Blogs by Erik Hare on AuthorsDen.com

AuthorsDen.com Join | Login

Where Authors and Readers come together!

SIGNED BOOKS AUTHORS BOOKS SAMPLE CHAPTERS AUDIOBOOKS eBOOKS STORIES ARTICLES POETRY BLOGS NEWS VIDEOS SUCCESS TESTIMONIALS

Featured Authors: Bryon Smith, iTracey Morait, iJohn Henning, iLinda Frank, iChristine Boyce, i RickthePoetWarrior, iTerry Vinson, iMr. Ed, iStephen Murray, iMargaret Mullings, i

Home > Blogs

Popular: Books, Stories, Articles, Poetry Authors: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Erik Hare

Follow Me

· Contact Me
· Success story
· Books
· Articles
· Poetry
· News
· Stories
· Blog

· 21 Titles
· 28 Reviews
· Share with Friends!
· Member Since: Mar, 2007

Erik Hare, click here to update your pages on AuthorsDen.

Blogs by Erik Hare

Work
4/14/2008 6:53:34 AM

A century ago, work was hard and physical. People mostly worked in either factories or fields and produced something tangible at the end of the day or season. Work was all about manipulating the real world and making things.

The kids who grew up in this world rarely had more than an eighth grade education. What they needed to know was learned through apprenticeship and effort. These particular skills would serve them better than a college education when it came time to fight and win World War II and set up what I call “The American Empire”. In all of their experience, both in work and the world, what they did was physically change the world around them from one form into another.

A few generations on, our view of work is very different. Very few people make things in the USofA, and even few still grow the food we need. Most people find themselves working in a fluorescent world that is climate controlled and constrained entirely by social conventions. The end product is not something you can hold in your hand and easily evaluate with your basic senses.

These jobs require complex training that may include a college degree. They require very specific skills which are defined socially, by market forces, rather than the ability to manipulate specific materials. From this, we get the most over-used word of our time, Technology, which in Greek means “The study of skill”. In the original usage it meant an attempt to understand the various crafts that were present in the ancient world so that they might be used for a more elaborate purpose; today the word refers more to the machines that have allowed a variety of arcane skills to be identified.

Many people have written about how we work these days. Generally, it is from the perspective of the machines that make up this Technology and what they have made possible. From a human perspective, however, the skills that we have defined which did not exist a few generations ago are simply reflections of a world that has moved from being physical to one that is virtual. The machines allow us to define work in any way that we want, and the limits on what we can do are purely social.

I don’t find all the machines all that interesting for the simple reason that the humans who run them have yet to even make a good attempts at figuring out what this “work” thing means when the product is not immediately accessible to the senses that got us out of the trees and standing up in the grasslands. People work 40 hours a week, but no one can say why that’s the right way to do it. In the USofA, we tie health care and other bennies to the production of whatever we make, meaning that flexibility as a contractor can be a death sentence. Vacation time is limited, running about 1/3 other industrialized nations who we “compete” with.

Our definition of work has moved from being physical to being entirely social. We can make work whatever it is we want it to be. What we’ve chosen to make is a farce where people generally appear to be working harder than they are with longer hours than they need to in the interest of appearing “productive”. Without a physical measure of productivity, what’s left is measuring the inputs like time in the office and other things that make us look bizzy. When you think how unlimited the possibilities are in a socially defined work world, that it’s been done so narrowly says quite a lot about the USofA.

Comments (1)

More Blogs by Erik Hare
• Let the Real Games Begin - Sunday, August 24, 2008
• Soul Mate - Friday, August 22, 2008
• Breaking the Code - Tuesday, August 19, 2008
• The Investment Express - Sunday, August 17, 2008
• The Verse of a Song - Friday, August 15, 2008
• Generic Politics - Tuesday, August 12, 2008
• Reductio ad Extremis - Sunday, August 10, 2008
• I'll Have it Bronzed - Thursday, August 7, 2008
• Lotsa Vacation - Tuesday, August 5, 2008
• Generations: Re-Invention - Sunday, August 3, 2008
• Happy as a Pig. Just a Pig. - Friday, August 1, 2008
• The D Word - Tuesday, July 29, 2008
• Writing Bubble - Monday, July 28, 2008
• Munchie - Friday, July 25, 2008
• Ode an die Freude - Wednesday, July 23, 2008
• Citizen Journalism - Monday, July 21, 2008
• Truth of the Cottonwoods - Monday, July 21, 2008
• Barking at the 'Net - Saturday, July 19, 2008
• Brasilian Way - Thursday, July 17, 2008
• Leadership - Tuesday, July 15, 2008
• No Safe Harbor - Sunday, July 13, 2008
• Open Yer Mouth - Thursday, July 10, 2008
• 15 Second Politics - Tuesday, July 8, 2008
• Nice Work if You Can Get It - Sunday, July 6, 2008
• Fly the Flag - Thursday, July 3, 2008
• Housing Bubble, Toil and Trouble - Tuesday, July 1, 2008
• Depressing Events - Monday, June 30, 2008
• Ein Kunstlerleben - Friday, June 27, 2008
• IRV - Wednesday, June 25, 2008
• Convention Wisdom - Monday, June 23, 2008
• 500 Year Floodplain - Thursday, June 19, 2008
• Desaparecidos - Tuesday, June 17, 2008
• Write on! - Monday, June 16, 2008
• Techno High School - Friday, June 13, 2008
• Urban Return - Wednesday, June 11, 2008
• Strategic Planning - Monday, June 9, 2008
• The Team - Thursday, June 5, 2008
• The Obvious - Tuesday, June 3, 2008
• Hung T-Bar Ceiling - Monday, June 2, 2008
• Brightest Bulbs - Thursday, May 29, 2008
• Regional - Wednesday, May 28, 2008
• Vaca - Accion - Monday, May 26, 2008
• Narrowing - Thursday, May 22, 2008
• Scale - Tuesday, May 20, 2008
• Invisible Hand on the Pump - Monday, May 19, 2008
• Ancient Music - Friday, May 16, 2008
• Electric Motion - Wednesday, May 14, 2008
• Comments? - Monday, May 12, 2008
• In the Translation - Monday, May 12, 2008
• Still Over - Very Over - Friday, May 9, 2008
• Hear the Quiet - Tuesday, May 6, 2008
• Enlightenment and Excess Sugar - Tuesday, May 6, 2008
• Cola Warriors - Monday, May 5, 2008
• Urban Core: Life - Friday, May 2, 2008
• Fantasy and Perspective - Tuesday, April 29, 2008
• Net-Work'd - Tuesday, April 29, 2008
• Urban Core: New Urbanism - Monday, April 28, 2008
• Urban Core: Lessons - Friday, April 25, 2008
• Urban Core - Wednesday, April 23, 2008
• But Fear Itself - Tuesday, April 22, 2008
• You've Got a Friend in Pennsylvania - Monday, April 21, 2008
• Cultural Catholic - Friday, April 18, 2008
• Taxing - Wednesday, April 16, 2008
• Light & Fluffy - Tuesday, April 15, 2008
• Work - Monday, April 14, 2008
• Human Barometer - Thursday, April 10, 2008
• Bad Girls - Tuesday, April 8, 2008
• A Good Meal on a Dreary Day - Tuesday, April 8, 2008
• One Year On - Sunday, April 6, 2008
• Not at Any Price - Friday, April 4, 2008
• Winning Through Acting Crazy - Wednesday, April 2, 2008
• More Press(ure) - Tuesday, April 1, 2008
• Message = Medium - Sunday, March 30, 2008
• Anything is Possible - Thursday, March 27, 2008
• Fit, Print, Whatever - Tuesday, March 25, 2008
• Ars Gratia Fructis - Monday, March 24, 2008
• Yes, Not Again - Sunday, March 23, 2008
• Generations: Empire - Thursday, March 20, 2008
• Generations: Do the Right Thing - Tuesday, March 18, 2008
• Brief Commercial Message - Monday, March 17, 2008
• Generations: Institutionalized - Sunday, March 16, 2008
• Generations - Thursday, March 13, 2008
• St. Patrick's Day - Tuesday, March 11, 2008
• Blinding Daylight - Monday, March 10, 2008
• It's Still Over - Sunday, March 9, 2008
• Pedestrian View - Thursday, March 6, 2008
• Straight Up Racist - Tuesday, March 4, 2008
