake of the cause. The cause is what matters, and patriots will even give their lives for the cause.

A mercenary is a soldier who fights not for a cause but for simple cash. Mercenaries don't give a fuck. Their services are for hire, and you can count on them only as long as those checks keep clearing. Bounce one of those checks, and they will abandon you without hesitation. Fail to pay a competitive wage, and they will switch allegiances. They don't care.

Companies want patriots. The reason for this should be abundantly clear. Patriots are dupes. Governments know this. They pump out propaganda and induce people to fight and die in wars that don't have a thing to do with protecting a country or promoting freedom. Often, these wars are fought for the sake of moneyed interests. Patriots don't know any better, so they die for a far cheaper rate than those mercenaries. The downside is that patriots sometimes wise up and become extremely unreliable and unpredictable.

 With companies, the desire is to have "company men." These are people who give unswerving loyalty to a company. They will work longer hours without pay and forfeit more lucrative opportunities with other companies. This may seem laughable and stupid, but there are companies that deserve such dedication. These companies have a genuine appreciation for their people, and the loyalty is returned with a similar level of respect and gratitude. Unfortunately, there are few of these firms in today's world. Loyalty is betrayed for short term expediency, and dedicated employees find a train run on their assholes. Patriots easily become cannon fodder.

For the most part, being a patriot is stupid. This is because most companies don't give a fuck. All decisions are money decisions, and if it is choice between short term gain or long term prosperity, these companies will always opt for the short term. A company is not a charity and has to show a profit. But it shouldn't be a con game either with people feeling fucked over on a daily basis. McDonald's could save a lot of money by using less beef in its burgers, but the buying public catches on. Similarly, companies can save money by fucking over employees, but employees catch on as well.

One reaction of employees is to organize, form a union, and go on strike. This leads inevitably to the reverse situation where the workers think they can fuck over the company and loot it into oblivion. So, this is not a winning strategy. Being in opposition to the company you are working for is a dumb fucking move. There has to be a better way, and there is. This better way is to become a mercenary.

Mercenaries do good work. They have to do good work to remain employed or find other employment that pays better. You can count on the mercenaries to fulfill their end of the contract. If they don't, their market value is decreased, and they end up earning less. But mercenaries have no loyalty, and they are never surprised when their terms of employment are ended on a whim. As such, they will never hesitate to walk on an employer when the terms are no longer amenable to them. This may seem like a cold and ruthless attitude, but companies are cold and ruthless themselves. Being a mercenary is simply repaying a company with the same coin they pay to you.

If companies wonder what ever happened to company loyalty, they need not look far. Company loyalty does not exist because companies killed it. This does not keep them from trying to gin it back up with gimmicks, propaganda, and tricks. These are merely bait to resurrect a delusion that is lucrative when dupes are to be found. Unfortunately for these companies, workers know better.

Nothing kills company loyalty faster than the company regarding its employees as idiots. This is basically what happens when management talks sweetly to workers while lubing up their assholes for what is coming. The workers know this game well, and they don't fall for it. Being principled and honorable will work in winning loyalty, but no management can resist fucking a freshly greased cornhole. It is their nature to exploit imbeciles.

Mercenaries are not imbeciles. Having zero loyalty means always being prepared to move to the next opportunity. Ultimately, you can't count on a company to look out for you or your career in exchange for your loyalty and dedication. The only person who is looking out for you in Corporate America is you. Business is business. At the end of the day, you are exchanging your labor and talents for cold hard cash. This is capitalism, and for all its coldness, it works. A mercenary is merely a capitalist.

It is the fate of patriots to suffer for their delusions. I wish it wasn't so, but I would be lying if I told you otherwise. I have watched sincere and dedicated people shitcanned, fucked over, and demoted on pure whims. Some part of you expects there to be some logic to it all, but there isn't. Companies routinely do dumb shit that actually reduces their profits. They don't have the sense to not shit where they eat. But like the scorpion stinging the frog in that oft repeated tale, it is simply their nature to be this way even if it results in their own destruction.

Being a mercenary is simple. The first thing is to do good work. The second thing is to develop your skill set. Finally, always be looking for better opportunities and seize them whenever they appear. Don't ever work for free. Always get paid. And never forfeit a better opportunity. Look out for yourself because no one else will.

0 comments:

Post a Comment