[pf] what is work for, and how much is enough

**  Just found Diane's letter. Sorry this is so late.

At 11:30 7/09/99 +1200, David MacClement wrote:
>> ... except when they threaten something dear to me. Like my way of life.
>> ... The USA is a rich ghetto.
>> **  I was pleased to see the measure of excessive consumption in that 
>piece
>> - anything above US$30,000 p.a. _I_ think that's twice what it should be 
>..
>> **             ... There _is_ a serious problem in India and (I think) 
>> South America, but there also _is_ a serious problem in the rich North, 
>> with over-consumption - thinking that you have to have as much money
>> as you can get, so you can spend it. That attitude is as serious a 
>> problem as the [over-populated South], and in my view, more so.

At 10:54 7/09/99 -0400, Diane Olson wrote:
>David,  Why is the U.S. put down so often?  I just read an article in the
Wall
>Street Journal (WSJ) stating that U.S. workers, on average, put in more 
>work
>hours per week than any other industrialized nation on earth!  We are
certainly
>more than our government!  I have never taken even one day of unemployment
>though I qualified for it once when my husband moved clear across the 
>country
>for a job of his!  Diane
>

**  I think you were confusing my criticism of the average way of life in
the USA, with other people's "put-downs" where "the USA" actually refers to
the government.

**  Your defence of the typical US worker doesn't state, but implies, that
a person's worth is shown by how hard (s)he works, and whether (s)he pulls
their own weight (so as not to be dependent on the state or other people).

**  For most of human history this has been a valid measure, and was even
enshrined in the protestant part of the Christian religion (among others).
It is also used by "captains of industry" as they go through their
labor-shedding "increase productivity" program, in order to increase
business profits (or even to stay in business).

**  It is one facet of the "more is better" "growth is good" way of
thinking that (I think) began with the industrial revolution, and has been
elevated to the current religion in the USA and Japan, most of Europe, and
is now infecting the rest of the world.

**  One must ask: "what is work for", and "how much is enough".

**  I don't have answers, though I can point to the
never-before-experienced situation that all people on earth find themselves
in, that makes examining these questions imperative now. This is the _fact_
that, certainly in the near future, very probably right now, and I think
increasingly since the 1950s, there are too many people for the number of
necessary jobs. Yes, there is work that needs to be done (supplying modest
food, some energy, and some construction materials), but most jobs are
unnecessary and probably have a net detrimental effect on the earth, making
those unnecessary jobs unsustainable.

**  For most people (98%?) there is a psychological need to be useful,
valuable to one's peers and the heirarchy (one's employer, one's town and
nation). This is very good since it helps build community. Doing work and
spending the income from it is only one way (though nowadays, apparently
the only highly-regarded way) of being useful, and obtaining satisfaction
in one's life.

**  The nation that has the highest negative-impact-per-person on the earth
is the USA, as shown by many statistics: average income, CO2 per person,
amount of materials taken from underground and unsustainably from forests,
amount of wastes, amount of pesticides per person, and even the
overwhelming of other cultures, and other general colonialism.

**  Most of that is per-person, so simply the size of USA's population
makes it certain that the finger is pointed at "the Ugly American".

**  So, since we are in transition away from thinking that growth will
solve most remaining problems, to a world where people realise how the
consequences of this view are wrecking the planet, and begin to live much
more modestly (and hopefully sustainably) there is a need to focus on
healing the worst sores on the face of the earth, with the USA being the
most obvious one.

David.
(David MacClement) d1v9d @ bigfoot.com (remove spaces)
http://www.emucities.com.au/member/davd/index.html#top
******************************************************