From bio-hacked beers to four-hour morning rituals, Britain has replaced real achievement with a theatre of productivity—and the country is falling behind.
I really fear for my boys. Neither really knows what they want to do, youngest is highly academic and should (should) go to uni but I doubt it would make him happy. Unless he wants to do something requiring a degree I won't be pushing him in that direction. There's a real sense of malaise. I don't know what the answer is, but I don't think we've hit rock bottom yet. Unfortunately. Well, we've still got however many years of this labour government left haven't we?
The world of work is so messy these days. And I suspect it is the chaos caused by a generation, mine, millennial, who are reaching seats of power. By the time I joined the world of work, 2007 08 crisis was 2 years out, and I saw nothing but self preservation, private school idiots destroy everything in leadership roles above me, chaos. Ever since, I've seen nothing but chaos in every contract I've had. And the reason I prefer contracts is because I don't like chaos unless it has an end point.
It's strange that of all the rituals these people could create to make sense and meaning from the chaos they've often caused, are utterly meaningless. It's codified intuition. I recognise it in my brother who has spreadsheeted his whole life and sometimes passes out at the gym form pushing himself. He is desperately unhappy in general and the only way of getting control is to turn his life into a project with 10 excel project plans even for his kids.
To paraphrase Churchill, never have so many worked so hard for so little. Or accomplished so little.
I entered a career (resource management) that was REAL. As in I dealt with tangible things; logs on a truck, fish in a net, grass in a cow's belly. Even when I found myself in a position where I was involved in policy (horror of horrors!) at least I was trying to help the people still working on putting logs on that truck or grass in that cow's belly. I could not imagine the soul-destroying drudgery of working in, say, finance or insurance or some such that isn't related to anything actually real.
I learned a long time ago that people don't work primarily for money; they want to contribute to something they feel is important or meaningful. Building a house or, better yet, a skyscraper; a highway, a railroad. Providing people with real goods and essential services. They accept lower pay if they feel they're contributing. Now, we expect people to work for low pay for...what exactly? They don't even know. But we try to make it sound like it's relevant or real or meaningful. But deep down everyone knows it's not. And that is what makes them unhappy. Because if you're not doing something useful or meaningful you at least should make gobs of cash, right?
Eric Jay Beck "At either end of the social spectrum there lies a leisure class". If one end is out of reach, choose the other
I really fear for my boys. Neither really knows what they want to do, youngest is highly academic and should (should) go to uni but I doubt it would make him happy. Unless he wants to do something requiring a degree I won't be pushing him in that direction. There's a real sense of malaise. I don't know what the answer is, but I don't think we've hit rock bottom yet. Unfortunately. Well, we've still got however many years of this labour government left haven't we?
The world of work is so messy these days. And I suspect it is the chaos caused by a generation, mine, millennial, who are reaching seats of power. By the time I joined the world of work, 2007 08 crisis was 2 years out, and I saw nothing but self preservation, private school idiots destroy everything in leadership roles above me, chaos. Ever since, I've seen nothing but chaos in every contract I've had. And the reason I prefer contracts is because I don't like chaos unless it has an end point.
It's strange that of all the rituals these people could create to make sense and meaning from the chaos they've often caused, are utterly meaningless. It's codified intuition. I recognise it in my brother who has spreadsheeted his whole life and sometimes passes out at the gym form pushing himself. He is desperately unhappy in general and the only way of getting control is to turn his life into a project with 10 excel project plans even for his kids.
'Codified intuition.' Nicely put.
Yes. I wonder whether this culture is as prevalent in saner countries i.e. Sweden.
To paraphrase Churchill, never have so many worked so hard for so little. Or accomplished so little.
I entered a career (resource management) that was REAL. As in I dealt with tangible things; logs on a truck, fish in a net, grass in a cow's belly. Even when I found myself in a position where I was involved in policy (horror of horrors!) at least I was trying to help the people still working on putting logs on that truck or grass in that cow's belly. I could not imagine the soul-destroying drudgery of working in, say, finance or insurance or some such that isn't related to anything actually real.
I learned a long time ago that people don't work primarily for money; they want to contribute to something they feel is important or meaningful. Building a house or, better yet, a skyscraper; a highway, a railroad. Providing people with real goods and essential services. They accept lower pay if they feel they're contributing. Now, we expect people to work for low pay for...what exactly? They don't even know. But we try to make it sound like it's relevant or real or meaningful. But deep down everyone knows it's not. And that is what makes them unhappy. Because if you're not doing something useful or meaningful you at least should make gobs of cash, right?
Right?
Exactly right, mate. Few jobs are glamorous.
I admire the Japanese salarymen who populate my little area of London. They work their arses off. But they're paid to do so!