• Stamp Them When They're Small - Monday, March 3, 2008
• Schooled - Sunday, March 2, 2008
• Free at Last - Friday, February 29, 2008
• Theo-Rhetorical - Tuesday, February 26, 2008
• Moral or Political? - Monday, February 25, 2008
• Flik Lit - Sunday, February 24, 2008
• Fit to Print ... and more! - Thursday, February 21, 2008
• Letter to Sen. Clinton - Tuesday, February 19, 2008
• Leading and Learning - Monday, February 18, 2008
• Dr. Carver - Sunday, February 17, 2008
• Primary Reader - Thursday, February 14, 2008
• Ordem e Progresso - Tuesday, February 12, 2008
• Class and Struggles - Monday, February 11, 2008
• Why Do We Write? - Sunday, February 10, 2008
• Streaming - Thursday, February 7, 2008
• Still About People - Wednesday, February 6, 2008
• A Fun Evening Ahead? - Tuesday, February 5, 2008
• Sick of It? Nah! - Monday, February 4, 2008
• Britney - Sunday, February 3, 2008
• Soooper Tooosday! - Friday, February 1, 2008
• Crazy Train - Tuesday, January 29, 2008
• Sacred and Profane - Monday, January 28, 2008
• Making Stuff - Monday, January 28, 2008
• Bill's World - Thursday, January 24, 2008
• Panic! - Wednesday, January 23, 2008
• Airballs and Airbending - Tuesday, January 22, 2008
• Cold - Sunday, January 20, 2008
• Spencer House - Friday, January 18, 2008
• Avatar - Wednesday, January 16, 2008
• Politics, Hopes, and Dreams - Tuesday, January 15, 2008
• Feast or Famine II: The Wrath of John (Zogby) - Monday, January 14, 2008
• Feast or Famine - Sunday, January 13, 2008
• For Madmen Only - Thursday, January 10, 2008
• Paul - Tuesday, January 8, 2008
• Horseraces and Horse Sense - Monday, January 7, 2008
• A New Start? - Monday, January 7, 2008
• Handicapping - Sunday, January 6, 2008
• Happy Talk - Friday, January 4, 2008
• Cold and Warm - Wednesday, January 2, 2008
• Happy, um, New Year - Monday, December 31, 2007
• Riot - Monday, December 31, 2007
• Bestsellers! - Thursday, December 27, 2007
• Why Do They Read? - Wednesday, December 26, 2007
• Christmas Morning - Tuesday, December 25, 2007
• S. Claus, C-14 - Monday, December 24, 2007
• Darkness and Light - Friday, December 21, 2007
• Memoir - Wednesday, December 19, 2007
• Eyes of a Child - Tuesday, December 18, 2007
• Solstice - Monday, December 17, 2007
• Glory and Promise - Thursday, December 13, 2007
• Desperate Cry for Attention - Wednesday, December 12, 2007
• Compound Interests - Monday, December 10, 2007
• The Game - Monday, December 10, 2007
• Got" Nuthin - Friday, December 7, 2007
• Snow Day - Tuesday, December 4, 2007
• Real Way, Way Real - Tuesday, December 4, 2007
• Snowstorm - Sunday, December 2, 2007
• Progress - Friday, November 30, 2007
• Tao Te Ching - Tuesday, November 27, 2007
• As You Like It - Monday, November 26, 2007
• Saint Paul - Sunday, November 25, 2007
• Travel - Friday, November 23, 2007
• Awareness - Wednesday, November 21, 2007
• Two Places Together - Tuesday, November 20, 2007
• Thanksgiving - Monday, November 19, 2007
• Mechanical PR - Friday, November 16, 2007
• Heavy and Light - Wednesday, November 14, 2007
• Rollin' and Scratchin' - Monday, November 12, 2007
• Lay Yer Dollar Down - Sunday, November 11, 2007
• Smarts - Friday, November 9, 2007
• Local - Wednesday, November 7, 2007
• Elections - Tuesday, November 6, 2007
• Platforms - Sunday, November 4, 2007
• Gutenburgistas - Thursday, November 1, 2007
• Shadows - Wednesday, October 31, 2007
• Saleable - Tuesday, October 30, 2007
• Tea - Monday, October 29, 2007
• Crispin, be Remembered - Thursday, October 25, 2007
• Faking It - Wednesday, October 24, 2007
• Post Dispatch - Tuesday, October 23, 2007
• Job Blob - Sunday, October 21, 2007
• MEA Weekend - Friday, October 19, 2007
• Mousketeer - Friday, October 19, 2007
• A Novel Solution - Wednesday, October 17, 2007
• Sunspots - Monday, October 15, 2007
• Ghosts - Sunday, October 14, 2007
• Voyages - Thursday, October 11, 2007
