Every job is a good job
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Posted:May 11, 2016 6:45 am
Last Updated:May 7, 2024 9:43 pm
3349 Views
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The time has come to stop arguing about the minimum wage. The arguments against raising it to at least $15/hour, or restoring it to its 1970 equivalent, are bad policy, bad economics, and misguided values. We have done better, and we can and must do better. We owe it to ourselves, and to our . When we start paying everyone what they're worth, the solutions to so many other problems become much clearer and accessible.
Because that's what it is. It's paying people what they're worth. From a public policy perspective, it sets the value of American citizenship. To tolerate, much less sanction poverty-level wages is to sell out the American dream. Economically, it's ultimately unsustainable. As the value of American productivity flows more and more into fewer and fewer hands, the middle class disappears. It already has, by the way, leaving us a two-tiered society: super-rich masters and working-poor wage slaves.
Pope Francis has put it best. Not just in the US, but around the world, human life has become a commodity. Adam Smith's "invisible hand" of enlightened self-interest has become a fist of greed, equating and aligning wealth and power, and sweeping masses of human beings to the periphery. We are a throw-away culture, wasting and despoiling the earth's resources and human life itself.
After all, what answers are we looking for when we ask our , "What do you want to be when you grow up?" The only correct answers are, "a good neighbor, a loving spouse, a nurturing parent." A living-wage minimum wage provides a broader array of acceptable answers to the question behind this question, "What do you want to do when you grow up?" Answering that question clearly invites us into conversations about the marketplace, time management, ambition, compromise, and goal-setting.
Now, doesn't that sound like a fascinating conversation to have with our ? I don't know about you, but I experience a physical sigh of relief when I distinguish those two questions. Untying my love for my step- and grandchildren from my concern about their success in the marketplace allows me to listen to and honor their dreams. That's an American dream that is truly accessible to us all.
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The Knowledge Economy is a farce
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Posted:May 7, 2016 3:11 am
Last Updated:May 11, 2016 6:48 am
3083 Views
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Back in the early 1990s, when I was just starting to hit my stride as an academic advisor, we were told of the dawning of the Knowledge Economy. Then and now, just typing the words, much less uttering them, makes me throw up a little in my mouth. Then, I could only protest that subjecting something as ineffable as knowledge to market forces seemed somehow oxymoronic. Twenty-five years later, it saddens and sickens me to see how right I was, and yet how enshrined in Common Knowledge this twisted lie has become.
Let me lay out the line for you:
*Throughout the 20th century, technology transformed the labor market at a quickening pace. Blue-collar jobs in particular were drastically cut back and realigned by the advent of computer and robotic technology.
*As we enter the 21st century, the implications of this continuing trend are that all jobs now require a higher level of skills. Even "low-end" jobs are becoming more technologically sophisticating, requiring a smarter and smarter workforce.
*A high-school diploma, formerly the baseline for a living-wage career, will no longer suffice for entry into a self-supporting, self-actualized life. At least some college, and preferably a degree, are absolutely essential in order to realistically aspire to the American Dream.
My tea is getting cold, my garden is thirsty, and my low-end job awaits. For now, I'm just throwing it out there that each of the three points above is a terrible, destructive lie. In the days and weeks ahead, I'll break it down further, and look forward to your feedback.
Peace, out, y'all. Have a beautiful and blessed weekend.
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College is a trap
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Posted:May 6, 2016 12:55 am
Last Updated:May 11, 2016 6:49 am
3463 Views
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I entered higher ed out of high school, and didn't leave until my mid-50s. Learning was my life's passion. All that is good in me blossomed within those ivy-covered walls. I climbed its highest mountain, earned those magical three initials after my name, and couldn't be prouder of that achievement.
And now I'm out. I'm working for barely above minimum wage at my local supermarket, and I couldn't be happier. Sure, I could go back. I could earn about twice what I'm making now as an adjunct. But it'll be a cold day in hell when I stand in front of a group of tuition slaves, marching to the tune of the ugliest Ponzi scheme I can imagine. My passion now is to use my skills and wisdom in service to my community, and to keep my faith journey as close to the core of my being as I possibly can. I respect and admire my friends and former colleagues who still toil in the vineyard of higher learning. I just can't stomach or tolerate the forces that are corrupting and thwarting their best efforts to the most perverse of ends.
