All my friends go into finance
Slavoj Zizek and Jaques Lacan have theorized extensively about the idea of “Surplus Enjoyment”. The concept describes the pleasure humans get from working towards an eventual goal. It is not excitement for some future prize, or taking pleasure in the process; it is the irrational enjoyment one gets knowing they are working towards something. This concept is very evident in high-school seniors vying for an Ivy-league acceptance. They sacrifice sleep, time with friends, and time doing things they love, all to work towards the eventual goal of an acceptance letter. This acceptance letter promises a better job, and then more money, and then happiness. Obviously, this is an over simplification: many factors contribute to a high-school senior’s college dreams. However, this idea, that it will lead to eventual happiness is what many whom I have talked to have cited as their reasoning. Yet, to the rational person, this logic is perverse. Why would anyone sacrifice so much happiness in the present day, in hopes that eventually, they will be rewarded with more happiness. The truth is, it is the process of working towards that eventual happiness that we all crave. Another example is someone who works their whole life, in a job they hate, to save up to go to Bermuda. Everyday they save 2 dollars, and eventually they will be able to afford this fabulous vacation. Yet, it is not surprising that if you were to give that person all the money they need 20 years before they were set to have enough they might be upset. They might feel as if their purpose in life—saving up for this trip—has been destroyed. In other words, they have been stripped of their surplus enjoyment. We must work to recognize this in ourselves because oftentimes Surplus Enjoyment causes us to be irrational. It causes us to ignore our actual desires and ambitions.
I have met many people in Newton who dream of going to finance. I once had a friend, he was probably 15/16 at the time, say to me, “I really hate finance. It makes me feel gross. But hey, it’s better then being poor.” Perhaps this friend is more blunt then others, but after talking to many people who want to go into finance, it is safe to say that this is a real theme. I’ve met few people who actually enjoy the idea of investment banking or venture capital. They all feel as if they need to suspend their happiness and not do what they love so they can make money. And then what? Be happy in retirement? Is that what life is about? In reality, it’s an obsession with eventual-capital that lays beneath their finance dreams. Because of this they fear more progressive jobs, like becoming a teacher or an artist. This process leads to a generation of kids, with ambitions and dreams just like every other generation, who cannot imagine a happy life for themselves outside of being an investment banker. This obsession with the eventual goal not only has personal implications, but political ones. It makes us a society that prioritizes comfort over fulfillment, and money other any other form of compensation. My generation does not even consider what a job can give them other then money. So again, we must work to recognize when we are caught up in an obsession with Surplus Enjoyment, because it does not help us.
