The State of California officially made sexism law. It arbitrarily mandated that women make up a certain percentage of all board members for any publicly traded company HQ'd in California, regardless of performance, merit, or even desire on their part. And though "officially" this sort of sexism is alright because it discriminates against men, all of the ensuing complaints and howls were completely legitimate, founded, and correct. Forcing quotas based on gender, race, etc., and not merit is indeed discrimination, bigotry, and simple unfairness. It guarantees the best do not rise to the top and it consequently costs society the best performing economy and institutions, thus lowering all of society's potential standards of living. But before you get too angry about the government choosing winners and losers, abandoning meritocracy for gender, all of which threatens your career, it's very important America's hard-working men step back, clear their eyes, and look at Corporate America critically. For if you take the time to separate the forest from the trees, and in a very Sun Tzu way look at Corporate America for what it is, you'll soon conclude that its high time women lead Corporate America, and we men should let them have it.

The Corporate America Bubble

To be blunt, Corporate America is a bubble. An asset that is no longer worth the investment. An investment that no longer has a future. Yes, in the past having a glorious and successful career in Corporate America was arguably the most sought after goal. Making the iconic "six figs," having a corner office, working "down town where all the action is," and living the life of a Mad Man was precisely what your parents, Hollywood, media, schools, the government, and the movies all told you to want. And, truth be told, that IS what you should have wanted. A successful, stable, high-paying career that would support you and any theoretical family you might have was the American dream. It was the blue ribbon of American society. But just like financial markets, the environment and fundamentals change in the labor market. And what was originally the most sought-after position and investment in the past, is no longer today and into the future.

Take for example education. Not only is this perfectly analogous to the Corporate America Bubble, it is directly related and a cause of it. In the olden days only smart people went to college. Consequently, college graduates were a superior class compared to the rest of the labor market. If you had a college degree you were more or less guaranteed a better career than those without. Today, however, everybody and their mother attends college. Smart people, dumb people, people who climb on rocks. This not only eliminated the value of a college degree, but it triggered an educational arms race where now to make it in "Corporate America" you need to get an MBA or some other advanced degree (and even then, those are largely worthless degrees). The point is the entry price to merely compete in Corporate America has drastically increased from a mere high school diploma plus some hustle, to 19 years of kindergarten-thru-grad school education, not to mention the inflated price tag of tuition. You don't "make it" in Corporate America until you're well into your 30's, with your youth completely wasted, and $70,000 in student loan debt. Meanwhile a hearty young man willing to brave the elements can make the coveted "six figs" by working in the oil fields or some industrious high schooler willing to endure an intense programming bootcamp and some self certification tests will make more than your average MBA. All without setting a foot in Corporate America, all without wasting a day of their youth in some baloney Marxist "prerequisite" college class.

Related, "progressive credentialism."

If getting a masters degree wasn't enough (which it isn't), you commit yourself to a life-long pursuit of "progressive credentialism" should you decide to "make it" in Corporate America. Though related to the education bubble, progressive credentialism is a life-long commitment where you constantly have to educate yourself beyond your masters degree. "Continuing Education," "Life Long Learning," "CPE." Etc. With the labor market flooded with college graduates and masters candidates, how are the "Corporate American Powers That Be" to know who is the most qualified person for the job? So in addition to the 19 years of education you have under your belt, you get to sit in training seminars, CPE classes, diversity seminars, women empowerment seminars, sensitivity training, team-building classes, and you get to take batteries of tests upon batteries of tests to be certified in your respective field or guild. It doesn't matter if you were in school till you were 30 years old, you need to constantly get schooled until you're retired. And only when you have 20 years in with an MBA, CPA, and 3,000 credit hours of CPE, will you be considered for the Assistant Reserve Deputy Vice President position open at your corporate employer. This "progressive credentialism" is merely an unpaid, part-time job for life you get to work in addition to the 60 hours per week you're already working.

Then there's land. Specifically, office space.

Every cubic foot of every sky scraper in every major metro, both in the US and abroad is obsolete. And the reason why is the internet. Unless you are producing a physical good or service, there is no reason to have a corporate office.

All

Not "some"

ALL

corporate office space is a complete waste of space, time, and money.

