Hi! I'm with you all the way! Despite 2+ decades of being an at-home parent, I managed to become an employed person again! Yay, me! Not supposed to happen. Interestingly, once my contact-tracing job was over (at which I chose to be a 30-hour person), the interest I received was only when I applied for part-time positions. This was a blessing because I was SO ambivalent about returning to that potential 8-6 (or longer) schedule that results with a significant commute and leave little time or energy for other pursuits (or even taking care of yourself). So I'm happy to work 1/2 time (and privileged to be able to afford to do so). Plus, I see a lot of folks who (despite official work-life balance policies) feel compelled to keep checking in to work all night long -- and if they do not, they are behind the 8-ball when they return in the morning. I have a friend who was part-time at Microsoft for several years but actually worked full-time and needed to be "on" even at 11 p.m. Stupid.
Wow, that is crazy about your friend who worked part-time at Microsoft! I am so glad to have that kind of grind behind me, even though I'm still working. That's great that you found part-time work more easily! I hope you're enjoying your work.
Emphasis on this question: "what will it take for the capitalist treadmill to slow down and let people live in a more natural way?" It will take a mass exodus, which might be coming. It doesn't seem like the next generation, those young folks in college now or soon to be, are willing to step on the capitalist treadmill. Unfortunately, the American mentality around work work work pervades every single field, from tech to nonprofit to education. It is hard to escape unless you just step off it.
I was forced to slow down while still working, after the death of my husband meant that I needed more time for everything else (estate settlement; elder care; house & home maintenance; self-care; grieving). I took a 20% pay cut and dropped my hours to M-Th. Pretty sure I would not have survived the first year otherwise. I don't imagine I can ever go back to "full-time" work. I'm fortunate enough that, for now, I don't need to, and the extra stress is not worth it.
It sucks that you had to go through all that to get to a better way of working. You've had such a hard several years! I'm glad you could do it, though, and maybe you're right that the younger generation will actually change the norm of how we work in the U.S. I don't see that coming from anywhere else. Those of us oldsters who can slow down are not the norm. I'm so grateful to be able to do that now.
Writing my newsletter and living my life currently, I have thought a lot about the world of work. Feels like we have retreated from the utopian idea that we should all work less, to something where grimly grinding is seen as a virtue. I have friends who brag about how busy they are and how many hours they work. I think it should be the opposite. Of course our society has more income inequality than the Gilded Age, and many low-income people have bought into the oligarchs’ idea that if they could just work even harder, their lives would be better. It feels like a mass delusion at this point.
Not sure where I’m going with this. Just frustrated I guess.
I think about this all the time. Being a stay-at-home mom, maybe I shouldn't have an opinion but here we are. Videos like this go viral and keep people arguing back and forth, divided. It separates generations, like you said, a lot of the comments on the video are of the "I had to do it so do you" nature. Instead of thinking about it for literally any reasonable length of time. Because if you thought about it, you would clearly see the issue is the rat race. The long work hours with no hours left for creativity, hobbies, or anything else that could bring an ounce of joy to someones life. Even people who enjoy their jobs deserve time to decompress and find something else fulfilling to spend some of their time doing.
I think if people would really come together over issues such as these ridiculous work schedules, housing issues, and numerous other important issues...something might actually be done about it. But when the masses can be divided, by their own egos and people continue to fight back and forth on the internet instead of DOING something about these things...here we are. Generation after generation stuck in the same rat race.
Everyone is allowed to have an opinion! I regularly weigh in on posts about families with children, even though I don't have any. 🤣 We can all get insights from one another, and I appreciate your view from a different perspective.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments. So many of our current problems can be traced back to people not taking the time and effort to think about them. It's so much easier to go for simple slogans and platitudes than to actually think — and maybe try to see things from others' points of view.
The dividing of the masses that you speak of definitely benefits those in power who want to maintain the status quo, not most of us. I hope we can somehow change that.
As an older person, I would be very happy to see those coming after me having it better. That would make me feel good. I don't get why some people want everyone else to suffer, too, if they had to.
I have been thinking a lot about how people may view themselves and how they think that if they suffer, everyone else must suffer too. "If I wasted my life working, you should too". And while we all suffer in some way or another throughout life, I can look at my kids and very clearly see that I want my kids to have a much simpler, slower paced life. There are certain struggles that everyone will experience growing up, the basic struggles I guess. But I want my children to grow up knowing what they're getting themselves into. If they want to go to college, I want them to know that it's going to cost A LOT of money that they'll most likely be paying off well into adulthood. And just because they get a degree does not mean they'll get a job that will pay well, or be worth it in the long run. In comparison to my upbringing, college was simply something that just had to be done. Regardless of the outcome, you just *had* to. I never finished college but wasted about $15k on general courses! I want my children (and their generation) to value connection. To value family. Maybe I'm the minority, and that's okay too. But I don't want them to live an empty life of only internet connections, working a job they hate, coming home to sit on a phone or watch TV for the duration of their free time. I want them to spend their lives doing something they find fulfilling and important, whatever that may be. Going outside and seeing the value and importance of nature.
After having kids I really just think I realized what kind of world and life I wanted for them and now it's my job to give them that world to the best of my ability although I don't have control over the world as a whole.
It sounds like you're providing an amazing foundation for your kids!
Everyone suffers in life; that's the First Noble Truth in Buddhism. But there's no reason to keep supporting needless suffering. We should strive to make the world better for everyone.