Here's the deal. College never was, is not, and never will be a Willy Wonka golden ticket to the good life. Its core vision statement is that the unexamined life is not worth living. Its truest rewards are intangible, even inscrutable. To pretend otherwise is to dangle bait, poisoned with debt, in the face of the desperately poor. To twist a diploma into a hall pass to a living wage is to enable and codify the cruelest attack ever perpetrated against the working class.
We need to blow up college. We need to break up this monopoly and release the market of ideas and learning. "Student" athletes aren't the only ones who should be allowed to ply their skills and talents in the free market. Upperclassmen in the hard sciences, social sciences, mathematics, hell, even the arts, deserve the same opportunity. Young adults, all young adults, deserve to take their first steps into self-actualized lives without being forced to mortgage their future.
We can do this. We must do this. In upcoming posts, I'll walk you through what brought me to these conclusions, and I'll invite you in to a conversation about their validity and implications.
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Are you real?
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Posted:Apr 29, 2016 2:58 am
Last Updated:May 11, 2016 6:50 am
3194 Views
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Let's face it, that's one of the most common questions we're asking about each other in this little online world. And we should. Some of us are plunking down some serious cash and/or "points" to, um, "interact" with each other. What a shame if that "friend" is just a figment of the site admin's imagination, luring us into more and more activity.
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT accusing THIS site of this kind of behavior, not am I claiming that any other social network does this. But we do know that catfishing happens, so we'd be fools not to be asking that question.
And that goes for those who are interacting with us, too, doesn't it? Do your profile, pics, and activities represent an authentic version of you? Or are you engaged in a bit of role playing?
Now, here's the lesson I'm drawing from all this about so-called "real life" ("RL"). Every one of those questions is no less valid, with respect to our RL contacts. They're also valid for our friends, partners, and lovers to be asking about us.
I have a friend with major trust issues. She's always complaining about people "talking out of both sides of their mouth." She sets her own firm boundaries, and selectively self-discloses, but loses faith in humanity when those close to her do the same.
I care enough about her to to have listened to her for hours about her boyfriend's "lies," and how badly her co-workers are treating her. I started dodging her calls and fuming about how much of my time she was wasting. Then I realized it was my time to waste, and I needed to make better choices.
So, did I blow her off, tell her to stop calling? No. I still care for her, she does make me laugh, and we do have a lot in common. But I'm more honest with her (!), and more confident about setting my own boundaries. I've gotten quite direct with her about her trust issues, and I just don't join her in judging people I haven't even met. We're still friends. I don't think she likes me as much as she used to, and that's actually a good thing. I'm sure she doesn't trust me as much, but that puts me in a very large club. I really hope she can find the kind of happiness and peace I have, and I've done all I can to help her find it.
The rest is up to her.
Peace, y'all.
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Online is mind-expanding
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Posted:Apr 27, 2016 9:13 pm
Last Updated:May 7, 2024 9:43 pm
3165 Views
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What a day!
13 hours of stocking tomatos, avocados, strawberries and apples, and frying lots of chicken. Feeding and serving my neighbors. What could be better? A bit worried about my co-worker who didn't show up and didn't call (hence the 13-hr shift for me). Not like her. Hope she's OK. On the other hand, some great, mutually supportive conversations with co-workers, and mutual gestures of appreciation with customers. True teamwork, in service to a great neighborhood, making each other laugh through a typically stressful day.
That's real life, RL for short. Framing that day was a bit of surfing the profiles of some lovely ladies on this site, and some reflections on how we relate to each other online. What's really kinda cool about social networking is how much control we can exercise over how we present ourselves, what we let others see, and how they perceive us as a result. It gets pretty mind-expanding, even mind-blowing, when you consider that everyone here is inventing their online persona, making choices and focusing our attention in ways we can't do in RL relationships.
Or can we? After all, one person's boundary-setting is sometimes what others might consider deceptive, even lying. Ultimately, we all would do well to consider our own selective self-disclosure before judging what we see as deceit or dishonesty in others.
Was the online beginning and end to my day as "real" as my work-a-day life? Most definitely. More important, you lovely women gave me something captivating to think about this morning while stacking pears and apples, and something to look forward to as I slogged pound after pound of chicken through breading and hot oil, on their way to my neighbors' shopping carts.
Cheers, y'all. Thanks for reading. I'd love it if you would join my friends network and share what you think about this stuff. Sweet dreams. See you in the morning.
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