[wordup] Do You Wanna Work or Do You Wanna a Job?

[Adam Shand]

From: http://www.consciouschoice.com/issues/cc1603/workjob1603.html

And I tracked down the Bertrand Russell essay and stashed it here if 
you're curious (given the date I'm sure it's old news to many).

   http://www.spack.org/index.cgi/InPraiseOfIdleness

Do You Wanna Work or Do You Wanna a Job?

The writer weighs the value of "right work" as a factor in life quality.

by Patrick McGaugh
Conscious Choice, March 2003

The story, of unknown origin, goes something like this: An American 
investment banker, visiting a small village in Mexico, encounters a 
Mexican fisherman. The fisherman describes his life: "I sleep late, fish 
a little, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each 
evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full 
and busy life."

The American scoffs at the fisherman's lack of ambition and goes into 
great detail about how he could expand his small business and make 
millions. "Then what?" asks the fisherman.

"Then you would retire," replies the American. "Move to a small village 
where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take 
siesta with your wife, and stroll to the village in the evenings where 
you could sip wine and play guitar with your amigos."

Increasingly, the American ideal of success is being questioned, 
propelling at least two streams of thought about jobs and work. One is a 
critique of "busyness" itself -- summed up most succinctly by Bertrand 
Russell's 1931 essay "In Praise of Idleness" and given some cachet by 
the growing voluntary simplicity movement.

It's a point of view starkly portrayed by Mike Judge's screen satire 
"Office Space." In a workplace where his bosses clothe cynical 
micromanagement in phony politeness and "teamwork," antihero Peter 
Gibbons (Ron Livingston) makes a decision to drop out of the rat race -- 
on the job, that is. As he assumes a surprisingly invulnerable chutzpah, 
a friend asks him what he would prefer to do with his time. "I would do 
nothing," he asserts.

Yet not everyone who hates jobs also hates work. A second emerging trend 
is one in which some would say, "I would do everything." These are folks 
who demand work they can genuinely get excited about and doesn't 
conflict with their values. Broadly speaking, this might be called the 
"right livelihood" movement, although the social import of individual 
choices is open to different interpretations. "Erin Brockovich" is one 
example of following one's activist passions; "Billy Elliot" -- the 
story of a boy pursuing his dream of dancing -- quite another. One's 
right livelihood may also be a product of time freed up for nonpaying 
pursuits, as opposed to jobs per se.

I swim in the streams of both "nothing" and "everything." For the past 
18-years I've had one of those Rodney Dangerfield jobs, substitute 
teaching ("I get no respect..."). I've spent many years beating myself 
up over my failure to get and keep a "real" job. However, lately my 
research and reflection have led me to turn common conceptions of 
"success" and "failure" on their heads. I've come to see that time often 
means more to me than money, as a low-pressure work situation has 
allowed me to pursue political activism, spiritual practice, a healthier 
lifestyle (knock on wood), and the life of an insane media junkie (I 
must know everything). Another part of me is a real romantic about work, 
provided it's something I genuinely want to do. Still, money wouldn't hurt.

These tensions are hardly unique to me. And as technology alters the 
pace and face of work in the infancy of this new century, "love work" 
and "hate work" each bid to remake labor -- and by extension, remaking 
society -- as each point of view both competes with and informs the other.

A healthy ambivalence about work appears to be emerging -- and is making 
its mark. There's the "extreme" position: work sucks. If you're scaling 
the web for evidence of this point of view, you can do no better than to 
click on the Web site of Creating Livable Alternatives to Wage Slavery 
(CLAWS), the source of the quotes which follow.

CLAWS was founded in 1998 in a Eugene, Oregon, living room by four 
friends who had been having discussions around work-life issues. It was 
primarily the idea of D J. Swanson, a former temp and sometime short 
story writer. After a lengthy exploration of literature and advice 
around jobs, careers, and money, Swanson found that no one spoke to the 
frustrations she was feeling with society's seemingly basic 
expectations. She ultimately decided to create a resource for those with 
similar frustrations. The name CLAWS came to her in a dream, "I pictured 
a soaring eagle, with talons outstretched, fierce and fiery, with 
passion and purpose." And she discerned a distinction between jobs and work.

Swanson defines the traditional job as "alienated effort expended for 
someone else on their terms, often a corporation or boss, doing 
something you don't care about, in exchange for external compensation -- 
money, health insurance, pleasing others..." Work, on the other hand, is 
"satisfying, self-directed activity, sometimes (but not always) with 
tangible results, done for its own sake, driven by interest or 
fascination, sustained by intrinsic motivation..."

Does Swanson believe that people should just "sit around drinking pina 
coladas all day"? Who would take out the garbage? Anticipating these 
obvious criticisms, she argues that "Choice...does not mean only do 
things that you absolutely adore. Take for example balancing your 
checkbook, we would rather do it than accept the consequences of not 
doing it."

The key, she says, is attitude and motivation, "We are interested in 
transforming ourselves, our thinking, and our society so that we may see 
all productive activities done for reasons of pride, joy, concern for 
social welfare, and intrinsic satisfaction...not coercion."

