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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy the more your job helps others, the less you get paid
ONE OF THE BEST ARTICLES I'VE READ IN AGES
http://www.salon.com/2014/06/01/help_us_thomas_piketty_the_1s_sick_and_twisted_new_scheme/
So the right wing manipulates the resentment of the bulk of the working class from being able to dedicate their lives to anything purely noble or altruistic. But at the same timeand heres the real evil genius of right-wing populismthey also manipulate the resentment of that portion of the middle classes trapped in bullshit jobs against the bulk of the working classes, who at least get to do productive work of obvious social benefit. Think about all the popular uproar about school teachers. Theres this endless campaign of vilification against teachers, who they say are overpaid, coddled, and are blamed for everything wrong with our education system. In fact, grade school teachers undergo really grueling conditions for much less money than theyd be paid if theyd gone into almost any other profession requiring the same level of education, and almost all the problems the right-wingers are referring to arent created by the teachers or teachers unions at all but by school administratorsthe ones who are paid much more, and mostly have classic bullshit jobs that seem to multiply endlessly even as the teachers themselves are squeezed and downsized. So why does no one complain about those guys? Actually I saw something telling written by a right-wing activist on some bloghe said, well the funny thing is, when we first started our school reform campaigns, we tried to focus on the administrators. But it didnt take. Then we shifted to the teachers and suddenly the whole thing exploded. Its hard to explain that in any other way than to say: a lot of people resent the teachers for having genuine, meaningful jobs. You get to shape young lives. You get to make a real difference for other people. And the logic seems to be: shouldnt that be enough for them? They want that, and middle-class salaries, and job security, and vacations, and benefits, too? You even see that with auto workers. But you get to make cars! Thats a real job! And you also want $30 an hour?
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But I dont think we can solve the problem by mass individual defection. Or some kind of spiritual awakening. Thats what a lot of people tried in the 60s and the result was a savage counter-offensive which made the situation even worse. I think we need to attack the core of the problem, which is that we have an economic system that, by its very nature, will always reward people who make other peoples lives worse and punish those who make them better. Im thinking of a labor movement, but one very different than the kind weve already seen. A labor movement that manages to finally ditch all traces of the ideology that says that work is a value in itself, but rather redefines labor as caring for other people. I think we saw the first stirrings of that kind of movement during Occupy. I remember being particularly struck with the We are the 99% web pagethis was a page where people who supported the movement, but were mostly too busy to actually take part in the occupations or assemblies, could contribute by posting pictures of themselves holding up signs where theyd written out their life situation. Demographically it was a very telling. Maybe 80% of them were women. And even those who were men were mostly in caring professions: health care, social services, education. And the complaints were surprisingly uniform: basically they were all saying, I want to do something with my life that actually benefits others; but if I go into a line of work where I care for other people, they pay me so little, and they put so much in debt, that I cant even take care of my own family! This is ridiculous!
Call it the revolt of the caring classes. Because, after all, the working classes have always been the caring classes really. I say this as a person of working class background myself. Not only are almost all actual caregivers (not to mention caretakers!) working class, but people of such backgrounds always tend to see themselves as the sort of people who actively care about their neighbors and communities, and value such social commitments far beyond material advantage. Its just our obsession with certain very specific forms of rather macho male laborfactory workers, truck-drivers, that sort of thingwhich then becomes the paradigm of all labor in our imaginations; that blinds us to the fact that the bulk of working class people have always been engaged in caring labor of one sort or another. So I think we need to start by redefining labor itself, maybe, start with classic womens work, nurturing children, looking after things, as the paradigm for labor itself and then it will be much harder to be confused about whats really valuable and what isnt. As I say, were already seeing the first stirrings of this sort of thing. Its both a political and a moral transformation and think its the only way we can overcome the system that puts so many of us in bullshit jobs.
HomerRamone
(1,112 posts)"we have an economic system that, by its very nature, will always reward people who make other peoples lives worse and punish those who make them better."
Louisiana1976
(3,962 posts)HomerRamone
(1,112 posts)hunter
(38,313 posts)Teachers, nurses, primary care physicians, they are squeezed between their desire to help others and deteriorating working conditions and salaries.
If they quit, they feel they've let their patients and students down, if they stay they can "burn out" or become cynical and bitter, leaving behind the altruism that brought them into the professions.
Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)It sure does seem that the fewer degrees of separation an employee is from any useful service or product; the less regard they are held in.
The more degrees of separation; the higher esteem they are held in.