There's no oligopoly of tech companies like hollywood studios though. Even the salary-collusion BS was a very small group of companies and illegal without union protection.
Also the Rock may pay his union dues because (a) he's required to be a memeber and (b) the cost is immaterial to him. The top performers are usually hampered by unions they'd be fine without; he's not going to need the pension and health insurance the collective bargaining agreement gets him.
>> then no one will know, no one will benefit, and the work will be lost. You may as well not have bothered.
This runs counter to a lot of great works. They were completed, known by and benefited first and foremost their creator. The fact that the rest of us know about them is just a nice side effect, not necessary.
When I was young computers and taking computer programming in high school (gasp!) was for nerds and losers. The only thing that shielded me from ridicule and worse was my physical size and playing varsity sports. University combined a lot of us computer-lovers, regardless of whether we were obvious nerds or hid behind something else in our previous lives - it was great to be special and on top.
Now everyone feels obligated to "learn computers" and pursue the academic path after HS. Sadly as a whole we're not being successful; we're essentially customers of both.
I sure hope some kids are rejecting the current culture and creating something new that will up-end the current path...
Thanks for sharing your perspective. What's interesting is your experience doesn't follow the historical stereotype of HS, but absolutely nails an alternative one of driven immigrants, tiger moms, pressure to get into a prestigious university, the idea of a Cornell as your "safety school" - and the biggie - the extension of the perfect you on display for strangers that social media has worked hard to ingrain.
One thing that has not seemed to change: people are entirely focused on doing well at the same game, usually the one where the winners were decided long ago. This is funny/weird because often the idols they seek to emulate rejected the main game of their time, pursued something different and were the successful survivors in a completely new field. We seem to miss this point.
You self-realization and understanding of the crazy aspects of your situation is something that sets you apart from the masses; don't lose this perspective.
When I'm sweating at the gym or out in the rain the last thing I want is expensive headphones, earbuds or especially over the year. I'm likely not listening to (nor in an environment promoting) the highest fidelty music. I want a pair of < $20 ear buds that when grubby or stop working are easily replaced. Blue tooth may work 98% of the time but the old 3.5mm audio is 100%