Brief thought on work

posted: *15 feb 2022*

TLDR

I've realized that I can't really think of the concept of working a day job for

longer than a few minutes without starting to get really down, confused and

otherwise depressed at the reality of it all.

Now, granted, it goes without saying that the way we do things in most Western

countries, (especially the US, powered by a Puritanical work ethic that's so

outdated I fart dust thinking of it) is outmoded and built towards farmers and

secondary (perhaps maybe tertiary) economies. It makes plenty of sense to work

multiple days a week, throughout the whole day, if you're a farmer who has to

respect the life cycles of his work animals, and doesn't have giant spotlights

with which to light up his whole field as he tills. It means he has to get up

early, work hard, and then do it all over again with decidedly inefficient

tools.

That was centuries ago. We've been past the post on the Industrial Revolution

for almost 200 years. We can count on one hand in the US the percentage of

people who participate in the farming industry, and yet they feed a much

larger proportion of the population due to advanced machinery and supply chain

methods.

(Nevermind that the supply chain is basically a dumpster fire now; separate

issue ;D)

My point

I'm faffing about talking about farmers and Puritans as a probably less-than-

efficient way of saying that reality as I know it, as a random plebian in the

third most populous country on the planet, is -nothing- like the lifestyle of

most people for whom that kind of work ethic was contrived by the church and

then exacerbated by corporations who saw a cultural alignment with their

plans for profit.

It means thinking about how we probably could be doing this whole thing in a

different way - this whole economy and everyone in it - gets kind of irksome.

Don't get me wrong. You'd damn well better work and earn your worth. There's

no virtue in being a potato. I have found that having something meaningful

and relevant to do, that produces something I can actually appreciate, have

been the origins of some of my best days.

But there's no sense in being an overworked potato in a bullshit job either.

There has to be balance.

Work on something that fills your soul.

Do something that helps the world keep rolling forward in a healthy,

meaningful way. There's plenty of work to be done. I'm not against the idea of

-working-. I just wish there was more of a respect given to earning one's bread

doing something that isn't sitting at a desk, watching the number of imaginary

dollars in my account go up (that are tied to no real standard or physical

holding) and yet still have to toil a lifetime in order to enjoy a few short

years as a likely somewhat decrepit old human, doing what certain folk among us

get to do for the majority of their lives, while contributing nothing.

Anyway..

I'm curious to see what the next few years bring. We're having enough issues

as a country, nation and culture here stateside that I'm expecting some big

goings-on to start rolling. Especially by 2024. I think that will be a major

turning point for what happens in this country for the next few years or even

decades. It will have rippling effects long after.

All of this to say, I hope whatever happens it means we can enjoy life more and

grind our noses a little less.

Contact me

Comments? Questions? They go here.

wholesomedonut at tuta dot io