Throughout high school and university, I’ve been surrounded by ambitious people. People who just can’t sit still, always on the move to try something new and do something better. However, I’ve noticed that what people consider worth pursuing in high school is very different from university. What was once social activism, organizing fundraisers for causes they believe in, trying to do the right thing to ensure everyone around them had a voice, now feels like the complete opposite. It’s a bit of a shock nowadays to see someone doing something to help the world instead of trying to find the perfect internship in finance, consulting and tech. Are we all “selling out”?
Selling out usually refers to an artist, politician or athlete setting aside their previous stated morals and ideologies for a quick buck. But as I’ve made my transition from high school to university, it’s starting to feel present every where I turn. As kids we heard that the world just needed to hold out long enough for us to grow up and take on the important jobs to become a better place, however despite how socially conscious we were raised to be—learning about major social issues like late-stage capitalism, anthropogenic climate change and systemic oppression— it feels like everyone I know is fighting tooth and nail to be in an industry that wants to make the world worse. Why are so many people, who know better, selling out, and what can we do instead?
I feel like such a common motivation for selling out career-wise is the “earning to give” mentality, or the classical economic belief that the most efficient way to improve the world is to be sitting up at the top of it. It’s a form of effective altruism, a relatively new and controversial philosophical framework and social movement that urges people, particularly who are going into tech and finance, to find a career that can enable you to donate a significant portion to charity. While most people are unaware of the movement itself, the underlying belief, that you need power and influence to do the most good, is still a common one. “Just two years in finance”, is what I’ve heard over and over, “that’ll give my career the boost it needs for me to be able to do anything I want,” whether that leads to an altruistic end goal or not.
Unfortunately, a lot of high-paying, yet morally-bankrupt jobs, know this. Golden handcuffs, generous employees benefits given to try to discourage employees from leaving, are super common at these companies and are timed perfectly to prey on your mindset of “maybe I’ll stay for just one more year to collect that bonus!” So if you’re looking to work hard in your 20s to make enough money to make an impact, keep in mind it might be harder than expected to bring yourself to leave that job that causes intense financial crises or that firm that throws millions at those lobbying against social progress.
If it feels like everyone around you is searching for the opportunity to sell out it might be time to take yourself out of the bubble a bit. It can be easy to get on the bandwagon and think that the only thing to do once you’re an adult is to find the best-paying job and climb up that ladder to join the elites. Maybe even as a way to help the world. However, it may be just as important to look around and see if that industry is one you really want to promote. Even effective altruists believe that “earning to give” can really only work for about 15% of university graduates.
Ultimately it’s up to you to decide how you live your life. Whether that involves how you spend that large paycheque, or choosing your future career based on how it contributes to the world, it’s valuable to remember what you want to achieve, and what your past self would have to say about your choices.