The Burnout Society: Hustle Culture, Self Help, and PsychoPolitics

A Documentary about how Hustle Culture, Workaholism, Toxic Productivity, Self Improvement, and Self-Help gurus like Gary Vaynerchuk function as a form of what the Philosopher Byung-Chul Han calls “Psychopolitics.” Psychopolitics is a form of smart power that governs our Neoliberal Society of Control. Hustle Culture and Positive Psychology (Toxic Positivity) are just some of its many manifestations. It is leading to burnout, depression, and anxiety.

#HustleCulture #byungchulhan #Selfhelp

Credits:
Written, Narrated, and Directed by 1Dime
Music by Karl Casey/White Bat Audio
Thumbnail by Stafoh

Books I drew Inspiration from:
PsychoPolitics: Neoliberalism and New Technologies of Power by Byung Chul Han
The Burnout Society by Byung Chul Han
The Transparency Society by Byung Chul Han
The Protestant Work Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber
Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher
Theories of Ideology by Jan Rehmann
Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work by Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams
In Praise of Idleness by Bertrand Russel
Zhuangzi: The Essential Writings
Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren By John Meynard Keynes

Timestamp
0:00 A New Society of Control
3:59 Hustle Culture and Self-Help
6:09 Gary Vee and Self-Help Gurus
8:26 Byung Chul Han’s Psychopolitics
11:48 Smart Power
15:15 Burnout and Depression
19:33 Ideology and Fantasy
24:45 The Gig Economy
27:36 Free Time and PostCapitalism
30:20 Daoism and Idleness
32:00 Automation and Work

Check out more 1Dime content:

[Dimee]

Subscribing, Commenting, Liking, and Sharing also helps!

[User]

I got really good at making bread over quarantine to the point people are regularly telling me to open a bakery or turn it into a side hustle and i categorically refuse to do so. I hate the idea that all labor has to be productive. So many people have been genuinely confused why i would want to have a hobby where all i get out of it is the pleasure of doing it. It makes me quite upset honestly.

[BS-sipj]

Having a job is stressful, not having a job is stressful. Doing things you like is stressful because of the guilt that you're not being productive. Society is really fucked up

[Saturnia]

I remember seeing a post back in 2015 that read "grind in your 20s, hustle in your 30s, relax in your 40s" and it was posted by some girl who obviously had rich parents. I would also overhear employees at my last job bragging that they rarely slept and that they work 40+ hours a week; hell, most people I've talked to didn't have any hobbies or interests outside of being a hard worker, drinking, and smoking. This would all be fine, I guess, if hard work actually payed off nowadays. Every one of these people that I've met that would brag about being the hardest worker would always end up having a meltdown that resulted in being fired, rehab, coming to work drunk or high, or quitting the job. In the end these hard workers never even reach their goals, they're stuck in a loop because of the insanely low wages, even if they're frugal they can't save up any money because of the high cost of living such as rent. Lol, I even remember hearing my boss say "I was born to work!" And I felt like telling him that no, that's not why you exist; you have a life outside of working, dude. It's awful.

[HamidKarzai]

Work as hard as possible and eventually, your boss will finally be able to live the life they dream of

[musicfinder]

I’m 32 years old... I hate how I struggle staying with any job/field for a long period of time. I’ve done office jobs, restaurant jobs, construction jobs, and trucking jobs. What’s strange is I really didn’t particularly hate any of them. In fact most of them I enjoyed.. I just hate how I have to do the same thing over and over every day to live a life.

I like doing different things… I feel like humans were meant to do different things. But nowadays society isn’t set up for it. Capitalism for better or worse has become “do this same task over and over for 30-40 years, become efficient in doing this same thing your whole life, and then retire.”

Some people can adapt more than others I guess. But I think Id feel so much happier and fulfilled in older days. Doing the same task every day for years just kills me inside. Working longer 10-12 hour days on your own farm doing dozens of tasks sound much more fulfilling than living like your in Groundhog Day.

[henryfleischer]

The line about people in America working longer hours than people in Japan really hit hard. I always hear about people overworking themselves in Japan, but in the us, the country I live in, everything is "fine", or "not as bad as x".

