Leave it to capitalism to turn arguably the most important role in a modern society's infrastructure into something useless.
Holy shit I feel that though. I gave up on a computer science degree twice, and finally put it behind me the second time after realizing I can't think of a tech job (that I could get anywhere near) which even serves a purpose beyond "process data in an office to help another office process their own data, etc etc etc." Any job opportunity I saw was about 3 steps removed from having any coherent purpose you could explain to the average person. It's endlessly fucking frustrating that thousands of young people, in search of a meaningful life, are tricked into wasting their talents on serving that worthless industry instead of using them for something worthwhile.
Now I've switched to an applied arts program where I do alternating terms at uni and a craft college. I know exactly what the typical reaction to that is, but I'm not falling for that guilt-tripping bait just to waste years working towards abstract fucking IT field "accomplishments" that no one will ever benefit from. That illusion of success only works if you still believe the fullness of your life should be measured by how much value you've produced, not to mention in a closed corporate system which ironically loses any real-world significance the moment you step outside of it. I do think hard work is often necessary to truly succeed in life, but the kind of work that must be done to save this society won't be found there. I'll probably have to find it myself, learning from others along the way.
IDK what I'l end up doing in the long run. Who knows. But the least I can do is tell the world some stories to help others make sense of life, or find a way to turn my beliefs into politically-charged art as unapologetically as possible (ideally through graphic novels or 2D animation). Even though the platform for an aspiring radical artist is pretty much guaranteed to be smaller than I'd hope, I want to give it everything I have and reach as many people as possible.
I find comfort in knowing that if change is really coming, then someday it won't be this hard.
:juche-WPK: