[thundergolfer]

Whether Nystrom realizes it or not, and I think he does, this piece is shot through with Marxist thinking on use value, exchange value, socially necessary labour time, and the general structure of capital social relations.

Capitalism has been a fantastically productive system that has also produced a great deal of labour alienation. Nystrom has a deep need to labour for those he cares about, he needs to make the scarf, slowly and badly, for his grandmother.

But the socially necessary amount of labour to make a scarf is now extremely small, and so Nystrom labours in software to earn a higher wage.

The wage doesn't fulfil him so much, because it's for labour power directed for the purpose of value valorization (aka. profit), not to help those he cares about.

He's skilled and lucky, so he has plenty of excess after labouring to poorly make a scarf. But if he does not already have plenty of capital, he has to work, and his capital has to be put to work too, on things other than badly making scarves, lest it too whither away.

[munificent]

I am actually fortunate in that I find my work labor deeply meaningful too. Most of my career has been in developer tools, making software that helps empower other people. I love that work and I love hearing from users that I've helped them make things and earn a living.