Rise of hustle culture
In this bleak future, the Philippines falls prey to the relentless demands of hustle culture, ensnaring its people in a cycle of relentless labor and diminishing humanity.
Driven by technological progress, Filipinos find themselves compelled to work longer hours than ever before, with side hustles and part-time jobs becoming the norm for survival. Social lives diminish as work consumes every waking moment, leaving little time for personal relationships beyond the confines of the workplace. Aside from this, careers also become all-encompassing identities, with Filipinos constantly promoting themselves and networking at every opportunity. The pressure to constantly upskill and remain relevant looms over every aspect of life, as Filipinos grapple with the fear of obsolescence in a rapidly evolving job market.
The dehumanizing effects of hustle culture are felt deeply, as individuals are reduced to mere commodities, their worth measured solely by their productivity and economic output. Human resources departments prioritize cost-saving measures over employee well-being, perpetuating a culture where the value of humanity is measured in terms of profitability.
Overall, the essence of what it means to be human is lost amidst the relentless pursuit of success and survival, leaving a populace drained of vitality and humanity.
Inspired by mammals like dolphins, cyborgs undergo unihemispheric slow-wave sleep; herem, one hemisphere of the brain goes to sleep while the other remains alert. This allows cyborgs to go on "autopilot" mode, wherein they are able to accomplish simple tasks (e.g. data encoding) while resting, making them more productive overall. It is also easy to wake up from "autopilot" whenever there is an urgent matter that needs full brainpower.
Majority of Filipinos' social interactions are networking opportunities nowadays. Just like in dating apps, your work profile is the first thing connections see when they meet you, helping them decide whether you're worth talking to or not.
Selected Quotes
...[A]s AI might replace some jobs in that sense, or like portions of those jobs, we might become more competitive by just going cheaper and cheaper and cheaper. So people ended up having to hustle more...I'm constantly talking about...how I don't like the idea of self-promotion in design spaces. Like how people constantly have talks now that are just about themselves, versus like an actual idea. And you might be end up seeing more and more and more of that...you're constantly out there trying to sell yourself, even in spaces that are not even supposed to be work-related. And that might be a scary thing because...I still remember when you could actually just have a conversation that's not related to work.
I mean, we've already been seeing changes in the way people work, and the way our work culture has changed over just in the past 20 years, to be honest...I think before 2010...it was not very common to see people constantly having a side hustle or hustle. But throughout the 2010-2020s, like I have so many friends who have part-time work outside of work just to survive. And it's because...the way technology has been working has been working against what generally makes the Philippines competitive, which is being cheap. So...as jobs get cheaper and cheaper and cheaper, people are forced to get more work, etcetera. You end up getting...16 hour days almost for work.
And [this work-centered lifestyle] just creates a society that no longer has time for other people, much so their own circles...I don't know how will that affect [us]. I mean...New York is very similar. Nobody has just one job in New York because it's that expensive. But yeah...we might be seeing less and less and less of like connections that are just purely friends, and more like who is our work buddy and done. Because people don't really have lives outside of work anymore.
But yeah...I'm seeing [an evolution of our values] already [in] how cheap the value of...humanity is in the Philippines now. [For instance]...the way people are saying even around start-ups and tech like: "If you can't compete, you have to upskill. Otherwise, you're nothing. Otherwise...you're just not being competitive...you're just gonna be...outmoded or whatever."...To talk about a human person like they're a piece of technology that's gonna be...outdated over time, it's like...wow...When I look back and like, realize what people were saying, we're talking about people like they're...iPods...iPods because there's no more iPods, right?...They can get outdated. And like to think...a human being can just be like thrown away that way. And I've seen it, because I've had my own fair share of troubles with HR, and HR just doesn't care. HR will think of saving the company money, [rather] than saving...a human person. So I feel interpersonally, that's what's gonna happen.
