Today, I realized that running my own business (successfully for a while) is a big part of what made me hate capitalism so damn much.

For nearly a decade, I grew a blog I started while learning to code into a tech education business and dev consultancy. First it was a hobby, then a side hustle, then a full time job.

I loved having control of my work and my time.

I got to decide what I worked on and who I worked with. I didn’t need permission to take a day off to enjoy time with my family. I could take a month off of work to travel. I had almost no meetings. And I never got stuck doing pointless bullshit work that had to be completed simply because some exec had a bonus riding on it.

I loved getting emails from people telling me how I helped them start their careers. I loved learning with my students.

Running my own business made me realize how much “real” jobs suck.

But capitalism also ruined it all.

Running your own business also means you need to do marketing and finance and sales and business development. In the US, it means paying for healthcare completely out-of-pocket. That shit is expensive AF!

And it means being in constant competition for attention and money when really we’d all be better off with more collaboration and less winner-takes-all.

I loved teaching, and I was really fucking good at it, and I don’t do it anymore because I was spending more-and-more time making less-and-less money.

I’m just one drop in the ocean.

There are so many people who are so phenomenally good at what they do—art, tech, mending, building, caring for others—but our economic system means people have to choose between doing those things or having food to eat.

We all lose out. What a waste.