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How the Freelance Economy Gaslights an Entire Generation
How ‘Flexible Work’ is capitalism selling freedom like snake oil.
When thinking of the gig economy, you picture Uber drivers, Amazon warehouse workers, food delivery riders, and people who need cash pronto. Workers check in, complete their tasks, and then check out. It’s a mutual “screw you,” wrapped in the simplicity of what’s on the tin is what you get.
But then there’s contract or freelance work, the crown jewel of the gig economy. It’s sold as the post-COVID dream: Work from anywhere/Stimulate your creativity. In this fast-paced, tech-obsessed world where you’re constantly upskilling and “adding value,” freelancing is marketed as the glamorous antidote to your parents’ boring, soul-sucking nine-to-five.
We’ve broken the mould, we think. My great-great-grandparents were getting scalped in northern England’s cotton mills or picking turnips in feudal Poland. And me? I’m ‘thriving’ hipster coffee in hand, hustling, blessed by the capitalist free market gods. Rule Britannia, hip hip hooray.
Except it’s all a sham. We’re not thriving; we’re juggling a hundred spinning plates. We’re exhausting ourselves while our long-term prospects crumble. We’re not free. We’re getting exploited in ways even our feudal ancestors would be raising their scythes about.