Of course, the powers that be in Corporate America are not aware of that yet. There are still too many old baby boomer fogies who believe the wrong adage of "if I can't see you, how do I know you're working." But this will change as Generation X takes over the helm of Corporate America. I've known more than one Gen X junior or part-owner of a firm who cannot wait for the old guard to die off so they, and their other Gen X "junior partners," can end their downtown office leases, all work from home, and rent some "conference rooms" pocketing another $250,000 in profit each year. Demand for downtown office space WILL go down, skyscrapers will become obsolete, and what were once the mightiest of monuments dedicated to the power of "Corporate America," will simply be leased as luxury residential condos for hipsters and urban dwellers instead of the central nervous systems of global commerce and industry. There will no longer be the "glory" or "prestige" of "working downtown." There will no longer be the coveted "corner office" corporations could use as golden handcuffs. The entire traditional physical presence of "Corporate America" will be gone, and whatever hold-overs insist on maintaining such an expensive presence, will force its employees to unnecessarily commute, pay for parking, and waste away in the prison cells euphemistically called "cubes."

And speaking of "traditional Corporate America," if these added hurdles of life-long education, progressive credentialism, and a flooded labor market wasn't enough of a deterrent, just think about what it took to make it in traditional "Corporate America" in the first place. 40 years of commutes, traffic jams, early mornings, parking fees, mindless meetings, outsourcing your kids to day care, ill-reared children, angry spouses, divorce, divorce courts, divorce costs, psychologist visits, prescription drugs, sacrificed mental health, sacrificed physical health, nepotism, cronyism, corruption, alcoholism, and a cheating spouse who hates you. (You know, an average day in Silicon Valley). Congratulations! You're the King of "Shit Hill." You're the Queen Bee of "Crap Mountain." You won the proverbial Rat Race. You've "made it" in Silicon Valley making your "six figs," paying $4,000 a month rent, paying 50% in taxes, and wasting what little free time you have in traffic. Even without the added liabilities and investments it's going to take to make it in "Corporate America" tomorrow, it largely wasn't worth it in the first place today. So why are you fighting for it so much now?

Finally, the unfairness of sexism.

If the above isn't enough to deter you, perhaps adding the salt of sexism to this gaping wound will. Again, you need to remove the wool from your eyes and see what any form of affirmative action truly is - the preferential treatment of one group of people at the expense of all others. It is bigotry no matter how you spin it and it is an abandonment of excellence and merit. This is OK if you just intend to put in your time, doing the 9-5, collect your paycheck and go home, ne'er desiring to become a CEO or Vice President. But if you are a hard worker, have a strong work ethic, demand to put forth excellence in your career, and demand excellence in return, Corporate America is the last place to invest your youth, energies, and finite life. Unfortunately, in addition to the already-unacceptable levels of office politics, actual government politics have infiltrated Corporate America. And while being forced to attend a 3 hour meeting that has nothing to do with your job is par for the course in corporate politics, getting passed over for promotion when you're the most qualified candidate for a lesser-qualified person who merely has the right plumbing is simply not acceptable. If you consider the two decades of your youth you spent getting educated and the addition two decades of life you sacrificed at the altar of Corporate America, that price is too great to risk working at a non-merocratic employer. And given virtue signaling their "pro-women credentials" is the latest marketing craze among Corporate America, the country's most talented men should think twice before investing their precious time, labor, and talents with such a co-opted entity.

A Stagnating, If Not, Sinking Ship

If the traditional disincentives such as commutes, traffic, high taxes, and office politics, combined with new disincentives such as progressive credentialism, an education bubble, and outright sexism doesn't deter you from a life in Corporate America, perhaps one final thing will. In promoting people based on the color of their skin or their plumbing downstairs and NOT the content of their character, Corporate America not only has tacitly admitted it's abandoning excellence, but that it has also become co-opted by bureaucratic politics. And like any government agency, when politics replaces profits and efficiency as it's primary motivator, it becomes increasingly less efficient resulting in less opportunities for its employees (regardless of your skin color or plumbing). This means the real innovation, the real growth, the real opportunity will no longer exist in "Corporate America," but in smaller, less-corrupted and less-flooded entities. This has always been the case to a certain extent as smaller employers are usually more nimble, faster, and trimmer. They are not beleaguered with office politics or government regulation. But what Corporate America could sell to the prospective hard-working go-getter was that they were more stable. They were more financially sound. And with vast financial resources, there were more coveted "six figs" positions within Corporate America than its smaller, entrepreneurial counterpart.

