I am 36, and graduated into bad-but-not-this-bad economic conditions. I'm struck by how much of your advice here applied then too (minus the AI). It's now just applicable to much more people.
I don't disagree with this advice as self-help advice.
But man, I don't the general public is going to be happy about a world where you have to be entrepreneurial and reinvent yourself every 5 years just to maintain a middle-class income. Security and stability are important psychological needs, especially for people who are older or who have kids.
I know, and I write plenty about the need for policies to prevent or cushion that kind of labor disruption. but it’d feel as dishonest and fatalistic not to also suggest that there are things young people can do to prepare — these are the things I tell real-life friends and mentees
Preparing for the changes is not the same as surrendering, or despair. Those are not alternatives. I am an older man, with three children in their 30s. I am angry about the squandered opportunity to make things better--and to make things right. We have the brains and the resources. But--these are not being used to address what matters--and especially in America right now. Being prepared and looking around corners is healthy. Life should be filled with joy and love and creativity. It is possible.
America's general public is not, but the truth is a large majority of the world has never had 1 fixed salary that leads to a middle class lifestyle. Its called the prepaid economy and it was becoming apparent in UK and now certainly US, before AI. Security and stability are important psychological needs indeed (assuming you mean financial), but most of the world managed without it through their communities, ie leaning into/valuing more the emotional a/o social security and stability. In the AI era, I'd put community as high up there with importance of mental framing.
As a 52 year old former smoker, I can confirm that bumming the occasional cigarette from strangers is excellent advice. It led to meeting my wife, having four kids and a life more wonderful than i could have imagined back in my twenties. I’ll shut up before I convince myself to start smoking again.
All very great, and it seems everyone could have a bright future with more flexibility and agency, except perhaps for the 2026 international graduates who want to stay and work in the US. Don't think the old immigration system will catch up with the increasingly volatile world, and it will be painful for people who need a big tech stable job to live in the US or many other places (if it is not already painful enough).
def agree, I have lots of friends in this position and it makes me very sad that they can’t take the risks or have the flexibility that I have, and that the immigration situation is getting worse. in that case I’d stick to the practical things at the end about finding work that grows as AI does — in the industry, robotics, healthcare, etc. (network building and not deskilling yourself is still a good idea!)
I'd add: once you settle into a place, don't stress about the next step! Give yourself time to understand what you like and what you're good at. Your first job almost certainly won't be where you spend any significant portion of your career, so use this time to live life, understand your place in the workforce, and keep your eye open for the next leap.
(I also have to call out a crazy coincidence. I also published a piece today, 20 minutes before this one, using a J.M.W. Turner painting. Just weird.)
my favorite description of our formative math teacher — i credit all the collective “strahhggle” from those middle and high school years to building any backbone and creativity that i have now.
This is excellent, and equally applicable to this 41-year-old, who's just moved 9,000 miles as it is to new grads. I wish them, you, and myself all the best!
a delight to read, particularly from the perspective of someone with 2 little kids. i think part of the anxiety around AI is a sense that it will exacerbate the K-shaped economy, and send us to some kind of strange nu-middle-ages. And yet so many are already there. As you say, not everyone can work for google, the missing piece is that that's probably a really good thing... for any number of reasons and from many perspectives
Excellent post. I’m 50 years old and still found the advice to be relevant even though I’m perhaps not target audience . Sent a link to three nieces in their 20’s
So many lovely thoughts here! The old world might be dying, and that is terrifying in a lot of ways. The new world has the potential to be better in certain ways - but only if we make it so!
I mostly strongly resonate with your last main section about how "self-help" is needed more than ever *because* the world is burning. We have to be able to acknowledge systems and how they're hurting us in order to 1) imagine a better way and 2) figure out how to overcome them within our own lives - that's exactly what I like to talk about on here!
This is so great - I love your writing, Jasmine.
I am 36, and graduated into bad-but-not-this-bad economic conditions. I'm struck by how much of your advice here applied then too (minus the AI). It's now just applicable to much more people.
I wanted to give advice that’d hold whether AI changes everything or does nothing at all! thank you
The bad news: the old world is dying 😔😱😬
The good news: the old world is dying🥳🙌🍾
frrr
exactly!