• Obsolete Houses - Tuesday, October 9, 2007
• Watching - Tuesday, October 9, 2007
• Distributed - Sunday, October 7, 2007
• Bright Light - Friday, October 5, 2007
• Soy Protein - Wednesday, October 3, 2007
• Making a Point - Monday, October 1, 2007
• Grace or Redemption - Sunday, September 30, 2007
• Widgets - Thursday, September 27, 2007
• Expectations - Wednesday, September 26, 2007
• My Point is? - Tuesday, September 25, 2007
• Access - Monday, September 24, 2007
• Housewife - Thursday, September 20, 2007
• Equinox - Wednesday, September 19, 2007
• Writing Back - Tuesday, September 18, 2007
• Street Life - Monday, September 17, 2007
• Cartoon - Friday, September 14, 2007
• The Greenback War - Wednesday, September 12, 2007
• A Fair Cop - Tuesday, September 11, 2007
• Small World - Monday, September 10, 2007
• Fairness - Thursday, September 6, 2007
• School Daze - Tuesday, September 4, 2007
• Publishing, Redux - Monday, September 3, 2007
• Labor Day - Sunday, September 2, 2007
• Ethnicity - Thursday, August 30, 2007
• Who Ya Know - Tuesday, August 28, 2007
• Repo Voting - Monday, August 27, 2007
• Sun - Friday, August 24, 2007
• Starving Artists - Tuesday, August 21, 2007
• Juanita Bartlett - Monday, August 20, 2007
• Stock Marks, not Market - Friday, August 17, 2007
• Novel Writing - Wednesday, August 15, 2007
• Stupid Money - Monday, August 13, 2007
• Crappy Cars - Friday, August 10, 2007
• snafu - Wednesday, August 8, 2007
• J.S. Bach - Monday, August 6, 2007
• I-35W Bridge - Friday, August 3, 2007
• Heat - Wednesday, August 1, 2007
• Illegal - Monday, July 30, 2007
• Prof. Powers - Thursday, July 26, 2007
• Harry Potter - Wednesday, July 25, 2007
• Cat President - Sunday, July 22, 2007
• MCS - Thursday, July 19, 2007
• Politics and People - Wednesday, July 18, 2007
• Authorial Omnipotence - Monday, July 16, 2007
• Conveyance - Thursday, July 12, 2007
• Univision - Wednesday, July 11, 2007
• Tropopause - Monday, July 9, 2007
• Big Ideas - Thursday, July 5, 2007
• Star Spangled Banner - Tuesday, July 3, 2007
• North America - Sunday, July 1, 2007
• ex Machina - Thursday, June 28, 2007
• Catalpa - Tuesday, June 26, 2007
• Blogosphere - Sunday, June 24, 2007
• Queuing - Thursday, June 21, 2007
• Make No Small Plans" - Tuesday, June 19, 2007
• Telling Stories - Monday, June 18, 2007
• Community - Thursday, June 14, 2007
• Minor Leagues - Tuesday, June 12, 2007
• For the Kids - Monday, June 11, 2007
• Wurst Writing - Thursday, June 7, 2007
• Progressive - Tuesday, June 5, 2007
• Credentials - Monday, June 4, 2007
• Band Concert - Thursday, May 31, 2007
• Institution - Wednesday, May 30, 2007
• Publiosity - Tuesday, May 29, 2007
• Honor and Sense - Monday, May 28, 2007
• King O'er the Water - Thursday, May 24, 2007
• Everything Counts - Wednesday, May 23, 2007
• Numbers Game - Monday, May 21, 2007
• Elected Attorney General - Friday, May 18, 2007
• Car Free - Thursday, May 17, 2007
• Cold Front - Tuesday, May 15, 2007
• Fortune Telling - Sunday, May 13, 2007
• Distant Voices - Friday, May 11, 2007
• Value - Wednesday, May 9, 2007
• Disposable Buildings - Monday, May 7, 2007
• Energy Alternatives - Friday, May 4, 2007
• Statuary - Thursday, May 3, 2007
• Voice - Tuesday, May 1, 2007
• McNews - Monday, April 30, 2007
• The Jebediah Effect - Thursday, April 26, 2007
• Public Realm - Wednesday, April 25, 2007
• Four Leaves - Tuesday, April 24, 2007
• Media Outlets - Monday, April 23, 2007
• A New Line of Thought - Saturday, April 21, 2007
• Pattern Taxonomy - Friday, April 20, 2007
• Politics, Interest, and Democracy - Thursday, April 19, 2007
• Making Sense - Tuesday, April 17, 2007
• Naked Emperor - Monday, April 16, 2007
• Barking in the Night - Saturday, April 14, 2007
• Kurt Vonnegut - Thursday, April 12, 2007
• All the News That Fits, Prints - Wednesday, April 11, 2007
• It was a dark and stormy night ... - Tuesday, April 10, 2007