In March of 2020, Variety released a cover story on Kim Kardashian that included a clip that went viral. It was the last line that hit me. Ms. Kardashian lashed out, "It seems nobody wants to work these days."
Former interns and employees immediately began sharing their horror stories of working in the Kardashian fame factory. Of course, most of those tweets disappeared as threats of legal action and NDA violations emanated from the Kardashian empire.
Kim K. was not the first nor the last wealthy person to rant about the lack of work ethic from the poors.
Many people also took Kardashian to task for failing to understand the realities of the world that the rest of us on the bottom end of the wealth inequality pyramid live in. This cycle of the ultra-wealthy complaining that nobody wants to work anymore goes back at least to the robber barons of the 19th century. My soon-to-be-former in-laws feel this way about me right now.
But when it comes to me, Kim was right.
I don't want to work, at least not the way she means.
I want to live. I want to make beautiful things of questionable economic value. I want to sleep well every night. I want to sit on the stunningly beautiful and toe-numbingly frigid Oregon coast and watch the waves endlessly beat against the rocks.
I want to be with my children as they grow up. I want to cuddle my dog and explore the wonders of the world around me.
I don't want to do any more bullshit work for questionable startups. I don't want to toil for hours on end at something I don't love just for the slim hope I might be able to afford fancier consumer goods.
When Kim Kardashian went briefly viral for being a bad boss, not only had I just experienced the global pandemic and watched Russia begin its fascist invasion with the rest of the globe, but I'd also been hospitalized with a rare gut infection that permanently compromised my immune system, had kidney cancer surgery, had both of my parents die, and had my uncle pass away. I was in the middle of an existential crisis.
In the years after that 2022 quote, AI would require me to fundamentally change my copywriting business, again, and I would be in the middle of a divorce after 28 years of marriage.
None of these life events inspired me to want to work myself into a nervous breakdown so that some of the worst people on the planet, people like the Kardashians, Trumps, and Zuckerbergs can add another zero to their net worth while I worry how to afford healthcare.
I want to love and live while I can, not "Gaslight. Gatekeep. Girlboss."
I will likely die before my student loans are paid off, even if I live to be 90. As a self-employed cancer survivor, I get to pay more in health care premiums each year for insurance that covers less. Would it be nice if I could change at least these two things?
Yes. But not at the cost of my soul.
I'm content but not complacent.
I'm creating an extraordinary life where I work on projects like my haiku comics, where the goal is to bring a sense of wonder and awe into the world.
I've changed my copywriting career to one where, instead of working with SaaS companies, I work with artists and business owners dedicated to making the world a better place.
I refuse to participate in the rat race any longer. I'm not chasing six figures because I don't need to buy more stuff and speed up the demise of our species. My family still needs to eat, so I still do what needs to be done to pay the bills. But I do it on my terms.
I'm proudly unemployable. Between my anxiety disorder, ADHD, immune system problems, and chronic health issues some of my children struggle with, no employer on the planet is flexible enough for me. I'm also notoriously bad at taking direction and constantly question authority.
I'm almost 50 and have been self-employed most of my life. I don't want to start working for someone else now.
Kardashian and other ultra-wealthy capitalists fail to understand that their approach to the economy and work is inherently exploitive and will doom human life on our planet if left unchecked.
There are other ways to live life. It's my ethical duty to try to build a more sustainable life. I'm privileged to have the skills and education that allow me to create my own career. Not everyone can.
But if all of us who can opt out of our self-destructive cycle of ambition, consumerism, and misery do so, we can begin making the world a better place for everyone.
We live in the richest country in the history of the world. We should all be looking for ways to help everyone work less and live better. That means making sure nobody ever has to work in the Kardashian fame factory ever again.
Jason McBride is a poet-cartoonist and best-selling author. He is working on a series of zines for self-employed artists. If you enjoyed this post, you'll love his newsletter, featuring poetry comics about nature, creativity, mindfulness, and living a fully human life.