chat

I think instead of asking: "how can I best position myself in the labor market individually" we should ask: "how can I best position myself to contribute to collective labor power". Actualize your individuality by joining the collective struggle of the 99% instead of generating profits for the 1%.

It's great, that you have an interest in social sciences and you could certainly try to turn that into a job. The fact, that you're willing to let go of the privilege, that comes with the software field honors you. It means you're not just after the money.

But what if, instead of comodifying your passion to turn it into tiny cog in a profit machine for some capitalist, you find a way to use it to help some worthy cause? Maybe write articles about social issues to agitate fellow workers or use your interest in social science to figure out how an effort to unionize workers in your field could be successful. Or join an org, that could use your talents in some way.

And there might be a worthy cause soon: As a software developer, you're in a field with unusually high wages despite almost no unionization. That's because it's organic composition of capital leans towards variable capital. The tools of the trade are cheap. Like a skilled artesian, a software developer can just take their laptop and walk, if their wage is too low. An engineer in a car factory might be just as skilled, but can't take the robots and assembly lines and walk out, their field has much more fixed capital. So labor in your field has high individual bargaining power, even without collective bargaining.

But like almost every technical innovation ever, AI will shift the organic composition of capital towards fixed capital. This could lower the bargaining power of workers. That's why they push it. For example, if huge server farms to drive closed source, centralized AI models become the norm, software engineers won't be able to just take those with them and walk out as easily as before. On the other hand, small, cheap, specialized, easy to train, open source models (like China develops) might actually benefit labor power. It will be necessary to fight for democratic control over AI to decide whether it's a blessing or a curse.

So if you're asking about how to position yourself in the labor market, I'd say, wether in the software field or in the humanities, try to find a place where collective labor power is strong and try to find the way you can best contribute to that power in your own unique way.

Link to the comic