Do we deserve everything we have?
My employer’s stock dropped massively in the last few weeks. As a result, cost-cutting has, again, become a priority. It’s starting from a tighter travel restriction, and probably in the near future, it will become another company-wide layoff which will affect many families.
I happened to have booked my work trip before the new travel ban, and returning on the day that the travel ban was announced department-wide by our director. It’s the second time I just managed to visit my colleagues abroad right around when a ban is enforced. The previous one was an air-travel ban, which explains why I traveled all the way to Switzerland via the train this time.
Yesterday, I was browsing online to see corporate rumours again. It started with some rumours about a new list being drafted for a September layoff from my own employer; then, I saw many threads on other companies doing (potential) layoffs (Etsy, Salesforce, Meta, etc.). I don’t know how the economy will absorb this sudden supply of talents when most employers are cost-cutting — consumers have become more cautious with their purchasing behaviour in this difficult economy, so most enterprises' revenue and profit inevitably declines.
I thought of the families that would be affected by the layoffs, the mortgages, the child-education that depend on the additional income, and I also recalled that the executives at my company “rewarded" themselves millions more this year …. but what did they actually do better than last year to make them deserve the extra millions? It seems like money isn’t going to the people who need it most, and it’s also not going to the people who deserve them most.
I continued to browse …. but wished that I had stopped. It seems like I’ve been consciously spending less time on my phone, but my screen time might have just shifted towards laptop usage instead …. And as I browsed further, I wondered how the economy is actually doing; I wanted to see the economy from other people’s perspectives.
I typed “economy” into YouTube’s search bar, and most videos that came up were negative. The title that caught my attention was “The recession has finally hit the influencer economy”. Please feel free to watch it if you are interested. It’s 30 minutes, so a bit long for most people.
In the video, the host showed evidence of various influencers claiming that they were no longer making money from their full-time influencer job. Part of the video suggests that the previous model of showing audiences influencers' amazing, luxurious life to encourage their viewers to purchase various sponsored products is no longer viable, so many influencers are struggling to maintain their previous lifestyle. I had never agreed with the idea of inducing envy/lust from the general public to stimulate consumption, and it’s certainly not my choice of profession, so it didn’t feel hard to watch that part of the video.
What really made me sad was that, towards the end of the video, the host suggested that most of the influencers who are struggling are the small-, medium-sized ones. The top ones are still managing. This part particularly gave me mixed-feelings. Despite not agreeing with the morals of a typical, consumption-focused, “influencer” job, I also realise that most small-, medium-sized influencers might just want some income to get by. They are probably similar to many employed 9-5 workers who have a family to take care of, a mortgage and bills to pay off, that they aren’t in the profession to make an extraordinary wealth from other people’s lust/envy. On the contrary, the top influencers, similar to the executives in big corporates, are still managing, and potentially doing even better, even though they probably really don’t need more money.
This is hard to think about. I don’t believe that the economy is at its lowest yet, and things will only get worse. I’m concerned that the society will develop into hard, hierarchical strata that are worse than the ones we currently have, where the middle class will be divided into the “upper” and “lower” classes depending on their luck/choices/experiences in this turbulent period. I’ve always believed that humans are adaptable, and they’ll always find ways to cope; but, currently, I have no idea how most people will survive the chaos ahead.
I’ve also realised how blessed and fortunate I’ve been. I’ve met many good people who supported me and caught me when things went downhill. I sometimes do wonder if I’ve done enough to deserve everything I have — a not-so-stable 9-5 job that pays well, controlling parents who willingly supported me to own a flat with a mortgage, a loving, supportive partner who happens to complain a lot. It’s, however, a dangerous thought to think that I don’t deserve what I have, so I try not to think about it too much. Instead, I really need to actively become a more positive influence to others now and in the future.