I don't disagree with this advice as self-help advice.
But man, I don't the general public is going to be happy about a world where you have to be entrepreneurial and reinvent yourself every 5 years just to maintain a middle-class income. Security and stability are important psychological needs, especially for people who are older or who have kids.
I know, and I write plenty about the need for policies to prevent or cushion that kind of labor disruption. but it’d feel as dishonest and fatalistic not to also suggest that there are things young people can do to prepare — these are the things I tell real-life friends and mentees
Of course, and I appreciate all the reporting you've done on this issue!
Preparing for the changes is not the same as surrendering, or despair. Those are not alternatives. I am an older man, with three children in their 30s. I am angry about the squandered opportunity to make things better--and to make things right. We have the brains and the resources. But--these are not being used to address what matters--and especially in America right now. Being prepared and looking around corners is healthy. Life should be filled with joy and love and creativity. It is possible.
America's general public is not, but the truth is a large majority of the world has never had 1 fixed salary that leads to a middle class lifestyle. Its called the prepaid economy and it was becoming apparent in UK and now certainly US, before AI. Security and stability are important psychological needs indeed (assuming you mean financial), but most of the world managed without it through their communities, ie leaning into/valuing more the emotional a/o social security and stability. In the AI era, I'd put community as high up there with importance of mental framing.
As a 52 year old former smoker, I can confirm that bumming the occasional cigarette from strangers is excellent advice. It led to meeting my wife, having four kids and a life more wonderful than i could have imagined back in my twenties. I’ll shut up before I convince myself to start smoking again.
Note to self: bum cigarettes
All very great, and it seems everyone could have a bright future with more flexibility and agency, except perhaps for the 2026 international graduates who want to stay and work in the US. Don't think the old immigration system will catch up with the increasingly volatile world, and it will be painful for people who need a big tech stable job to live in the US or many other places (if it is not already painful enough).
def agree, I have lots of friends in this position and it makes me very sad that they can’t take the risks or have the flexibility that I have, and that the immigration situation is getting worse. in that case I’d stick to the practical things at the end about finding work that grows as AI does — in the industry, robotics, healthcare, etc. (network building and not deskilling yourself is still a good idea!)
(and pray that these areas do not get further national securitized...)
I'm 77. I can relate.
I'd add: once you settle into a place, don't stress about the next step! Give yourself time to understand what you like and what you're good at. Your first job almost certainly won't be where you spend any significant portion of your career, so use this time to live life, understand your place in the workforce, and keep your eye open for the next leap.
(I also have to call out a crazy coincidence. I also published a piece today, 20 minutes before this one, using a J.M.W. Turner painting. Just weird.)
This is absolutely brilliant. I savored every word!
This was such a heartening and insightful read, thank you!
my favorite description of our formative math teacher — i credit all the collective “strahhggle” from those middle and high school years to building any backbone and creativity that i have now.
a great read!
haha long live ms. kol
This is excellent, and equally applicable to this 41-year-old, who's just moved 9,000 miles as it is to new grads. I wish them, you, and myself all the best!
a delight to read, particularly from the perspective of someone with 2 little kids. i think part of the anxiety around AI is a sense that it will exacerbate the K-shaped economy, and send us to some kind of strange nu-middle-ages. And yet so many are already there. As you say, not everyone can work for google, the missing piece is that that's probably a really good thing... for any number of reasons and from many perspectives
thanks, I’m glad it was valuable!
Excellent post. I’m 50 years old and still found the advice to be relevant even though I’m perhaps not target audience . Sent a link to three nieces in their 20’s
Turner's "Rain,Steam and Speed-the Great Western" is a great thematic illustration for this article.Excellent choice!
I love Turner and was very happy to have an excuse to use this image
"The Fighting Temeraire" might have been an alternative choice for this post.
refreshingly real
So many lovely thoughts here! The old world might be dying, and that is terrifying in a lot of ways. The new world has the potential to be better in certain ways - but only if we make it so!
I mostly strongly resonate with your last main section about how "self-help" is needed more than ever *because* the world is burning. We have to be able to acknowledge systems and how they're hurting us in order to 1) imagine a better way and 2) figure out how to overcome them within our own lives - that's exactly what I like to talk about on here!