Hi! I'm with you all the way! Despite 2+ decades of being an at-home parent, I managed to become an employed person again! Yay, me! Not supposed to happen. Interestingly, once my contact-tracing job was over (at which I chose to be a 30-hour person), the interest I received was only when I applied for part-time positions. This was a blessing because I was SO ambivalent about returning to that potential 8-6 (or longer) schedule that results with a significant commute and leave little time or energy for other pursuits (or even taking care of yourself). So I'm happy to work 1/2 time (and privileged to be able to afford to do so). Plus, I see a lot of folks who (despite official work-life balance policies) feel compelled to keep checking in to work all night long -- and if they do not, they are behind the 8-ball when they return in the morning. I have a friend who was part-time at Microsoft for several years but actually worked full-time and needed to be "on" even at 11 p.m. Stupid.
Wow, that is crazy about your friend who worked part-time at Microsoft! I am so glad to have that kind of grind behind me, even though I'm still working. That's great that you found part-time work more easily! I hope you're enjoying your work.
Emphasis on this question: "what will it take for the capitalist treadmill to slow down and let people live in a more natural way?" It will take a mass exodus, which might be coming. It doesn't seem like the next generation, those young folks in college now or soon to be, are willing to step on the capitalist treadmill. Unfortunately, the American mentality around work work work pervades every single field, from tech to nonprofit to education. It is hard to escape unless you just step off it.
I was forced to slow down while still working, after the death of my husband meant that I needed more time for everything else (estate settlement; elder care; house & home maintenance; self-care; grieving). I took a 20% pay cut and dropped my hours to M-Th. Pretty sure I would not have survived the first year otherwise. I don't imagine I can ever go back to "full-time" work. I'm fortunate enough that, for now, I don't need to, and the extra stress is not worth it.
It sucks that you had to go through all that to get to a better way of working. You've had such a hard several years! I'm glad you could do it, though, and maybe you're right that the younger generation will actually change the norm of how we work in the U.S. I don't see that coming from anywhere else. Those of us oldsters who can slow down are not the norm. I'm so grateful to be able to do that now.
Writing my newsletter and living my life currently, I have thought a lot about the world of work. Feels like we have retreated from the utopian idea that we should all work less, to something where grimly grinding is seen as a virtue. I have friends who brag about how busy they are and how many hours they work. I think it should be the opposite. Of course our society has more income inequality than the Gilded Age, and many low-income people have bought into the oligarchs’ idea that if they could just work even harder, their lives would be better. It feels like a mass delusion at this point.
Not sure where I’m going with this. Just frustrated I guess.
I hear you! There is so much bragging about busyness. I thought that was beginning to go out of style, but maybe that's a trend that's slow to catch on. What would John Maynard Keynes think? Back in 1930, he predicted a 15-hour workweek for his grandchildren thanks to labor-saving technologies: https://www.openculture.com/2020/06/when-john-maynard-keynes-predicted-a-15-hour-workweek-in-a-hundred-years-time-1930.html
It's so frustrating that we've gone in the opposite direction instead.
See my just-published post today for other thoughts on how to "manage" our time. ;-)
I think about this all the time. Being a stay-at-home mom, maybe I shouldn't have an opinion but here we are. Videos like this go viral and keep people arguing back and forth, divided. It separates generations, like you said, a lot of the comments on the video are of the "I had to do it so do you" nature. Instead of thinking about it for literally any reasonable length of time. Because if you thought about it, you would clearly see the issue is the rat race. The long work hours with no hours left for creativity, hobbies, or anything else that could bring an ounce of joy to someones life. Even people who enjoy their jobs deserve time to decompress and find something else fulfilling to spend some of their time doing.
I think if people would really come together over issues such as these ridiculous work schedules, housing issues, and numerous other important issues...something might actually be done about it. But when the masses can be divided, by their own egos and people continue to fight back and forth on the internet instead of DOING something about these things...here we are. Generation after generation stuck in the same rat race.
Thats my 2 cents. Thanks for asking🤣
Everyone is allowed to have an opinion! I regularly weigh in on posts about families with children, even though I don't have any. 🤣 We can all get insights from one another, and I appreciate your view from a different perspective.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments. So many of our current problems can be traced back to people not taking the time and effort to think about them. It's so much easier to go for simple slogans and platitudes than to actually think — and maybe try to see things from others' points of view.
The dividing of the masses that you speak of definitely benefits those in power who want to maintain the status quo, not most of us. I hope we can somehow change that.
As an older person, I would be very happy to see those coming after me having it better. That would make me feel good. I don't get why some people want everyone else to suffer, too, if they had to.
I have been thinking a lot about how people may view themselves and how they think that if they suffer, everyone else must suffer too. "If I wasted my life working, you should too". And while we all suffer in some way or another throughout life, I can look at my kids and very clearly see that I want my kids to have a much simpler, slower paced life. There are certain struggles that everyone will experience growing up, the basic struggles I guess. But I want my children to grow up knowing what they're getting themselves into. If they want to go to college, I want them to know that it's going to cost A LOT of money that they'll most likely be paying off well into adulthood. And just because they get a degree does not mean they'll get a job that will pay well, or be worth it in the long run. In comparison to my upbringing, college was simply something that just had to be done. Regardless of the outcome, you just *had* to. I never finished college but wasted about $15k on general courses! I want my children (and their generation) to value connection. To value family. Maybe I'm the minority, and that's okay too. But I don't want them to live an empty life of only internet connections, working a job they hate, coming home to sit on a phone or watch TV for the duration of their free time. I want them to spend their lives doing something they find fulfilling and important, whatever that may be. Going outside and seeing the value and importance of nature.
After having kids I really just think I realized what kind of world and life I wanted for them and now it's my job to give them that world to the best of my ability although I don't have control over the world as a whole.
It sounds like you're providing an amazing foundation for your kids!
Everyone suffers in life; that's the First Noble Truth in Buddhism. But there's no reason to keep supporting needless suffering. We should strive to make the world better for everyone.
Spot on!