Tic Tock...

“Trading in your hours for a handful of dimes.”- Jim Morrison. I forgot what song that was but that’s what so many of us have been reduced to. But with a more recent new twist. Now we trade in our hours for the handful of dimes not knowing how long the hours and dimes will last. Companies closing, wanting to save money (for the owner) and or relocating seem to be a possibility at any time. If the company has and decency, they will let their workers go and not try to screw them out of their poultry unemployment benefits (usually less than half of what they make at work). But in many cases, they will dream up some reason to fire the person or persons and screw them out of the little unemployment money they may be eligible for. Sometimes companies tell those who are let go, they are not eligible for unemployment when indeed they are. For the average wage earner and most salary earners, cutting our pay in half or ending it all together means financial ruin will soon follow. Losing the house, the car and no longer being able to feed the kids or cat become a new reality. In the face of such reality, we become in essence, slaves. “I got bills” translates into I owe people which brings us to “I owe I owe so off to work I go.” The financial and personal instability leads to living on high alert moments away from the next crisis / emergency to the next. People are left with doing anything to keep their bosses (owners) pleased. We put in long hours, work while sick or in pain and or continue to work in hazardous, unhealthy and dangerous conditions. We want to speak up but know whistle blower protections are non-existent. So we muddle through as best we can, taking pain relievers, stimulants and more exciting drugs just to give us the illusion such a life is really worth living. Most of us do get by but at what cost?

Spending more and more time in often meaningless jobs, surviving paycheck to paycheck, in time leads to deep feelings of loneliness and depression. So we seek escape in many forms, some more healthy than others. Some seek escape into the virtual world of gaming, porn and on line networks such as facebook. These may provide some kind of relief but it is temporary and does nothing to solve the twin problems of loneliness and depression. The endless babble of television is a similar means of escape. Others fine escape in both legal and illegal drug use. Consider all those that are one form of anti-depressant or other. The drugs may ease the symptoms but do not address the cause of the problem. Illegal drugs not only don't help, they most often lead to worse problems like health complications and you guessed it, job loss. Others may turn to extremist groups finding comfort and security in gangs and like minded hate groups such as the KKK and Aryan Nation. Such an existence is devoid of healthy community life. Online networks, taking drugs and hate groups are no substitute for meaningful employment, security / stability and flesh and blood real friends.  Yet too many continue to live in a form of debit slavery all the while continuously announcing how free we are to the world. We can and must do better.

For me, I need to turn off the damn computer more and spend time with people face to face. I write to avoid tv and games that become time vampires. There is no substitute for being around others. One friend to hang out with is far better than all the FB friends in the world. Think of it this way. What’s better LOL or the laughter of a friend over a coffee or beer? There is a huge demand out there for love that anyone can help meet. It is simple, listening to others and being herd. We form groups for a reason, it is in our very DNA. All this crap about individualism does nothing but benefit those who profit from all the isolation in our culture now ie bosses and drug makers and sellers. Our primary cultural narrative runs something like this; don’t think about others, take care of yourself and you are the only person in the world that matters. It does not take a shitload of gray matter to understand this clashes with who we really are as thinking feeling human beings. Those who can completely internalize the “I” at the expense of everyone else as our culture dictates are called psychopaths. Simple really. I cannot put myself above those around me and most likely, you cannot either. We may be better off working less and loving more. 

Who in two, five or ten years will remember the extra two hours you put in at the office? Well, your kid who's first football game of the season you just missed might. Think your boss will? Hell no! I'll try not to get too preachy here but forgive me if I do. Work enough to keep the assholes happy and pay the bills while concentrating on the really important stuff like real live family and friends, not to mention time for yourself. If your current situation does not allow for living, then change it. Find a good employer or even better make your own job that you control, not the other way around. Are your best memories at work? Work is cool and all but does not hold a candle to being with Thu the wife, hanging with Occupiers or pounding beers with Todd, Ward, Sharin, Patricia, Matt and too many others to mention.   

I'm still a work in progress. I know it. My employer treats me better than most and I can take time off pretty much when ever I want to. That said I still have to trade in one-hundred sixty hours a month to keep the lights on. The work is important but I'm only a low level bureaucrat. So yeah I'd rather work for myself with some like-mined people. A few of us are working to make it happen. I'm more involved with others than I was a few years back and feel I'm a better person for it. Beats the hell out of y8.com.