By Fr Stephen Lim
There was the much-awaited year-end-holiday though still pandemic restricted, yet the mess was in the local flash floods. The “forced to stay indoors for days” with my otherwise ‘silent’ nieces and nephews, turned out to be an eye-opener towards our millennials.
Sharing their trendy-fusion meals was a glee. Better still, indulging in their selection of Netflix movies, a rare treat. Best of all, eavesdropping on their secret hearts’ desires and private talks in between. It warmed me up to see millennials in a different light. Otherwise, even their legit grievances on low pay and workplace politics, being misconstrued to put them down as the soft generation without grit nor discipline.
Engrossed with thorny pay issues and workplace politics had me wallowing in a negative sea of emotions. Baffled at my unhappiness and outright contempt towards my much-revered work, all for no apparent reason. Still fuming a week later, by chance I came across an exciting book by Anthropologist Karen Ho: “Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street”.
A determined contender of the Wall Street dream turned anthropologist, Karen Ho analysed the driving force of Banking – perfect efficiency. In total disregard for predictable detrimental effects on banking itself, yet bulldozing over all, to foist total hostility that every employee at all levels is disposable at the drop of the hat. Besides, her poignant distinction in history of capitalism is never being just profit-driven but the total disparity between what is best for the company and the interest of employees. The truth of the matter is that the priority of the company not only takes precedence but excludes all else, including basic employees’ needs.
Touching raw nerves, unlocking my dark-long years of suppressed work disappointment. It is rattling that all those years of work confers little fulfillment but feeling redundant. But what is most obvious is that I am yet to come to terms with my work anger that has such a hold on me.
Work evolves in resonance to human, his needs and environment. Likewise, modern work adapts in being groomed as agent for perfect efficiency, productivity and profit. In contrast, through human work we realise our true worth and we are images of God. As poised in agrarian culture that work is life and family enhancing. For instance, delighting in the entire family in the field. Simply more hands make work light. But in our current workplace, any and everything pertaining to family and personal life is all taboo. As disruption or intrusion all must be eradicated at all cost.
Cultured Work: A Bonsai
Work is for professionals; those with relevant and thorough qualification and competence. Be it bureaucrat or technocrat, all workers operate in sync as a lean production crew. Fluent in IT, internet and virtual cloud-based workspace, work is like a bonsai. Artificially supported by external dexterous independent network of third-party contract workers to ensure perfect efficiency. All in the production process of the latest at the lowest price but highest profit. The whole irony in our work culture is that we bought wholesale its dubious belief that paid work determines our human purpose. Isn’t it true that any attempt to enhance human wellbeing must ensure productive work, if not endless profit?
Such laser sharp focus on efficiency and profit not only dislocated human work but comes with incalculable human cost. Aggravating inhumane work conditions without safety and personal fulfillment. Ultra-productive and profit-biased work is no accident, for a century back, Karl Marx had ample warning of its alienating outcome. With the annihilation of all trace of socialism or communism, capitalistic work culture dictates the world stage without mercy.
All reality on the ground, locally and globally, is not only disparaging but dehumanising. Without surprise, a high proportion of global workforce feeling disengaged, unfulfilled but most disposable. All indicative of our abnormal and demoralising work culture. As illustrated by an Economist, David Graeber’s striking book: “On The Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs”. Stating the obvious, the last thing any profit-driven economy endures is to shell out cash to workers it does not need to employ. But most corporations are dishing out money to ‘unnecessary’ ‘unmovable and unsackable’ persons on the pay list.
The defying answer is simple – our work culture, duty, obsession or compulsion and the rest is not economic. Instead, blind belief, high emotion, full conviction, cultural and spiritual all lumped together. Our mystic bonsai-work deepens. Thus, change after change, we remain the same. Simply for our work culture to change, we ourselves must change first. We all have plenty of home work on our emotion, culture and spiritual alignment towards authentic human work itself.
Human Work Force: Browbeaten
Study after study confirmed that the entire global work force is disposable, thus, abhorring their work and predicament, but pulling themselves together through oppressing and depressing condition because of deeply ingrained work culture. Work, on one hand, while putting bread on our table, on the other hand, makes us feel like victim or fodder as it gnaws us alive.
David Weil, another economist on the cutting edge in his, “The Fissured Workplace” emphasised the urgency to evaluate the nature, pressure and payoffs in our work culture. As our depressing work culture is justified by this ever-cost-cutting propaganda in the name of averting quality dips, all in total compliance with arbitrary rigid inhumane standards of procedure and even lifestyle. As gospel truth, all persist to survive in perfect efficiency. But in spite of total compliance all disillusioned; the more we work the more disposable we become. All in illusive pursuit of perfect efficiency in profit making.
What we count as work matters to our wellbeing. Simply for too long, only paid work gets recognised as over against unpaid, unseen work done off the clock but life-enhancing human activity. As report after report that the principles of Article 23 – On the Right to Work in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights being thrown under the bus. Inhumane working conditions is the norm rather than the exception. Workers abused and without protection is business as usual.
Then, there is the never-ending waves of migrant workers subjugated and capitalised without qualms. All indicative of well-organised violation and systematic enslavement of the work force is reproachful, if not most shameful.
Economic and global expanding development industry is not only prone to abuse, but devoid of protection and security. All is tip of the iceberg; human work today becomes part of the network of modern slavery without borders.
Human Response: Conscientious Work
Enough of reaction. Dubious belief and behavior all following like sheep as helpless victim or fodder to this all-consuming work monster. In addition, reaction is not only doing us more harm than good, but perpetuating its kind of misery in our midst. We need to wise up; doing the right things rather than doing things right. Our work predicament imperatively demands our human response not reaction.
Hope for overhauling our work culture is futile. Being on the ground, our eyes are on appropriate and available resource and response. Besides, we trust practical human resilience and reliance. Like the ever-inspirational trends among company and brand that are aligning their services to basic human values. Most confident and happy involved workers are engaged, enthusiastic and productive.
And then, the iconic phenomenon of thinking, talking and working from home during the global Covid-19 lockdown. Though within current work culture, yet both are precious breakthroughs. Giving us the impetus, actual encounter and the interior space to move out of our work box.
In effect, ultra-modern IT work, with internet cloud-based space and online platforms are venues for work out-of-the box. As all is required is internet connectivity. Each of us, literally and figuratively, must take the bull by its horn. We must realise that all the valid facts of our given work culture do not add up to one single excuse for us to be conscientious in our work as being human. We must capitalise on our current internet cloud-based work space to cultivate more humane work culture.
Finally, owning up and taking on responsibility as custodian of human self-realising work is our indispensable requisite. We alone must resolve work that actualises and enhances our own wellbeing and happiness. All else is either distraction or disruption.
Conclusion
Self-realising human work is inimitable; never man-made or man-given. Besides, our bossy current economic opulence, basic logic tells us that it cannot last forever. All, without exception, have a shelf-life, all evolving, if not mutating or just perishing.
At ground zero, calamity after calamity, as always, battered and broken workers helping, comforting and healing fellow broken people. Ubiquitous and tenacious workers realising our true worth and imaging God, we aptly restore work as God-made and God-given.
