People say others have sold themselves out to this or that.
Can't one buy oneself back?
We use money to buy time, affection, fame, and other things. Not that I am planning to, but why can't we buy ourselves back the freedom to create a personality, a lifestyle, a change of job, a change of perspectives?
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7 comments:
mmm I think the statement only applies when the whole 'do ends justify means' question comes up.
And besides, if you are working at or doing something in order to achieve the means to do something else, it can happen that your goals deviate and become shaped by what you are currently doing.
This is when the 'selling out' bit comes up.
Legitimate point, Mel, but what about the following;
Say there's a student who has to take on a job to finance studying part-time, and they can choose between
A: study for 5 years while working part-time in a low-paying job they don't enjoy.
B: work for 1 year in a high-paying job that they don't enjoy and then study for 4 years without needing to work part-time.
Option B might leave you a different person after one year, but people can revert, particularly if they're able to stick to a plan. In this case, it is just more efficient to do B. It'd be more pain and then more gain.
But what if they don't revert, as you say, and their goals deviate? What if you do indeed change beyond recognition...Presumably, the actual person wasn't harmed in the process, you don't feel your new self to be any less well off, didn't feel pain as their personality changes. Unless they then reverted over the course of time and came to regret working for a year at something that they hated. But then they could just remind themselves, convince themself that the option they selected option was better in the sense of being more efficient, and that the alternative was doing something they hated at a lower wage to help you doing something that you love. It depends on the job you're after, and your capacity to pay for general living expenses in that job as well as for comfort and security.
When people say you sold out, then, they're expressing a frustration at the fact that you changed, not a belief that you were harmed by your change.
But what about a different situation. Suppose the student has graduated. What if they can do exactly what they want and earn little, but enough doing it to pay for what they need. Say they're earning X at this job. What if they work at that job for 5 years, but gradually come to dislike this job which they originally loved, and then require to go back to studying with a crappy side job at low pay. Where does this leave them in comparison to the person who earnt 3*X for a while, then studies, works in the original job they intended to do, but also later decides that it isn't for them?
Also, I think working at different things, and possibly, things that you didn't think you would do, broadens your horizons quite a bit and possibly creates more 'likes',
"When people say you sold out, then, they're expressing a frustration at the fact that you changed, not a belief that you were harmed by your change."
Read your response, hey, not disagreeing at all. Do definitely agree with the above pasted part of your response.
I gave the previous example mentioned as in line with how the phrase 'selling out' came up about how some people might have viewd you in your work situation.
I often think that the phrase 'selling out' is way used too casually or loosely to have any real punch to it.
It might have stood more in terms of ideological priniciples say ie: the farmer who had previously stood in council/represented other farmers for land ownership or preservation, may have sold his land to an oil company and resigned from his position as council member.
He may genuinely believe in land preservation but found it more convenient to shift his beliefs and give priority to his want/need for money.
So yes, someone who has changed, and unacceptably so. Especially i guess if they have changed from one end of a spectrum to another for the sake of convenience.
"unacceptably so" --> it's a social judgement and yes, a an unacceptable shift in character in how others might have viewed that farmer.
I also think it disturbs people to have been disillusioned, or more so that their judgement of the person was flawed, or that they did not perceive clearly.
I think that's really what disturbs people, what they might view as their failure in judgement.
It does seem though that people who say that aren't so angry at themselves, but at the person who has changed. Could they really be angry at themselves for their lack of judgement?
I didn't say they are angry at themselves.
I said disturbed. Most people don't like their sense of reality or expectations to be tampered with. That's why plenty of people fear change.
But in saying that, to a degree, perhaps some of the more self-aware might be angry at themselves for having been 'deceived'.
mphr. disturbed, perhaps, but less disturbed than frustrated surely? frustrated and surprised.
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