>
>If you looked at the URL of that Gallup poll Doug posted,
>you might have observed one of the polls which indicated
>that a very large proportion of workers gain a sense of
>"identity" from their jobs which is as important, or maybe
>more important, than the money they get. I thought this was
>a very sad thing -- something like an old dog who is afraid
>to go out the door without leash and collar firmly attached
>and the master at hand. Think of it -- the sense of identity
>and self-worth of millions of people in the hands of an elite
>who have absolutely no use for them but the extraction of
>value. It shows how profound a revolution is necessary if we
>are ever to emerge from the shadows of slavery. And going
>by the Gallup poll, we've hardly scratched the surface.
people like their friends at work. they look forward to seeing them, engaging in various jokes with them, telling stories, gossiping, talking about their love life or lack of it, getting teased, etc. for many people, their sense of identity is woven out of cultures of resistance to that elite you speak of. for many people who work in big corps, this elite you speak of isn't present in their daily lives, save for weird bureaucratic rules that they are told they must follow. the people who tick them off are other workers--their supervisors, the line managers, the shop foreman, the dept manager. their acts of resistance are in building a sense of identity that has to do with work, but not really. their identity to work is found in sneaking away from the job for a smoke with buds, in selling avon to coworkers and talking about collecting ruby glassware when you really should be folding laundry. it's found in talking about what you did last weekend with patrons of the establishment you work for, the regulars, for example.
i lived with someone for four years. he had a job as a truck driver. got treated like crap by a boss who'd scream at him with the most foul, belittling language. the beau's father committed suicide and he went into funk. they managed to get autopsy report changed, so each of the surviving children got small sum in inheritance. the beau quit the terrible job. Freedom right? i figured and so did he, now's your chance to get a job at a bookstore or music store or something. sure, it's not as much as you were making, but you can supplement with the inheritance and you'll probably be much happier.
but he spent the next six months in an incredibly bad depression. the back injuries he'd sustained while working kicked in as his body atrophied from sedentary life. back injuried crop up when your stomach muscles are weak. he hobbled around for weeks, fucked because the boss told him to FOAD when he reported injuries on the job.
the beau was depressed about a confluence of things but one of them was that he had to work at a "real" job b/c he couldn't support himself as a musician. he felt that to do the musicians life he'd have to give up his love and family in order to live hand to mouth with a bunch of other musicians in a loft in a city where there was some musical action. so, he was looking at getting another dead end job, one that he felt he couldn't be proud of. for most men i know, their job is their primary source of identity since it means having an answer to the question, "so, what do you do?"
when he went to departmental parties with me, someone would ask what he did. he felt ashamed to say, "truck driver" and the looks on most of their faces said, "what on earth is she doing with you?" reinforcing his shame. i have had otherwise enlightened faculty gently try to tell me that i really ought to date people more of my station in life. we will have more to talk about, they say. there will be fewer uh differences, they say. and so forth.
when we moved to florida, he got a job right away. there are a ton of jobs down here that wouldn't involve backbreaking labor. what did he do after nearly a year of doing nothing? did he apply for jobs at the plethora of bookstores, music shops, or even an office type job? maybe even small delivery jobs? no, he got a job as a landscaper. he felt like a man again. he got happier as his body became tautly muscled again, even though he was making less money than he had as a truck driver, even though he was working a job that seems pretty low on the status scale from "our" perspective. he got something out of it and so did his co-workers: they felt a modicum of pride in knowing how to trim hedges properly, how to mow a lawn so it looks nice, what plants grow well, where. etc.
why should people can imagine another life of freedom? where do we have people living such lives? is there something they can point to that would suggest to them that such a life is viable, a real alternative? what they imagine is no work and no money. we're not talking people who ever lived anything but paycheck to paycheck with no insurance, no 401ks, no benefits. what they imagine is the question, "so what do you do?" and having no answer.
speaking of spending time reading, writing and doing political activism, as someone mentioned. why does anyone imagine that as an alternative to a fellah we're considering hiring. what political activism for him? he doesn't care much about that. reading and writing? perhaps involvement in a community of faith? that would be a real alternative for many i know. perhaps coaching sports teams or involvement with the elks club?
most people's lives, i suspect, aren't about reading, writing, activism. and so they don't consider alternatives. they imagine lethargy.
consider Frank. i really want to hire this guy--my son's friend's father. he's doing sales for an online learning company that sells certification training (MSCEs, Novell, Cisco, etc). he hates it. his every movement is watched. he can't even make a phone call to me during the day or he'll get busted.
so, last week we were just shooting the breeze and he asked about my job and how it was that i had such autonomy. he asked if we had openings. turns out we could use a sales person. he goes home and spends all night surfing around finding out more about the company, what he would be selling, etc. he knows the IT field well enough, that he had a pretty darn good plan. so, i figure, boy, i'd like to give this guy a hand up and out of the shithole jobs he's been in --telemarketing. he's waling into a position that will mean he'll be the sales manager within a year if all goes as planned
but then the voice of gordon fitch, chuck0 and others starts plaguing me. oh gee, kell, you're foisting the life of the middle class on this guy.
well, what am i going do do? give the job to some other sales guy who's got more credentials and is already identified with the middle class more thoroughly than this guy. is Frank going to be better of making $300 bucks a week in a shithole job? Or will Frank be modestly better off making more than that doing a job where he's not likely to have someone breathing down his neck? where he can work from home until we get office space built? and, even then, where he can work from home as much as he'd like after that? we're getting a buttload of resumes from people who are way overqualified.
so, i say, send me your resume. he does. he can't write. no punctuation. nothing. everything is one long run-on sentence. i explain to my boss why i think he's going to be good for the job, except for the fact that he can't write. my boss asks me how it could be that someone can't write but is ambitious enough to do all the other stuff. oh, i explain, some people go their entire life without really reading anything but the occasional newspaper articles, memos from the boss, etc. they don't pay attention to how things are written, to spelling, etc because they don't have to. they have more pressing and immediate things to attend to.
so, i tell him--because i'm blunt and hate pussy-footing around, lying--that i'd like to hire him but he needs to brush up on business writing skills. if he could do a little reading about how to write a business letter and cover letter for his resume, if he could study how resumes are written, then maybe he could put his ideas in writing and give us a two page outline of how he'd he build sales and, eventually, the sales department we're planning.
i feel like a shit. i'm making him jump through hoops. do this and that and come up with sales plan--free labor for u--and then we'll hire you. i'm a shit.
or am i?
i don't think any of us are old dogs afraid of freedom. it's much too complicated for that.