A term used almost exclusively by
Americans, who are somehow still in denial about how rigged the
economic system is in favor of the ultra-rich, to describe
the second or even third job they have to work to meet the same standard of living their parents had 30 years ago.
All through his childhood, Mike's parents drilled into him that if he studied hard and went to college,
the world would be his oyster.
Unfortunately, everyone's parents said that, so everyone went to college. Suddenly, college cost several times as much, people were graduating with six figures of
student loan debt, and the value of their degrees plummeted because of the law of supply and demand. Now, Mike is working full-time as a coffee barista. It isn't enough to pay rent and save money, so Mike had to move back in with his parents and take a second job driving nights for a rideshare program. This leaves just enough to afford the downpayment on a mortgage if he's willing to live with his parents until he's 40 and nothing horrible happens, like a worldwide pandemic or something. He refuses to acknowledge that the
economic system is rigged against him, so instead of organizing for higher pay, better social programs, student loan debt relief, and higher taxes on the people who are ripping him off, he deludes himself into thinking he's "got this" and calls his second job a "side hustle" to make the fact that he's being screwed seem cool.
