Part I: With the nature and value of work in harmony, dignity in work no longer an ignominy. Part I by Tirumalai Kamala on TK Talk
Part II: Dignity is in work, not in the nature of the work. Part II by Tirumalai Kamala on TK Talk
Part III: Dignity is in work, not in the nature of the work. Part III by Tirumalai Kamala on TK Talk
How ghastly it is to contemplate that we live in a world where boredom is an unattainable luxury for the multitude who make ease and convenience possible for the rest of us few. With access to browse the internet at our leisure we are a much more visible and vocal but tiny handful that feasts off of the labor of a vast multitude who toil to make our daily lives possible and yet who are rendered easily invisible.
Sometimes, it seems hardly a week goes by without gurus, pundits and their numerous, willing and credulous amplifiers expounding glibly about Work-Life Balance or the Pareto Principle or Life Hack or some other fad. What part of global human life experience are they mining? The purview of a lucky few. With modicum of financial stability and security our bulwark, and internet access, indoor plumbing, electricity and a solid roof over our heads givens, we are that lucky few.
Yet look around with a more discerning eye and I see everywhere around me the labor of that invisible multitude. My T-shirts, sneakers, smart phone and laptop are only the more visible signs of their mind-numbing toil.
Look around my home. All the fixtures, in the kitchen, in the bathroom. Every wall covered with pictures. All those picture frames. Who made them? Surely not anyone toiling in a US factory. Likely an ill-paid factory worker in China. After all the stickers do proclaim, 'Made in China'. Likely no work safety, no paid leave, certainly no Work-Life Balance for them.
Life hack. How that phrase sickens me. It only serves to emphasize how permanently we remain divided into the few Haves who can afford to wallow in self-comforting panaceas about Life Hacks and Work-Life Balances while the rest of the vast, invisible Have-nots have no choice but to supply the labor that makes our caterwauling possible. So much of our daily life sustained by their labor. The Dickensian world of endless toil in sub-human conditions is a historical vignette of the Industrial Revolution only for us lucky few. For the multitude who toil to make our lives easy and comfortable, it's a painful and inescapable daily reality. Where the luxury of Life Hacks and Work-Life Balance for this vast invisible multitude? Only reason for their ill-fate? Missing the birth lottery.
Every lemon in the grocery store has a little sticker on it. Who put it there? Who packs the lettuce so clean and tight into these plastic bags? Surely not yet the work of robots. Some human toiled in work conditions I'd find sub-human to put that rubber band on the cilantro bunch I just used in my cooking.
We live in a globalized world so it matters not one whit where we live. One way or another, this basic edict of obscene work caste sustains our lives, imbued in the garb that cover our bodies, in the electronic gadgets that enable our work and allay our tedium, and most importantly, in the very food that sustains our life.
Food. Is anything more important to life than food? And yet, the labor necessary for growing our food and bringing it to our plates we deem less dignified and hence less valuable than all the so-called white-collar work of dubious value we netizens engage in to earn the bucks to procure it. Only with something terribly wrong in the way we compute and bestow value could we live with such debased value systems. Debased all the more because birth lottery underpins every aspect of it.
https://tirumalaikamala.quora.com/Dignity-is-in-work-not-in-the-nature-of-the-work-2
Part II: Dignity is in work, not in the nature of the work. Part II by Tirumalai Kamala on TK Talk
Part III: Dignity is in work, not in the nature of the work. Part III by Tirumalai Kamala on TK Talk
How ghastly it is to contemplate that we live in a world where boredom is an unattainable luxury for the multitude who make ease and convenience possible for the rest of us few. With access to browse the internet at our leisure we are a much more visible and vocal but tiny handful that feasts off of the labor of a vast multitude who toil to make our daily lives possible and yet who are rendered easily invisible.
Sometimes, it seems hardly a week goes by without gurus, pundits and their numerous, willing and credulous amplifiers expounding glibly about Work-Life Balance or the Pareto Principle or Life Hack or some other fad. What part of global human life experience are they mining? The purview of a lucky few. With modicum of financial stability and security our bulwark, and internet access, indoor plumbing, electricity and a solid roof over our heads givens, we are that lucky few.
Yet look around with a more discerning eye and I see everywhere around me the labor of that invisible multitude. My T-shirts, sneakers, smart phone and laptop are only the more visible signs of their mind-numbing toil.
Look around my home. All the fixtures, in the kitchen, in the bathroom. Every wall covered with pictures. All those picture frames. Who made them? Surely not anyone toiling in a US factory. Likely an ill-paid factory worker in China. After all the stickers do proclaim, 'Made in China'. Likely no work safety, no paid leave, certainly no Work-Life Balance for them.
Life hack. How that phrase sickens me. It only serves to emphasize how permanently we remain divided into the few Haves who can afford to wallow in self-comforting panaceas about Life Hacks and Work-Life Balances while the rest of the vast, invisible Have-nots have no choice but to supply the labor that makes our caterwauling possible. So much of our daily life sustained by their labor. The Dickensian world of endless toil in sub-human conditions is a historical vignette of the Industrial Revolution only for us lucky few. For the multitude who toil to make our lives easy and comfortable, it's a painful and inescapable daily reality. Where the luxury of Life Hacks and Work-Life Balance for this vast invisible multitude? Only reason for their ill-fate? Missing the birth lottery.
Every lemon in the grocery store has a little sticker on it. Who put it there? Who packs the lettuce so clean and tight into these plastic bags? Surely not yet the work of robots. Some human toiled in work conditions I'd find sub-human to put that rubber band on the cilantro bunch I just used in my cooking.
We live in a globalized world so it matters not one whit where we live. One way or another, this basic edict of obscene work caste sustains our lives, imbued in the garb that cover our bodies, in the electronic gadgets that enable our work and allay our tedium, and most importantly, in the very food that sustains our life.
Food. Is anything more important to life than food? And yet, the labor necessary for growing our food and bringing it to our plates we deem less dignified and hence less valuable than all the so-called white-collar work of dubious value we netizens engage in to earn the bucks to procure it. Only with something terribly wrong in the way we compute and bestow value could we live with such debased value systems. Debased all the more because birth lottery underpins every aspect of it.
https://tirumalaikamala.quora.com/Dignity-is-in-work-not-in-the-nature-of-the-work-2
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