Thought about work

luka

Well-known member
things to love about work
1. one of the most important reasons for us to work is to remove us from our affinty groups and put us into contact with the wider world. nothing is more likely to make a person stupid and facile than immersion in an affinity group.
 

luka

Well-known member
2. it means you are partaking in the historical moment in a way you cant when suffering the isolation of unemployment or the ivory tower of academia. you are in touch with the times. you are living the life of a 21stc man. it is impossible to understand the way the world works without having been immersed in the workplace.
 
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luka

Well-known member
3. the joys of teamwork. there is something joyous about being part of a crack unit operating smoothly and skillfully in trying circumstances. everyone taking on as much as they are able to. the strongest carrying the biggest loads and doing so willingly. glorious.
 
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luka

Well-known member
4. learning and mastering a skill. becoming a virtuoso. this is a powerful thing. it is good for your self-esteem. feeling things suddenly fall into place,realising that youve repeated somethingso often its become instinctive. what a powerful feeling. you feel godlike. total mastery of your enviroment.
 

you

Well-known member
things to love about work
1. one of the most important reasons for us to work is to remove us from our affinty groups and put us into contact with the wider world. nothing is more likely to make a person stupid and facile than immersion in an affinity group.

Maybe I don't work in the right places but generally they are homogenizing pits of control and conformity. I've worked with people from all over the world but the environment doesn't allow anything other than a cursory aside about last nights footie.

2. it means you are partaking in the historical moment in a way you cant when suffering the isolation of unemployment or the ivory tower of academia. you are in touch with the times. you are living the life of a 21stc man. it is impossible to understand the way the world works without having been immersed in the workplace.

Yeah, im sure the proles of endless anonymous private companies will be preserved in posterity... Just like all those peasants Tolstoy was so nobel to lend a hand to. ffs.

3. the joys of teamwork. there is something joyous about being part of a crack unit operating smoothly and skillfully in trying circumstances. everyone taking on as much as they are able to. the strongest carrying the biggest loads and doing so willingly. glorious.

Luka - you are joking right!?

Cheers Luka, enjoyed that bait. nom..
 
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luka

Well-known member
no im not joking.far from it. but yes i would wager i have done very different jobs to you.
 

luka

Well-known member
if you have never experienced being part of a high functioning team i really feel bad for you becasue it is a wonderful feeling. having a beer after a crazy day in a hotel kitchen where everyone was hanging on by te skin of their teeth but still getting things done for example, amazing feeling. hugely fufilling
 

luka

Well-known member
to see a building erected from scratch on a bare patch of earth. hugely satisfying. fills you with pride even if you were just pushing the wheelbarrow and digging holes.
 

you

Well-known member
if you have never experienced being part of a high functioning team i really feel bad for you becasue it is a wonderful feeling. having a beer after a crazy day in a hotel kitchen where everyone was hanging on by te skin of their teeth but still getting things done for example, amazing feeling. hugely fufilling

I've worked in a pub kitchen. In general I don't get that team feeling at all. I just look around and think it's odd how everyone else gets a kick from being exploited.
 

luka

Well-known member
Working in a cafe so busy but you are smashing it. So in control
Everyone playing their part, smashing it. There is a chemical reaction in these situations
The adrenaline kicks in. It's a high. A real huge high. I loved it
 

luka

Well-known member
Have to smoke a quarter and drink 10 beers to unwind the buzz is so strong. The camaraderie that engenders is just the best thing
I'm sorry you never had that and think I'm lying
 

you

Well-known member
I should've played more team sports in school.

"Don't do drugs kids! Be part of an efficient team instead!"

Nah, don't think you are lying.
 

luka

Well-known member
No one is getting a kick from being exploited that's puerile and you knoe it
 

luka

Well-known member
They are getting a kick from exercising hard won skills, from operating at a high level
If they loved being exploited they wouldn't be stealing out the till at the same time
 

you

Well-known member
Despite my lack of team spirit I used to think work had some good points. But now I don't think so.

I say this because most workers accept/agree that it is OK work for a living in return for the market rate for your efforts. But this never happens, it is impossible. If you work you will always get below the market value of your produce, effort or contribution - otherwise where does the profit come from? If you write and sell some copies of books then someone other than you will profit. If you are a carpenter and have to buy tools or petrol in order to complete your jobs then someone other than you will profit. If you are an office worker using your fingers, eyes and brain to complete various cognitive or creative tasks then whatever the value of your innovation, effort or contribution you can be damn sure you will not get its worth. Even if the share holders forego their profit and your boss and manager forego theirs the serviced office will still turn a profit and siphon value from whatever value you create. Work will always be a degree of exploitation if it is linked to a monetary value. The fallacy of the free market is that everything gets it's true value whereas what actually happens is everything is rendered vulnerable to the chaotic plundering and exploitation of being in and part of the market.
 

luka

Well-known member
Given we all have to work what is the correct attitude to take? Spend 8 hours of every day in a teenage sulk? Or, make the most of it. See what you can get away with. Have a laugh
Bond with your fellow sufferers not dress like Dylan klebold and strike a superior attitude sulking in a corner
 

luka

Well-known member
It's a crime, but I want food. I want a roof over my head. So we draw on our fund of spirit and find a way to make the most of it. I took the original post to be a lament for the extinguishing of this healthy working class attitude
 

you

Well-known member
lol Luka - I like what you say about stealing from tills and seeing what you can get away with. I like this attitude. I like it because it puts work in it's place... as in it reaffirms that work is just a means to get food and stuff and nothing more. Nothing more like an identity, or a meaning, or a family etc - sadly I agree with Baboon's OP, people don't see work as 'work for ends' they see work as the means...
 
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