This will no longer hold true.

For whatever its failings, Corporate America in the past did at least pursue profits as its primary motivator. Now it pursues "Corporate Social Responsibility," "Social Justice," and other such touchy-feely poppycock intellectual weaklings were taught in MBA school. Admittedly, the primary motivator for this is still profits in that Corporate America is using political virtue signaling as a marketing strategy to make more money (just look at Nike and it's Kapernick schtick), but it is a very short-sighted marketing strategy to replace hard work and excellence with virtue signaling politics. The individual unit, the individual cells that make up the corporation are becoming corrupted and it will put a limit on the amount of growth and success a corporation has in the future. And as Corporate America hires "not-the-best" but arbitrary quotas of people to garner PR, its performance will stagnate, perhaps even regress, presenting a hostile, if not, impossible environment for America's true go-getters. The point is, even if you are looking for stable employment, Corporate America will no longer offer that as it is a sinking ship, or at least a ship that is taking on water. Any self-respecting man (or woman) who demands an excellent and rewarding career will look elsewhere.

The Internet Shall Set You Free

The question is where do hard-working men (and women if they want to) go now if they want to be paid what they're worth, rewarded for their excellence, and achieve their best? Corporate America certainly isn't the answer, and certainly not for men if hiring preferences are going to be given to people who happen to have vaginas. So where does America's best go? The answer lies in two developments in American society - The Internet and Female Careerism.

The Internet has been a godsend. It has largely set two generations free from the old, outdated baby boomer managerial classes whose corporate management and employee management sins are too numerous to list. We no longer need to go to an office. We no longer need to work for an employer to gain skills. We no longer need to depend on the old, corrupted "analog" economy. The Internet has allowed people to sell their skills and talents directly to the customer without first having to ask permission from a gray-haired overlord or having to pay him some egregious cut of their production. But perhaps the two largest benefits of the Internet is it has allowed for remote work and an effective "Company of One."

I'll say it again, unless you're a tradesman, there is no reason for you to commute or work in a cube. The technology exists that skyscrapers should be converted into low-income housing, luxury condos, or simply torn down for green space. Nearly every white collar job could and should be done from home. However, this pre-supposes you are working for a company as a W-2 employee. And if you are, then chances are your close-minded boss wants to "see you at the office" because "how does he know if you're working if he can't see you???" But if you truly are "the best," you truly pursue excellence in your career, then chances are you'll be better off as a "Company of One" - i.e. - an independent contractor. Because if you are skilled enough and hard-working enough, why suffer the unnecessary pain of a commute, traffic, or a boss when you can work from home as a hired gun? Why deal with all the aforementioned garbage, when you can just walk to your office and call the shots? Wake up, pour your coffee, get a day's work done in 2 hours and go enjoy life instead.

Additionally, whether you like it or not, companies have every incentive to get rid of W-2 employees and their costly health insurance and replace them with contractors. Millennials and Gen-X'ers saw this in the "gig economy" brought to you by the Baby Boomer Banker-induced "Great Recession" of 2007 to 2014. Throw in some Obamacare, and costly 401k plans, and the trend is for companies to have as few employees as possible and outsource everything else to specialists. You may bemoan the loss of traditional 9-5 jobs and health insurance, but to the trained eye it's a blessing in disguise. It's a life-raft off of the sinking Corporate America ship. Because if you're one of the hustlers, the movers, the shakers, and a hard worker who insists on pursuing excellence, this gig or "independent contractor" economy is the future. You answer to no one. You can take on as many clients as you want. If you have the skills you can easily out-earn your W-2 employed counterpart who is handicapped at the speed of an affirmative action corporation. There are no politics. There is no being "promoted over." And there is none of the god-foresaken rat race of commutes, MBA's, CPE's, or any other life-destroying hurdles it takes to make it in Corporate America. You can even embark on entrepreneurial ventures if you'd like without the slightest ounce of guff from your clients because they're your clients, not your boss.

This "Company of One" is the where the real economic and career opportunities exist today and into the future. This is what you should be working for. This new gold standard in American employment has nowhere near the investment costs, risks, and life-sacrifices that are required to "make it" in "Corporate America." Furthermore, with only one employee, you are inoculated against bigotry, politics, nepotism, virtue signaling, favoratism, and cronyism that plague Corporate America today. And, when you consider that your work can be done remotely, from anywhere in the world, you will realize the golden chalice of this new working world is not the coveted "six figs," but is instead earning 1st world income while paying 3rd world prices. Let those your poor bastard client in -20 degrees Minnesota pay you $200 an hour while you sip a mojito on an 80 degree Thai beach and program their code for them.