[kenwoodlam]

I’ve been driving a semi over the road for almost 20 years now. Gone for 10 days at times. 15 hours a day or sometimes 20 hours was normal. One day I pulled in for an oil change and chatted with the manager of the shop while waiting. The guy asked me “ do you know the biggest regret people have when they are laying on their death bed ? They all say they regret working too much and didn’t have enough time for family and friends”. That stuck with me.

[Geospasmic]

"We are all Big Brother now."
That's chilling.

[LinkleMcA]

Another part of this culture is that it ends up hurting people who are, for whatever reason, unable to work or "be productive" in ways that are deemed acceptable. Those with physical or mental conditions, those who don't have access to adequate employment, etc end up suffering substantial stress, self-loathing and depressing because they can't meet the expectations that are taken for granted anyone can and should strive for. You aren't allowed to find alternate ways of working in the system, and trying to find help in others leads to you being seen as lazy, useless, or a burden.

[allnaturalfigjam]

Thank you for this - as someone who seems to be physically and mentally incapable of maintaining the "hustle" for more than a couple of weeks (despite many attempts), I have always felt like a bit of a failure. But recently I started realising that considering myself "broken" because I can't do this thing that doesn't seem to make anyone feel happy or secure is just so backwards. It's like being disappointed in yourself because you scream and recoil when you putting your hand in a fire.

[Andrewism]

Fantastic work! Ironically, the grind of capitalism has kept me from taking the time to watch this video until now.

[KillerUgly]

I love how capitalism is like, "this is the only option if you want freedom", then turns around and goes, "you have to act this way or your life is over".

[InfectedEnnui]

If we're to escape from this economic hellhole, we MUST work together with our friends/families/local communities.

That's another bit of commonly-understood wisdom that nobody seems to live by: we're stronger together.

[TJ_]

This honestly puts so much in perspective for me… I’ve always felt so guilty not working overtime, feeling like I’m not being “productive” enough, not doing as well as him/her/they, not doing extra catch up work on the weekends, etc. Like, I did what I needed to do today… do I really need to fill every “idle” hour with a task or spend my days off “bettering myself” or working basically for free since I don’t get overtime? What’s wrong with just chilling? That doesn’t make me a slob. I don’t live to work… work to live.

[phangkuanhoong]

"Self-help" is an oxymoron. If I'm helping myself, why do I need some hack to tell me what to do?

[KidDinomite]

Thank you for this video. My whole life I would watch as people would go to work and then come home exhausted, day in and day out. Parents that would constantly complain about their jobs and the endless suffering they would endure as a result. Then they would curiously sing the praises of hard work, education, and why it was important for me to go to college and get a good job, raise a family, etc., all while seemingly unaware of the paradoxical nature of their lives. I was always secretly terrified of having the life they and others in the world would clearly die for. What is it all for? Illusory Bragging rights to keep the game going, as you have clearly shown. Anyone who was able to see the game as it truly is and speak up would be seen as a problem and socially ousted or told they were crazy, ie. Internalized Capitalism. I'm not particularly well-spoken, but you have essentially shown what I've been thinking this whole time. I'm now unemployed and seen as a 'loser' within this society. And while that feels bad and I'm scared a lot of the time, I feel blessed to be able to own myself and be free from this matrix of control, if for only the time being. Again, thank you for this video. Great work!!!

[vidzkid]

I've watched hundreds of hours of videos with similar messages, but this is one of the best I've ever seen. Not only are the visuals and music dramatic and engaging, the concise and insightful description of our late Capitalist dystopia is highly explanatory and very accessible. I'm sharing this with everyone I know. Thank you for putting so much time and effort into making this extremely important video.

[HouseCatTV]

My Dad was completely taken by this mindset and it did him no good in the end, he died of cancer and left us with debt. It wasn't his fault, virtually every boomer buys into this lie and it's why the economy has come to its current awful state

[Gokanaru]

I love that the editing, visuals, music and overall aesthetic are shaped by the topics and themes of your videos. Keep it up man this is top tier content 👌