If we're doing cynicism - even if you write lovingly hand crafted free range OSS code - EvilCorp can still come along and use it as part of the EvilCorp backend.

Your just working for them for free rather than getting paid.

I spent nearly 2 years at a major pharmacy chain trying to implement various solutions for them and going in circles. Meanwhile, the entire construction of Epic Universe in Orlando took place. I've moved from realist to cynic. In fact, I'm not even working and may just be retired at this point. I just couldn't get past certain things about how these gigs have gone for the most part--so much waste.

> > We live in a late-stage-capitalist hellscape, where large companies are run by aspiring robber barons who have no serious convictions beyond desiring power. All those companies want is for obedient engineering drones to churn out bad code fast, [...]

This morning's aspiring robber baron fun (I think it's OK mention this, under the circumstances, so long as I don't say anything identifying)...

Responding to a cold outreach from a new startup, for which I happened to also have unusual experience in their product domain (no, you won't guess which). They wanted me to relocate to SF, as a founding engineer, and do a startup incubator with them.

Me: if you haven't even done the incubator, just to clarify, you want a founding engineer, not a co-founder?

Them: it will be good experience for you, to work alongside me to develop the product, and to see how the incubator works from the inside.

(This isn't really their fault. The incubator has started telling kids that they should work for one of the incubator's portfolio startups for the experience (certainly not for the salary and stock options), and then maybe one day they can be the Glorious Founder. And then new Glorious Founders, who might not yet know any better, simply regurgitate that.)

(I previously tried to talk with that same incubator about this message that they were using, after they included it in a broadcast that also invited connecting with a particular person there. When I found a way to contact that named person, they ignored my question, and instead offered to delete my account on their thing, if I didn't like what they were saying. So I deleted my account myself. I'm not sure we really developed a collegial rapport and constructive shared understanding about the concern...)

> For instance, you might think that big tech engineers are being deliberately demoralized as part of an anti-labor strategy to prevent them from unionizing, which is nuts. Tech companies are simply not set up to engage in these kind of conspiracies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_L...

Cynicism is something I was curious about, particularly what drives people to feel this way. It’s such a powerful emotion that tilts someone’s worldview.

It comes from negative experience and not dealing with the effects of that experience. The weight of that negativity is what tilts your views to be overtly cynical. You don’t just choose to be cynical, it’s part of your predisposition.

Idealism comes when you are younger in age and as you get older, you become more cynical about things, because you have been through many more experiences.

Young people should not be overtly cynical. They should look at the world with bright eyes and try to change things for the better. A young person who is overly cynical is a tragedy.

In regard to playing politics, I think that is just intellectual laziness. Getting people on board with your ideas requires thoughtfulness. Try to find common ground on something you both believe in is a challenge, that requires effort. Treating people as individuals, showing genuine curiosity in their beliefs and exchanging direct feedback in a respectful way, is how you get people on board with your ideas.

A very good piece. Balance always. Ultimately, everything is politics, and always will be - that's reality; it's always people. Pick your poison, idealism or cynicism; in any organization you'll have to deal with the people. That's the balance. It's not easy.

Cynical, indeed! I'm not good enough with leetcode exercises to worry about coding for a large organization. And I hardly use LLMs at all in my coding. Guess I'm back to focusing on value from my own perspective.

They should at least understand why they are getting paid and basic business logic instead of thinking they are above it because they are 10x or whatever. You are a cost center unless you are making that line go up.

I appreciate that the author looks specifically at what elements of a given viewpoint are idealistic vs cynical.

Idealism about one’s own behavior vs idealism about others’ behavior is an interesting tension to explore further.

I made a conscious choice to work at a small company rather than a large company because of this. The politics are smaller, but that doesn't mean the stakes are.