Is this significantly different than what we agree to when we put code on GitHub?

That's an interesting model, but I see it different: one axis is a prerequisite for the other axis--they aren't separate.

The company as a whole might serve a noble purpose, but your purpose as an employee will have no connection to that if you're just redesigning the coversheet for TPS reports.

I've been meaning to write a blog post about the "level of purpose" in a job:

At level 3, the best level: The company is curing children's cancer or something else that you are personally motivated to do and satisfied by. The work is something you would do without pay (though you might not have as much time to do it if you weren't paid). Your highest purpose is to cure children's cancer.

At level 2: The company is doing work you are not personally interested in, but you work with good people doing good work. The company and people support each other and build a profitable product. Your highest purpose is to make the company profitable.

At level 1: The company starts doing stupid shit and acting in self-destructive ways. The company is run by managers who care more about growing their own headcounts than the overall profitability of the company. Your highest purpose is to make your manager happy.

At level 0: Your manager is also doing bad things. At this level the only purpose the job fulfills is giving you money, and there's no reason to not go full psychopath and do whatever it takes to maximize the amount of money you get. Your highest purpose is to make money without doing anything too illegal and avoid trouble.

What level is your job at?

Level 3 is rare and always will be, that's okay.

Level 2 is good, and I sometimes hear people on HN offering level 2 as the correct attitude to have towards work. But we need to recognize that workers are often asked to do stupid or semi-dishonest things that are not profitable for the company.

Level 1 and 0 are stages of hell, and it's sad how common they are.

Speaking of China:

The free movement of workers is important to having an efficient economy. The US could do a lot better here; we have bad safety nets, non-competes, "trade-secrets".

When workers move freely and spread trade-secrets, this results in all companies performing better, on average. This is good for everyone except the lazy owners who would lose money to those who perform better.

While the US worries about limiting the free movement of workers, non-competes, and "trade-secrets", China is going to build approximately a billion homes and factories.

If we take the "free" out of "free market", then we're just a market, and far from the most efficient one.