Re: General advice beyond Org

[James K. Lowden]

On Mon, 21 May 2018 05:39:07 +0200
Marcin Borkowski <mbork@mbork.pl> wrote:

> For instance, you go to the bakery, buy the bread and pay the baker
> the money.  He then takes the money and goes to buy a gun to kill his
> wife. Are you responsible?  I don't think so (at least under normal
> circumstances).

I'd like to respond, even though we're wandering off topic from
the OP's OT message.  

No, you're not responsible.  Neither could you have prevented the
murder by not patronizing the baker.  

As I see it, we can individually do very little virtuous in the
marketplace. You can recycle, buy organic, drive a hybrid, whatever.
Your effect, positive or negative, is miniscule, taken alone. Likewise
deciding not to work in a Windows shop on principle.  

Maximizing your knowledge and capacity is much more rewarding and, I'd
argue, socially important.  

Your job is rewarding to the extent it requires you to work at the edge
of your capacity, to learn and innovate.  Human beings love to do what
they're good at, whether it's pitching a baseball or devising a data
structure.  As someone not frustrated/stunted by the job, you have
more energy and confidence to pay attention to nonwork, and to apply
what you learn at work to the larger society.  

If your goal is to widen the aegis of free software, you can to more to
further it by maximizing your capacity than by boycotting employers.
Then, one day -- when you're in charge of a lab, say, or investing a
small fortune -- you can make some actual difference.  If that
opportunity never comes to pass, at least you've pursued interesting
work, and enriched your life and others' around you in the process.  

--jkl