Because they are... an employer?
"Feelings" have nothing the fuck to do about it. It's a fact. A social relation under capitalism. Great if you have good personal relations with those who hire you, and great if they treat you well, but it doesn't change this fact.
Rule of thumb: Any boss who says he "won't treat you like an employee" or, the worst, "like family," is saying, "I will feel free to demand anything of you and you must expect nothing in return." BTW, "We're not in this as a job, we're in this for the Movement," is simply a variation on this, as Doug indicates.
lbo83235: "And what's wrong with "doing it for the love," anyway - even if you ultimately end up nailed to a cross, or shot through the head?"
Gasp. For WBAI?
lbo83235: "... filled with palpable, pulsing, revolutionary love. Are we uncomfortable with that, or do we simply not believe in it?"
Please don't tell me... are you saying that one can expect this job to be "filled with palpable, pulsing, revolutionary love"? Or that the new director should provide it? OK, those are rhetorical questions: I really don't want to read answers...
lbo83235: "They want you to work long hours? Work even longer hours than they ever imagined."
I'm sorry. Do you work in the United States of America? Haven't you noticed *that there is no such fucking thing* as working even longer hours than your bosses ever imagined?
Bottom line: *No* employer should demand > 40 hours per week as a job *expectation*. They should analyze a job and if it demands > 40/wk then they should *hire more people*.
(Actually, I'd like to say > 35 or >30 or > than whatever number Sandwichman keeps suggesting on Pen-l, but the 40-hour week was what labor was supposed to have won y'know a century or so ago.)
Hey, but we know what they'll say. "But we don't have the money to do that!" And then, "And it's the new director's job to solve that problem!" Ha ha.
I know, lack of funds is a serious problem for all left institutions, but WBAI *is a fucking radio station* that has been around *60 fucking years* in the *fucking largest media market in the Western Hemisphere if not the world*.
lbo83235: "But work smart..."
OMG. Did lbo83235 actually write "work smart"? I'll close my eyes and look again... Christ! It's still there!
On Sun, Aug 14, 2011 at 12:14 PM, lbo83235 <lbo83235 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Aug 14, 2011, at 8:40 PM, Doug Henwood wrote:
>
>> On Aug 14, 2011, at 2:31 PM, socialismorbarbarism wrote:
>>
>>> I mean, I know its typical, but the "progressive" folks didn't even
>>> bother to hide it.
>>
>> Standard "movement" labor conditions. You're supposed to do it for the love.
>
> I get the "movement" cynicism, but (to quote): "What's so funny 'bout peace, love and understanding?" I mean, sure, maybe the check will ultimately bounce, but isn't the idea that we have to "do it for the love" only until we make the revolution? And what's wrong with "doing it for the love," anyway - even if you ultimately end up nailed to a cross, or shot through the head? ("Back, and to the left.") You'd rather die slowly in a hospital bed? (All things being equal, I would too - surrounded by a worshipful extended family and several hundred adoring friends. But all things are not equal, and I'm not that good.)
>
> I spent last evening with a good friend whose mother (may she rest in peace) knew Che. As my friend's mother related the story, he was the most magnetic, appealing - and, yes, sexy - person she'd ever met (and she'd met a lot of pretty exceptional people). Said that when he walked into a room, it was immediately filled with palpable, pulsing, revolutionary love. Are we uncomfortable with that, or do we simply not believe in it?
>
> And who the fuck are WBAI to make anybody feel like an "employee" anyway? Update your contingency plans, apologise to your relations and / or neighbours for any past offense (so they'll take care of your kids in an emergency), take the fucking job, and go in there and kick some ass. They want you to work long hours? Work even longer hours than they ever imagined. But work smart, and work like you deserve to own the place. Document everything. Then leverage your contribution into influence: put in the hours that will earn you the cred to start making the calls that matter. Work so hard and "network" so effectively (yes, you can do this without becoming bourg) that they'd never *dare* fire you, because you'd've done the groundwork to rally listeners, advertisers, colleagues, donors, media, etc. (these are all temporary, pre-revolutionary designations).
>
> As long as you see yourself as merely an "employee," you're bound to be treated as nothing more than that. "The most powerful weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed." (Biko)
>
> Or am I missing something - I mean, other than the hopeless cynicism?
>
> What, somebody thought making the revolution was a 9-to-5?
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>