I remember the exact moment I realized I was less a person and more a company asset. It was 2 AM on a Tuesday, and I was at my desk for the third night that week, proofreading a presentation for a meeting I would not even be allowed to attend.

For five years, that was my normal: sixty-hour weeks, a salary that vanished into my overpriced apartment rent, and the constant buzz of anxiety that I was not doing enough. I was told this “grind” was the price of ambition. But really, it was the blueprint for burnout.

That experience did more than exhaust me; it forced me to ask a bigger question about our entire modern work economy: what do we truly owe each other? The old playbook is gone. You know the one where you give a company your loyalty and steady effort, and in return, you get a stable job, reasonable hours, and a shot at a decent life.

That social contract has been ripped up. Today, the balance of power has tilted so far that workers absorb all the risk, while the rewards pool at the very top. We are told this is just the market, efficient and inevitable. But is it? Or have we just forgotten how to demand basic workplace dignity? Take the gig economy, for instance.

We framed it as an innovation in flexible work, a revolution! But let’s be honest: for most, driving for a rideshare app or delivering groceries is not about freedom. It is a survival tactic in a system where traditional jobs do not pay the bills. These companies build fortunes by labeling people as “independent contractors,” a slick bit of legal wording that magically erases any obligation to provide a minimum wage, benefits, or security.

Here is a truth we often gloss over: when we celebrate hustle culture, we are often just putting a positive spin on profound economic precarity. The human cost is immense, and calling this “disruption” feels like a deliberate refusal to see it. And do not even get me started on wages. Here is a frustrating puzzle: if workers are more productive than ever and we are, thanks to technology, why have our paychecks been virtually frozen for decades? The answer is not mysterious.

All those gains from our productivity have been funneled straight to shareholders and executive bonuses. This did not happen by accident. It was a direct result of choices that sidelined labor rights and worshipped shareholder value as the only corporate god.

I have come to believe the conversation needs to be bigger than just the number on a paystub. A job should be a foundation for a life, not an extraction point. This means living wages, full stop. It means health benefits you can actually use and work hours that leave room for you to, well, live.

The pushback is always the same: “But the costs! We will not be competitive!” Yet, look at any major corporation’s budget. There is always money for stock buybacks and C-suite raises. The resources exist. The real issue is priority. Perhaps the most baffling trap is tying healthcare to your employer.

It is a uniquely American madness that hands companies a terrifying amount of power over our lives. I have had friends stay in toxic, soul-crushing jobs for years because the thought of losing their family’s insurance was too terrifying. This is not freedom; it is a leash. Other countries have untethered these two things, proving it is a political choice, not an economic law.

The pandemic threw all this dysfunction into brutal relief. We called people “essential” and then paid them poverty wages, asking them to risk their health for our convenience. Meanwhile, many of us proved our jobs could be done from home, only to now be summoned back to the office, often for reasons that smell more of control than collaboration. We had a once-in-a-generation chance to rethink work and labor.

Instead, we are scrambling to rebuild the same flawed machine. And with AI and automation at the door, these questions are only going to get louder. What do we owe the person whose job is rendered obsolete? Do we let them fall off a cliff, or do we build a society where a person’s worth is not solely tied to their economic output? This is the core labor debate we can no longer avoid.

So, what is the path forward? For me, it is twofold. First, we need to reclaim collective power. The inspiring union organizing at places like Amazon and Starbucks is not a throwback; it is the logical response of people realizing a solo worker has no chance against a corporate giant. Second, we need laws that catch us when that collective power is not enough.

A living minimum wage, universal paid leave, and strong overtime protections are not radical ideas. They are the bare minimum for a just modern work economy. Ultimately, this is about a shift in mindset. We have let work consume our identities and every waking hour. But we are not just workers; we are neighbors, parents, artists, and friends.

Our value is not defined by our productivity. It is time to build an economy that remembers that one where the bottom line includes human dignity. After all, what is the point of all this innovation and wealth if it does not let more of us live a good life?

References

Townsend, A. M. (2013). Smart Cities: Big Data, Civic Hackers, and the Quest for a New Utopia. W.W. Norton & Company.

Kitchin, R. (2014). The Data Revolution: Big Data, Open Data, Data Infrastructures and Their Consequences. SAGE Publications.

United Nations Human Settlements Programme. (2023). World Cities Report: Smart Cities and Urban Innovation.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (2024). Senseable City Lab Research Publications. https://senseable.mit.edu/

Zuboff, S. (2019). The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. PublicAffairs.