There is, however, one problem with this "New Working World Order." Unless you go to a 2nd or 3rd world country, you are not going to be making as much as you would should you participate in the rat race. Not every "Company of One" is going to be some highly skilled programmer who can command $150 per hour for his services. Not every hired gun is going to be a cyber-security expert who can prevent a DDOS attack while sipping scotch in Mexico making $125 per hour. Many will simply be Uber drivers. Some will be drop-shippers. Others will be derideable authors and consultants. Your purchasing power will not approach the coveted "six figs," and will more likely be in the neighborhood of $40,000. Your career will not necessarily be one of excellence.

Female Careerism Shall Set You Free

But ask yourself a simple question - What was the point of making the coveted "six figs?" Certainly some of it is the nature of man to compete and be the best. There is certainly the security that comes with having such an income to know you won't starve, go hungry, or go homeless. And who doesn't love the sports cars and fun a six figs income can buy? But the real reason is one that is much simpler. It was to support a family.

In the olden "Mad Men" days...and the two million years of human evolution before that...it was largely the male's role in society to go out and earn the money to support a family. And in an Adam Smithian division-of-labor-like-way women would stay at home, rear the children and keep the household. Thankfully, these traditional sexist roles have been abandoned and women are now socially permitted, even encouraged to go and pursue careers just as men.

However, there have been some unforeseen consequences with women transitioning into the work force. And it is directly caused by the progressive credentialism arms race Corporate America foists upon any aspiring applicants. Because in order to "make it" in Corporate America you effectively have to forfeit your entire youth to a masters degree, dedicate what remains of it to a career, and stick with it for the rest of your life. Men have more or less done this since the beginning of time, but for women it leaves them with very little time for family formation, unfairly forcing them to choose between a family and a career. But an interesting resulting phenomenon has come from this - women have chosen careerism over family formation.

It is impossible to measure the precise statistics across the various Millennial, Gen X and Gen Z women as to what percent of women prefer a career over family formation. There are certainly polls with widely ranging results (just search them), but what women say versus what they do are two different things. And younger women's actions are clearly prioritizing careers and education over family formation. There are practically no women under the age of 30 who simply "want to get married and have kids." The time they invest in education and careers versus courting marriage-material men is around 8 to 1. If you look at the media it is all about careerism and education (Sex and the City anyone?). And even family formation is somewhat looked at condescendingly and "beneath" most women.

This alleviates men of making the necessary "six figs" in two major ways. One, with more and more women preferring a career over a family many men won't even have the opportunity or choice in having a family. There are fewer women interested in marriage and children than there are men. You may lament this loss, but in terms of the income needed to support a single male, it is a fraction of what it necessary to support a family. A sole male can get by on 20% what a family does, and if you can get rid of your desire for materialism, a single man can enjoy a full life on $30,000 a year and $250,000 in retirement savings. Two, with women pursuing a career in Corporate America and Corporate America welcoming them with open arms, perhaps a role reversal is called for. Why suffer a commute, traffic, parking fees, office politics, masters degrees, CPE, backstabbing co-workers, cold mornings, late nights and an entire wasted youth if you could be the stay-at-home dad, spending time with the kids, keep the house in order, and maybe making some money on the side with your little web-developing business? Make dinner, get the kids off to school, support your wife, and do your duty to the family - no masters degree required.

But for you men who remain, and still have the work ethic and energy for a merocratic career, do yourselves a favor and let women have Corporate America. It's not worth your time or energy, nor is "Corporate America" the future. Besides which, this is precisely what women wanted. They dedicated all this time, effort, and energy into making it in a man's world and I think they should be rewarded. I want women to "make it" in Corporate America, and you should too. Let them lead Corporate America.

Aaron Clarey is a "Company of One" and wrote this in his pajamas after he woke up at 10AM. He's probably going to go for a run now and maybe golf. He hasn't decided yet. Oh..yeah...and he makes his money consulting people through his consultancy, Asshole Consulting. He also makes some money selling books too, I guess. And then there's that podcast thing he does. But don't listen to him. He doesn't have an MBA.﻿