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Comment by nicbou | Hacker News Reader

This reminds me of Louis CK's line "you can achieve great things when you don't give a shit about people".

Is the cost worth it? Do I want fair conditions and a good work balance, or do I want to brag about something that made my employer's shareholders really proud? Is the pay worth it if I can't miss a day of work to tend to more important matters?

I run a website for immigrants in Germany. I have to spend a lot of words explaining that it's okay to take sick days, that you won't lose your insurance if you lose your job, and other things that Europeans take for granted.

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> you can achieve great things when you don't give a shit about people

I think this is a completely wrong take from the armchair philosophers.

You actually can't do great things when you treat people like shit. The people who actually do great things strike the right balance between applying pressure and requiring excellence and treating people well. The results of purely treating people like slaves is mediocre.

Even the pyramids were built by well paid craftsmen, not slaves as is commonly believed.

Maybe it's not meant to be taken literally. I read it as, "You can achieve great things when you loosen your system of ethics and are okay with a net increase in human suffering."

> Even the pyramids were built by well paid craftsmen, not slaves as is commonly believed.

Half right. It's currently believed that the bulk of the workers were lots and lots of paid laborers. Not craftsmen. That would be expensive!

https://www.britannica.com/video/226777/did-enslaved-people-...

It's also a balance between having new companies that can start up with lower overheard and fewer jobs concentrated among larger companies that can afford it.

The only companies that treat their employees poorly are those that have people lined up to work for them. The employees must think the tradeoff is worth it.

Employees should be able to choose a company with stability and lower pay or higher pay and less stability. The other option is to take the high pay job and pay for additional private insurance to cover what your employer will not. The people who want stability shouldn't force it on the people who are comfortable without it.

A typical software engineer in Germany earns about €60-80k.

More than enough to save money for retirement, travel the world enjoying 30 days vacations, own a cars, buy enough hardware, fancy house,....

After a certain value is for show off only, or maybe lit cigars with burning notes.

And 6 weeks off, unlimited sick days, and a generous notice period. Health insurance and unemployment insurance are a given. There's no explaining how much more relaxed work culture is in Germany.

Is life better in every respect? No. But there's a lot more to life than earning potential.

> There's no explaining how much more relaxed work culture is in Germany.

Is that supposed to be something positive? Why would you want a relaxed work culture if you like your job?

I like my job even more when it's a smaller part of my life

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