So, I saw a post recently. I was going to reblog it, but I think the OP turned off reblogs, because I couldn't.
I assume they did that because they were getting a lot of attention they didn't want from the post, so I'm not going to try to rope them into this, but the thing they were talking about is interesting, and I guess I have something to say about it.
So what they were saying was, essentially, every job has to get done. Like, you may not want to clean toilets, or collect garbage, or work in a factory, or mine ore, but someone has to do it, or the world won't run, and I guess people shouldn't act like that work can just disappear?
There's a valid point here about devaluing essential work just because it's not glamorous, but that's not what OP was saying. They were more saying that westerners seem to think they're exempt from this kind of work, and that is delusional, and also callous.
I think there's a point there, but, one, a lot of westerners actually do work these exact kinds of jobs. Just because a country is extremely rich doesn't mean that most, or even many people in that country are. The United States, for example, famously has some of the richest people on the planet as citizens. And they also produce and export very little, but plenty of Americans work in factories. And there are plenty of Americans who work in mines, and on oil rigs, and in other jobs that many would consider punishing, thankless work. Long hours, for paychecks that just get you by until the next. They're not rich, and they're not laughing it up while people in the "developing world" build their iPhones. They're struggling to make ends meet in a system that is, in some cases, just as broken for them as it is for people in the Philippines or Indonesia. Hell, a lot of Americans wish more of those punishing shit jobs were available to them, because they can't even get a job.
But another thing OP said really struck me. They said, and I'm paraphrasing here;
"someone is always going to have to do the back breaking labor for slave wages."
And I just don't think that's true. Yes, someone is always going to have to do the unpleasant jobs. If no one cleans our toilets, our toilets are disgusting. If no one collects the garbage, it will clog the streets. If no one mines the ore, we don't have metals. If no one bakes the bread, no one will have bread. If no one purifies the water, then we're really fucked.
But there is nothing about that fact that dictates that anyone has to do a job that uses them up, or damages their health - physical or mental - and even if that were necessary, nothing is stopping anyone from paying a fair wage for that kind of labor. Maybe if no one wants to work in a mine, we should give them better pay and benefits.
"Oh, you work in a mine? Awful! You must be in terrible health!"
"Well, actually, they give me such good health insurance and safety equipment that I'm in better shape now than I was at my last job! Plus I get paid so much that I'm saving for retirement, and I almost have a down payment on a house! I mean, it's not easy work, but this job's great!"
Work doesn't have to be terrible. We have an infinite number of things that need doing, and we have billions of people to do them. Some people love working in a factory. Some people love cleaning things. Some people love washing windows on high rise office buildings. And some people don't really care what they do, as long as the people they work with and for treat them with respect and a modicum of kindness. There is absolutely no need for the modern workplace to be so cruel and exploitative. In fact, I suspect it's really just a fetish.
I've seen people who have this sort of perverse notion that if you're not as miserable as they are, there's some imbalance. It's not fair. So if you go to work with a smile on your face, it must be because you're slacking off, or because you're cheating. It has to be because, somehow, you took something from them.
And I've seen people who don't seem to think that anyone's taking work seriously if they aren't miserable and quiet and low-level afraid at all times.
And I've also seen employers who are never ever satisfied. Who set metrics and quotas and whatever at numbers that are just achievable, then brow-beat anyone who struggles to meet them, and then, if they do, instead of celebrating those employees and rewarding them, they ratchet up the quotas. Here, let's squeeze every last drop out of you. What's that? That's all there is? Okay. Nice job. Tomorrow I expect 10% more.
That sort of "motivation" is best suited for physical training, and even then, a trainer who is constantly pushing you without rest or reward is a shit trainer. I would fire that guy, because he sucks. And he even thinks he's super great, because he's pushing me so hard, and I'm just a little sissy who can't take a little hard work 56tu8ijhyr, but what he doesn't realize is that people aren't video game characters. People have limits, and you can't just level a stat until it maxes out. You have to give your body time to rest and recover, and you have to give your mind and your spirit the same.
Goals aren't goals if you don't ever get to celebrate your wins. They're threats. Do more, or you'll fall behind. Do more, or you're a loser. Do more, or we have a problem. Do more, or you'll have a meeting with (someone scary).
Exponential growth simply is not sustainable, and markets do not regulate themselves. There are so many problems with the modern workplace, and so much of our world is broken, and that is not an inevitable consequence of living life. That is not just the price of having the modern world. That is, more accurately, the cost of having overpaid corporate officers.
Cmdr. Stephanie Sterling, a famous video game journalist and awesome person, has spoken extensively about the CEO problem in video games, and I like her ideas.
Essentially, it boils down to this (paraphrasing again):
"I don't care what obstacles games publishers are facing, or how tough the market is, or how razor thin their profit margins are; I absolutely will not listen to a single excuse until they solve the obvious and gigantic problem of massively overpaid CEOs eating up all the profits for doing nothing."
Like, oh, your game didn't make back what you spent to develop it until you implemented micro-transactions?
Well, did you try firing your do-nothing CEO who makes one hundred times more than anyone else at your company? No? Then you're not serious about the problem and neither am I so fuck your micro-transactions and fuck you.
Oh, gamers don't like female leads unless they have huge tits?
Well, did you try firing your misogynist CEO who thinks girl gamers are a myth? No? Then you're a moron and totally out of touch with the games industry and you just like saying nasty things about women and pretending they're neutral statements of fact. Fuck you.
And so on. For every problem, shut the fuck up until you fire your useless CEO, who, let's face it, is likely part or all of the problem.
And the point of this divergence into the gaming industry is this:
I think this applies to industries other than gaming. In fact, I think this applies to all industries.
If Apple says they can't afford to sell iPhones for less than $1,000, or to produce them in a factory that pays a legal wage by the laws of the country they're headquartered in, then how about they fire Tim Cook and apply his salary and bonuses, and all the other various costs of having him around to their expenses. See how that changes things.
Boeing can't afford to manufacture an airplane that's air-worthy? Fire Kelly Ortberg. Maybe use all the money he ate to finish a fucking plane before it ships.
Amazon can't afford to fulfill its deliveries without giving drivers ridiculous metrics that require them to forego bathroom breaks for an entire shift? Fire Andy Jassy and see how many new drivers you can hire without that financial burden. And while we're at it, take a cattle gun to Jeff Bezos, cut him open and use whatever money you find in there to send a check to all of Amazon's front-line employees. They've earned it, every single one of them. And, yes, even the ones who slack off.
Shit jobs and suffering are not inevitable. They are inventions. And they were largely invented by morons who think they've found the cheat code for infinite money. It is "make someone else make the money."
Spoiler alert: There is no cheat code for infinite money, and the only reason that this dumbass trick works is because society is propping up these idiots' delusion.
They say their stupid ball can levitate, but it clearly can't, and as long as we all keep kicking it before it hits the ground, they're going to point and say, in the dumbest possible voice;
"Durr, look! See? Ball don't fall! It float! Ball go up! Money go up! Hurdurrrrrr!"
