Friday, March 25, 2016

Fluff Piece

Greetings good citizen, if I keep belaboring the obvious this space is going to turn into a ghost town so today's offering will be , er, Happy. [In tone at least...not sure I'm capable of
starry-eyed optimism.]

[happy talk = on]

Wake up in the morning to hear the birds chirping in the trees, no alarm means no work today {yea!) So you just lie there listening to the birds, wondering what they hear...are they doing it for a purpose or are the simple minded creatures making noise just to see what happens?

The job? doesn't matter, you only work 20 hours a week and you can put your hours in pretty much anytime you want to.

Not everybody enjoys a 'wide open' schedule and it's not without it's trade-off, your total shift flexibility comes at the price of monotony. You work on one of the 24/7 production lines. Your job is to 'baby-sit' the automated equipment.

Yeah, it's not all just sit there and look, there's some manual stuff that just doesn't automate well so someone has to do it.

When you listen to the old timers talk about having to work 12 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week for a paycheck they could barely live on you realize you don't have it so tough. Hell, back then they made you work until you were 66! Now you retire at 50, sooner if you want to bank all your vacation/sick time!

Yeah, the old-timers screamed we were bankrupting the system by giving EVERYBODY a week's vacation for every year of service but it's been fine! No production shortages and with six shifts a day (and increases in efficiency due to enhanced automation) there are surpluses all around.

Word is they're talking about giving us MORE paid holidays! (Don't know where they're going to squeeze 'em in, there's already a paid day off every month!

And speaking of days off, your's is yawning before you...what are you going to do with it?

One of the guys suggested we all go to Cancun for their Winter Festival [You have to book this stuff way in advance because everybody uses their time off...and most people keep working past their retirement age...usually at another job, just to break up the monotony.] A lot of retirees pick up part-time work, one of two days a week doing little odds and ends. Latest craze is gardening! People actually volunteer to grow them!

Who cares what the birds are saying. Time to get up; perhaps it would be a good idea to surf the net, check and see what availability looks like on the Cancun deal. Last year we went on safari in Africa...and found out the hard way why it wasn't booked solid.

We encountered a few more 'hardships' than any of us were prepared for.

Sort of a 'red flag' these days, if you can make reservations easily there's probably something you don't know about. At least everybody lived; although Harry still has that nasty looking rash he picked up over there.

You glance at your entry door and see a slip of paper has been slid through. Wonder what the maintenance team wants this time?

The notice says you're being moved to new quarters because this one is slated for rehab! They just rehabbed it five years ago (when you got here!) You smirk and realize the jobs situation is still pretty dire if they're making work at this pace.

While nobody has a car anymore they repaved the parking lot last year. Nobody uses land lines anymore but they replaced the phone system with new 'hands free' units a month ago. They've been replacing the flooring in the common areas for the past few weeks.

You have half a mind to complain, the place is a perpetual construction zone...but it doesn't cost you anything. Yup, housing is free...and so is house maintenance. Hell, you don't even have to shovel snow...there's actually a waiting list if you want to do that kind of work!

Silly what you miss once you aren't required to do it on your own.

You also don't miss creditors calling on the phone, debt is illegal. You smile as you pour your first cup of coffee and shuffle over to your computer, it's going to be a great day!

[Happy talk = off]

How did I do? You know, this little 'sample' could easily be your reality. The capitalist has it all wrong, the cart in front of the horse if you take my meaning. Instead of 'working to live' we should all,(now that there are so many of us) live to work.

You don't see the difference? Let me spell it out for you. Right now you work to 'live indoors and eat regularly', that's the primary motivation to get your backside out of bed in the morning, leave the house and report to a job you despise, daily.

You despise your job not because it is difficult or the people are hard to work with, you despise your job because it is a gun to your head. You're under the constant threat of 'do it or else and DON'T SCREW UP because everything depends on the boss liking you.' Nobody likes walking the 'tightrope of terror', everyday, all day but we all do it, because under capitalism, YOU have to make yourself 'useful' or the capitalist will cut you off from your means of support.

Watch carefully as my fingers NEVER leave my hand!

Flip this concept over and you 'work' because it is how you 'participate' in society, your 'work' is an way for you to share in the bounty of our species. You want to work, you want to belong and, under an 'equitable' social system, your 'right' to participate would be guaranteed.

Not wanting to work at all would be problematic...as it would invite exile...and poverty.

And no, you wouldn't be saddled with the jobs 'nobody wanted' [although everybody's got to start somewhere.] School would draw forth your talents and you'd be trained in the kind of work you had a talent for. {Important sidebar, 'The Arts' are a 'labor of love' and would return to their 'hobby' status, which is to say, like sports, you would no longer be paid to perform.)

You can blame this on 'market saturation' too if you like. There's extremely little that hasn't been done already, so much so that just to break 'new ground' the film industry is regularly flirting with perversion...and our fragile social psyche isn't built to handle it.

Yes, Virginia, CENSORS do 'serve a purpose'...but I digress.

Instead of 'working to survive' we should all feel the joy of knowing that our labors make EVERYBODY'S LIFE a little easier.

That's the difference between capitalism and socialism...that's NEVER been practiced on this planet.

Thanks for letting me inside your head,

Gegner




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