Saturday, February 27, 2016

Our work really matters

For me back in San Francisco years ago, perspective on employment got very personal when was part of a group lay-off from my clerical job at an insurance company. Since then a bleak landscape in the world of work presented itself and have puzzled about why, which has been reflected on this blog.

With a degree in physics from a top university, ability to code computers, and work experience in a variety of jobs there is also the reality am an avid user of social media, who is very political. So realize that yeah, there are reasons a potential employer might be wary with a guy with a global readership.

Nonetheless through the years since that layoff I've thought a lot about how many middle-class people found out the hard way that few options were available beyond their current job, which vanished in ways hard to predict. Our nation should do better.

Work matters a lot for people. For most it will consume their daily lives, provide the means for their pursuit of happiness through pay, and also quite a bit potentially through the accomplishments through it. For many beyond personal, their greatest professional accomplishments will of course, be through work.

Political reality in the United States for too long though has, in my opinion, been about preferential treatment for some wealthy political donors who curry favor with politicians they help elect, who quit hiding that they would protect them at all costs to the taxpayers. During the financial crisis that emerged so forcefully in 2008 and beyond, some wealthy people were bailed out, from a problem they were instrumental in creating, while middle-class were for the most part left to fend for themselves, with heartbreaking stories constantly emerging, like of families forced to live in their vehicles having lost their homes.

The ruthlessness of some--as not all wealthy participated and do plan on being wealthy myself at some point--was shocking, and thoughtless. Some even went back to partying, and insisting that the rest of the nation was simply suffering the results of people's lack of ability, rather than recognizing that the US Government had taken community resources to save some wealthy from the consequences of their own stupid financial decisions.

Today there is understandably a darkened mood of the electorate. Politics for the weak in business, living as a de facto noble class on the backs of taxpayers is no longer going to be accepted. But what will the new political order be?

Work MUST be valued. Who cares how wealthy someone is, or how big a corporation is, if it acts to shatter the foundations for which continuing wealth for all depends upon?

And our rules and laws should be followed in both the letter and spirit, where federal resources are not so easily used to maintain wealth for people who endanger their country and their world by financial stupidity.

We must find our way with our best principles, and our best values as a nation focused on always getting better.

With need, it should be fully understood that our future depends on the nation as a whole respecting that work really matters for the best. Pursuit of happiness is a great thing which should be facilitated as a core principle.

And moving outward from this nation, our world should be ever more focused on work as highly valued, where the people who do their best are best helped by their governments.


James Harris