A Surviving Facts blog
Sometimes I wonder if loss ever goes away— the feelings of loss at least. Loss is such an amorphous and capricious emotion. It can be as trivial as the loss of a sweater on a trip or the loss of something profound— a job I held for 24 years.
About that job… it’s not the job I miss. It’s the friends I thought I had, the connections I thought would remain and the ability to celebrate the accomplishments and success achieved there but lost to a disappointing ending. Job loss rewrites your history— not on the black and white resume level, but in the mind, both my own and, I suspect, other people’s. Combined with the lost friendships and disappearing connections, the achievements dissipate like steam on a cold day.
Even though I’ve been out for nearly 2 years, I still get calls from people there. It happened not too long ago. The question was about details of past projects, which I gladly supplied, a sort of passing of lore. I mused: does no one recall this success? “No, not really,” the person answered. Now, new employees with little onboarding reinvent “never-done-before” ideas for the fourth or fifth time. Let them, to quote Mel Robbins. They will learn the same lessons.
Do I sound resentful? I don’t feel so. Rather, I feel as if l have left my sweater on the back of a chair at a restaurant or hanging in a hotel closet. Where did it go? What happened? It’s a fleeting thought that pangs then evaporates.
Nothing puts the traditional American job into perspective more quickly than realizing that working for others rarely accrues to one’s own accomplishments, at least not in a lasting way. People come and go and the company rolls on teaching bad habits to new learners.
I see this now that I work for myself. I run a small fitness franchise, write a successful blog— the one you’re reading, in fact— and I’m writing a book slated to come out next summer. My livelihood depends on me. I’m fortunate to have other income sources for cushion as I build my own endeavors. But every moment of my time is now dedicated to creating something meaningful for the world— at least that’s my goal. My efforts accrue to me, not the “man.”
When I was a kid, Johnny Paycheck’s “Take This Job and Shove It,” was the blue-collar anthem. It represented all the hard-working, no-reward stiffs dreaming of walking away from a capitalist system that benefits the few. Haven’t you ever fantasized about giving the bird to a boss and marching out the door? If so, I bet this song was your ear worm.
Today, Americans literally work to enrich their executives, owners or corporate shareholders. Their work value trickles up, not down. How so? While the rich have made progress over the last 50-60 years with staggering increases in wealth— talking to you, billionaire bros— the average American workers’ salaries have not kept up with inflation or the cost of living. As of August 2025, Americans earned 1.2 percentage points below the cost of living— and costs have only increased since then. In simple terms, this means that they earn 88 cents out of every dollar. That missing 12 cents is going to increased costs of goods and to paying their bosses.
This has all happened while productivity has increased. Translation: Americans are working harder, creating more goods and services, but making less money. In fact, productivity has risen 74% while hourly wages grew 9%. Let’s use donuts as an example. If you originally made 12 donuts per minute, your productivity is now turning out 20.88 donuts per minute. You’re not getting paid for those extra donuts, however. You’re getting paid for 13 donuts rather than 20.
At the same time, the company is now selling more donuts and at increased prices. Who is getting the benefit of the labor? The Top 1%. Their wage growth has increased 138%. One-hundred and thirty-eight percent. So for those donuts, the executives and shareholders are receiving the benefit of 28-29 donuts, roughly. I’m not a mathematician or economist.
This is why I will no longer work for someone else. While my salary isn’t at the level I made previously, my efforts produce and reward— or don’t reward— myself. I’m fortunate to be able to do what I’m doing. I have a shelter, food, safety. What about the millions of Americans who don’t?
Simply put, you cannot have Top 1% increases at 138% and the rest of us at an average of 15% and have a fair or equal system. The 138% cannot be directly related to the efforts of the Top 1%— the group is too small to actually create that level of output. They need us. To increase so dramatically, the amount has to come from somewhere. That somewhere is the middle and bottom class who are working and passing a percentage of their labor up the chain to the people at the top. CEOs now make 296 times what a typical worker earns. Again, this is impossible without taking the money from somewhere.
One more illustration. Let’s take a bucket of coins. Let’s say there are 100,000 pennies. For the CEO to earn 296 times those 100,000 pennies, workers have to produce 29.5 million more pennies to pay the CEO. That’s a lot of productivity. And that’s all before the worker gets their share. Most of the time, the average worker is working to pay someone else, not to earn their own salary.
I’ve digressed quite a bit from where I started— with the resonance of loss, the short memory of corporations and the sadness of lost relationships. But it’s all the same thing, really. Achievements aren’t remembered because the top retain credit for any success. Work relationships are lost because everyone is competing for the portion not going to the top. As for loss, this is what all Americans are experiencing every day they go to work. Perhaps loss never goes away because Americans now experience no gains.
Or… loss stays with us because it is now the American experience. Loss and livelihood are one and the same. At least until everyone wakes up and sees the system they’ve allowed to be created for what it is. No doubt high rhetoric and persuasion wooed all of us schmucks into giving away what we earn and have. We’ve gladly handed off our own rewards to believe what the rich have told us: “work harder because if I’m richer, so are you.” Really, it’s: “work harder so I can have more and you believe you’ll get more, eventually… but, ha ha, you won’t.”
I don’t miss working for the “man.” I will forge a different path on the labor of my mind and I will bet my earnings on my own resilience, persistence and fortitude. I hope more Americans can do the same.
Primary source: Employee Policy Institute
I would love to hear from you, even if, especially if, you disagree. Perhaps we can bring back the American tradition of debate. Please like and share this blog with others. Subscribe to receive it by email and go directly to the Walk the Moon website (www.walk-the-moon.com) to peruse the full collection of articles and updates. You can email me from the Walk the Moon website as well.
Walk the Moon 