Stop the Workaholism?

[3kmichael]

So recently I came across this article: m.fastcompany.com/3029294/work-smart/why-you-need-to-stop-bragging-about-how-busy-you-are
It brought up a very interesting issue we face on daily basis, so common it has become disregarded as one. The concept of American dream is well-known to is, this almost religious concept of, "if you work hard, you'll make lots of money and succeed." The sad reality is, it is not even realistic nowadays, yet the culture continues bringing it up, having incredibly businesslike expectations of people. People are not expected to be good workers, they are expected to be machines. As my idol Dr. Rowes said many times, even in schools children are taught to complete tasks fast, as to catch up with machines. While the standards must always be set high, it is simply folly to expect all workers to have the same capacity, that is why worker unions and organizations of that type were made. Big industries running the world seemed to have altered the standards of workers- to a negative degree. In a way, the concept of a skilled worker became substituted with the concept of a convenient worker. Thus, workers are no more employees, but appliances used by the managing positions. Through history it has been proven that the spare time available led to great artistic achievements, when the people were preoccupied with plain labour, little progress was made, as shown during the Agrarian revolution. Going back to modern day, we are turning people into machine-like cavemen, who exist solely for technical reasons, who do not progress anywhere else besides in increasing their employer's capital. Quality needs to be reborn in our nation, for efficient and quick replace the well-made. The commercialism we are engulfed in is the reason why little kids stare at the works of the past and say that they are superior to those made now, and we sit in silent shame, watching out generation waste the opportunities it has on reentering the mindset of a nomad that only can survive, but not live.

[10sthai]

This is such a good point that is so frequently overlooked. It has always struck me how when I’m riding the train to and from school, everyone always looks miserable. We take the train in sleep-deprived silence, falling asleep on each other or looking at the car floor with defeated eyes. People spend every morning dreading the awaiting day, and spending every night looking like they’re returning home from the battlefield. Nobody deserves to spend hours of their day, and years of their lives working for unhealthy amounts on things that they do not enjoy, simply because that is the only way to make money. The corrupt capitalistic system that our economy thrives on perpetuates an extreme standard of working that is unfair and undemocratic to all types of people. There are plenty of people who may not have the resources or education to get demanding jobs. There are plenty of people who can’t afford to spend the entire day away from their family at their job, nor do they have the time. These people are forced to make less money because they can’t become the kinds of workaholic robots that our economic system favors.
The worst part is that we have turned this assembly-line work system into such a social norm, that we are blind to the injustice of it. People are praised for making the most amount of money and working the most amount of hours, never mind whether or not they actually enjoy what they’re doing. Stay at home jobs are considered “weak,” because they are not “demanding” or high profile enough. God forbid you are a stay at home Mom nowadays, because taking care of an entire family and home is apparently, not “real work” unless it includes a steady salary, and rigorous work habits. Of course, this is all a folly that we continue to eat up like candy. We complain about work, but is work the real problem or is it ourselves? Nobody is really forcing us to spend our days doing what we hate, we have deceived ourselves into thinking we must. Everyday we fail to understand this, and it makes me so angry, because we should be spending our time doing what we love. We should have room in our schedules for investing in what makes us happy, no matter what it is or if it makes us any money. Because in the end, getting praise from a boss, or making a certain amount of dough for a company is not going to fulfill us as human beings. There is so much more to explore around us, especially in New York City; so much culture, so much diversity and artistry, so much creativity and passion that is thrown away in replace of discontented frowns on crowded subway commutes.