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> Ownership is underrated

You meant perhaps overrated? At least in my experience so far in the tech industry, in all the companies I have worked for they always praise "ownership" as in: "as an engineer you own a product from conception to development to deployment to maintenance"... but they never talk about money. There is nothing like "If the company goes well and since you own part of it, here you have a bonus!" Nop, at least in Western Europe is not like that. You behave as if you must own the company, but you get no benefits at all; so basically: work more for the same money.




I think your observation confirms that it's underrated. The people who don't talk about money use a weird notion of ownership where it means responsibility, but doesn't seem to mean benefits.

Marx is turning in his grave.

Ownership that OP means is about having the agency to be part of the whole picture: responsibilities, work, challenges, and results.


I just read Arnold Schwarzenegger's essay in The Atlantic (full disclosure: 110% agree) ...

A thing that stood out, when Arnie spoke out against people using "freedom" as justification for not getting a vaccine or wearing a mask, he said

> Many people told me that the Constitution gives them rights, but not responsibilities. They feel no duty to protect their fellow citizens.

I see a direct link betwen the decline of capitalist equity and civic responsibility. As you say, there are no benefits, and therefore no agency.

The generations Arnie holds up as exemplars of civic virtue also had higher tax rates, stronger unions, and a much heartier social safety net.




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