Our 12th prompt comes from J. He asks
Would you opt for a high income employment or a self-employment engagement that covers all the basics with no extras?
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J,
This is a question that embodies the crisis that many from my generation find themselves in. We find ourselves in this position due to an ideological clash between us and the generations that precede ours, as well as a difference in the socio-political environment we are in.
Allow me to speak generally here. High income jobs are few and far in between, and jobs of any kind are hard to come by, with one in every five Kenyan youth of a working age having no job. So, access to the opportunity for such a job is a privilege. I’m assuming that this privilege is also what would allow one to also have a choice to be self-employed with no extras, because if the subject in question is not privileged, this is a no-brainer – they will take the job and forego the risk and uncertainty that comes with self-employment.
The ideological clash we have with our seniors is because they were told, and they in turn told us, “go to school, get good grades, get a secure and well-paying job, work there for 25 years as you get promoted, retire and take care of your grandchildren and you will have lived a good life.” Now, for many of them, life has gone according to that plan, mostly because they grew up in times of economic growth and low inflation and population, with access to multiple opportunities. We are living in times of slow growth, high inflation and population, and limited opportunities. And, due to technological advances, many of the jobs we do now were unimaginable in our parents’ time, and many of the jobs they had are now gone.
Now that we have the environmental picture out of the way, what would I do? It would depend on my circumstances within this environment. If I am a person of privilege, work would not only have to pay my bills, but also help me achieve personal growth in the areas I am interested in. So I would take a high income job if it got me closer to my personal growth goals. Likewise, if the self-employment route is what enables me to learn what I wish to learn and apply myself in the ways I feel are most beneficial to both myself and society (which has been the case for me), that is what I would do.
However, it takes a social safety net and an amount of privilege to be able to make that choice (because self employment is extremely risky and uncertain), which many people don’t have in this harsh environment we are in.
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This post is part of a daily writing experiment that I’m running for a year. I’d love it if you took part! ?