Making "work" work for you

John O. Andersen of Portland, Oregon, and the current administrator of 
the CLAWS list serve, is a one-time military officer and academic who 
was gradually turned off by the formulaic nature of those former career 
paths. The owner of a carpet cleaning business, he's a proponent of the 
idea that low-pressure blue-collar work can free up time for oneself. 
Andersen has a further recommendation, aimed at career reference books: 
"Lifelong Semi-Retirement: A Hot Career Opportunity," the title of one 
of his essays on the CLAWS site.

Those pursuing this career, he says, "operate on the idea that people 
should enjoy life to the fullest throughout life. They feel that not 
giving ample time to dreams, hobbies, or close friendships until after 
the traditional retirement age is unwise...life isn't a big meal 
followed by a big nap, but rather a nibble here, a catnap there."

Avoiding overly delayed gratification may entail changing one's 
definition of gratification. Implicit in "anti-work" critiques is a 
questioning of the consumerism which keeps people on the treadmill -- 
and trampling the planet while they're at it. Buying less "stuff," that 
is, voluntary simplicity, is in some respects, the link between hating 
Jobs and loving "work." It comes from a desire not just to free oneself 
but also to live a life that makes a difference.

In the past 15 years or so, a rich body of literature and discourse has 
emerged around the theme of right livelihood, its motto might well be 
Marsha Sinetar's, Do What You Love, the Money Will Follow. One right 
livelihood sage, who has deeply affected my own thinking, is Rick Jarow, 
a leader of international "anticareer" workshops. Jarow's central theme 
is to invite the alienated to explore what ignites their passions on a 
visceral, subtle level, and to see if they can move their lives into 
alignment with those desires, vocationally or otherwise. To this end, he 
offers meditative exercises aimed at unearthing what people long for.

A desire for lifestyle autonomy appears to be spurring a revolt in the 
"belly of the beast" itself, the corporate world. What's changing? In 
Values Shift, a book that has made the media rounds in the last few 
years, corporate consultant John Izzo and journalist Pam Withers 
highlight changes in technology, society, the family, and the economy.

What workers increasingly want, they say, is balance and synergy with 
the rest of their lives, work as a "noble cause" (interesting and 
meaningful), personal growth and development, partnership rather than 
hierarchy, community, and a sense of trust in the organization.

I pondered whom I knew who embodied this approach to a new workplace and 
workforce and I found I didn't have far to look. In many ways the model 
for my "lifelong semi-retirement" career of subbing comes from my 
childhood friend Rafael, who did it for 14 years. I recall once 
expressing my desire for security, and Rafael responded, as if wielding 
the sword of Manjushri, bodhisattva of wisdom: "There is no security."

Nonetheless, during his time teacher subbing, Rafael read and traveled 
widely. Most of the traveling had to do with his passion of birding and 
over a dozen years he became an authority. In 1990 his success at 
subbing ­ that is semi-retirement work that allowed him to pursue his 
interests -- would lead to the cessation of subbing, as he would be 
hired by an environmental consulting firm to do fieldwork and prepare 
environmental impact reports.

The firm's ownership has changed several times over the past decade, 
including once when an employer's closeness to developers, in 
combination with other factors, brought on the resignation of the entire 
staff. But Rafael's still in the field, cranking out reports with six 
officemates.

Rafael loves the teamwork, though he complains about too many reports. 
But as important as the "noble cause" aspect is to him, even more so is 
balance and synergy. Over the years, working from home has enabled him 
to spend time with his daughter, who was born shortly before he began 
the job. It also allows him to catch a few zzz's after an intense 
morning of birding or writing.

As for the other benefits touted by consultant Izzo and writer Withers, 
it's a bit more complicated for Rafael. Partnership, community, and 
trust are strong -- but at the officemate level more than with the 
corporate one. Some tensions have emerged between the close-knit 
community of his officemates and headquarters. Computer monitoring by 
the company is suspected, and management recently sent down a directive 
to have everyone change their screensavers to the company logo. Showing 
they weren't scared (at least not on this issue), the employees sent a 
clear "no logo" message, and the demand was withdrawn.

These conflicts come as no surprise to Rafael, whose general views of 
work haven't changed much since his halcyon days of subbing. "I'm as 
cynical as ever -- just in a different place," he says. Fortunately, 
it's a place where the value of his labor enables him to craft the life 
he wants.

When I was a child someone once gave me a novelty coin with the 
inscription, "Freedom -- No Cash Value." Whatever the fate of the 
institution of work itself, workers today are demanding work that gives 
them what wages and bennies alone can't -- the fully lived life. The 
challenge of our young century will be to mesh the cries of the soul 
with the needs of the community.

The American biologist had a proposal for the Mexican fisherman. "We're 
doing some research on the effect of global warming on fish populations. 
You've been fishing these waters for 30 years, and maybe you can help us 
document some of the changes."

The fisherman smiled. Fine, señor, but I still have a few questions. 
Will I still be able to sleep late, fish a little, play with my 
children, take siesta with my wife, and sip wine and play guitar in the 
evening?"

"Sure. We all knew the old ball and chain wouldn't work on an old amigo 
like you, and we really do want your perspective."

"Okay. Just tell me what you need and I'll make it fit my busy schedule. 
It sounds almost as much fun as fishing."

Patrick McGaugh is a substitute teacher, Green Party activist, 
nonsectarian Buddhist, and freelance writer in Riverside, CA.

© 2003 Conscious Choice

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