Activism and Culture

Barbara Eherenreich’s Nickel and Dimed was one of my favorite books, not that it was anything like Chicken Soup for the Soul. In fact, the book is one that made me feel most guilty for being an American. On not getting by in America was certainly right. The book was filled with stories of those who tried to make ends meet but never could, those who weren’t in poverty because of their choices, but those for whom choices had never been available–not when they were growing up, not when they were adults, not even when they started families.

Now that I’m reading the same author’s Bait and Switch about white collar unemployment, I’m beginning to see her larger point. While the author writes the sad stories about those who can’t seem to get or hold a job, she also uncovers the seriousness of work in the United States. For most U.S. residents, work defines us. It is our reason; it is our purpose; it is what we do all day and what we think about when we get home.

Is this how it was supposed to be?

A long time ago, everyone was a farmer, and farmers and their families worked together in the land all day and then came home and were together in the evening. Even after everyone stopped working as a farmer, people worked at menial jobs less than eight hours a day and got off to their real life when the bell sounded.

Work was never supposed to be the end. Of course, we need workers so that goods and services can be provided, but when people concentrate wholly and work and not enough on their own lives and the things about which they are passionate, we cease to be humans and are left as mere androids.

This is why I chose the self-employment route. I don’t even feel like I do work, but it certainly isn’t want clouds my mind each day.