May Day: past but not forgotten

May Day, a holiday in these parts, has just past. I've said before how much I like it, but one reason I've never mentioned before is the irony of the holiday. To most people, over here, over there, it's all about those "dirty commies" and socialists who are out to destroy the world. It was on this holiday, the day of workers' solidarity, that the Cold-War "communist" regimes marched out their military hardware to remind themselves of how great they are. That was ironic because May Day as the day for labor was an American idea. And it is ironic today, because America has finally almost achieved what they couldn't do 150 years ago, namely destroy (organized) labor.

Yes, that 8-hour day that we all wax emotionally about was a victory by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) May-Day protests back in the 1880s. Most of what we consider "normal" about work, like some kind of security, an 8-hour day, paid overtime, weekends, perhaps even some benefits came to America only through the radical efforts of the IWW and other labor organizations in the face of bloody, brutal repression by moneyed interests, the government, and the police. No, the workers won the day, and what we consider workers' rights were granted by countless, tireless, fearless people like you and me, not by an aggressive military or a benevolent government act. But the forces of oppression are regained their ground, because they were able to dupe and hoodwink the very people they were oppressing into believing that poor people want to take their hard-earned gains away from them.

Actually, the white-collaring of the workforce, the relentless off-shoring of manufacturing, the automation of mining and production all played their part, but the victory that was won was made possible by all those poor saps who believed they were better than mere workers, entitled to more, and above the masses, unwashed as they are. No, it was those of us who worked by did not labor who actually betrayed our blue-collar fellows by believing the lie that we were somehow better, and deserving of more.

Of course, no sooner do you have it than someone (usually the giver) is taking it away. Individual, not collective-bargained, contracts means fewer raises. It also means longer hours, more required dedication to "the company", that is, more loyalty, more accepting of fake excuses for rising profits but only rising salaries and bonuses just a level or two above our own. And too many have passed this acquiescence and sycophantry onto our children, and we push them off to college, whether it's worth it or not, to suffer under intolerable and onerous burdens of debt, in the hopes of better life which will most likely never come, because someone once painfully won the road to it for you, and you think it's now your due. But it's not. You did nothing to earn it.

How ironic is that?

Here is not there, but maybe it should be

In all our thoughts about ourselves and our own individual lives, we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that we are part of something bigger, namely the world around us. Yes, this is what causes us so often to retreat into ourselves, but we can learn things "in here" that we can put to use "out there".

For example, employment, unemployment and underemployment are all problems we face. If we have a job, we're afraid to lose it, so we tow the line. If we don't have a job, we are often willing to take anything, since we (often erroneously) believe that something is better than nothing. I don't know if it's a majority of us but it's certainly more than anyone would like to admit, many, many people are underemployed; that is, they are working in jobs that don't make full use of their qualifications. (And, by the way, if anyone tells you that unemployment is high because there is a skill shortage, feel free to just slap them ... there's hardly anything that is more meaningless to say.) This, however, is all positioned to change ... and not for the better.

In at least tuning in part-time to the world around us, our American friends should be aware that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is heading toward closure. This is a free-trade agreement that the Americans are negotiating in secret with a number of other nations around the Pacific Rim. Simultaneously, the EU is negotiating with the Americans regarding an EU-USA Free Trade Agreement as well. Neither bode well for us little people. Both of these exercises in insanity must be stopped.

In principle, there is nothing wrong with free-trade agreements. It is precisely this that makes Europe (both the EU and the EFTA) as strong as it is. Our problems come from imbalance; that is, from treating unequal partners equally. This is the same reason why NAFTA is not working as it should, but NAFTA was taken as the example of how to develop a trade deal that offers only benefits to the corporations, not to the people. The TPP and the EU-USTA are designed with only corporate interests in mind. If either (or both) of these are put into practice, we can't begin to number the people who are going to suffer. If you don't believe me, read up on them yourself. And once you have, you will soon realize that regardless of how politically different you and your neighbor may be, when it comes to these, you are both going to get screwed equally.

This is one of those instances where the Devil is truly in the detail. When spoken of from a high-enough level, it all sounds very nice, but once you look behind the facade, through the smoke and mirrors, you quickly realize that our good plays no role in the negotiations whatsoever. So, once again, though we are apparently on opposites sides of an issue (for example, capitalism and free markets), we soon come to realize that we little folks are not intended to have any say in the matter. I can assure you, though, that we little folks will be the first ones to feel the effects. I'm not over-exaggerating when I say that a lot of us are not going to survive either one, and a whole lot of us won't survive both.

I mention this for the simple reason that faced with such bleak prospects, rash and false decisions on our part will only increase the damage. If there was ever a time to get informed, to understand what is happening to us, this is it. You can't say you weren't warned.

Common is not the same

There is something I think I should make clear. Common is not the same as same.

I'm fully aware that we in the Western World place a high value on individuality, but truth be told, most people have no idea what they are talking about. We think we have to be different from everyone else, but we never want to stick out in a crowd or elsewhere. We think we have to be unique, but that's something we are by nature (no two human beings are identical, not even monozygotic twins), but it is so subtle that no one notices anyway. We say things like we have to be our own person, or march to our own drummer, or whatever other sappy metaphors may come to mind, but deep down, we're more like others than different from them.

In fact, we are so much alike that it is simply a lot of fun to find out what the subtle differences are, be they favorite songs of groups we both like, or different shades of the same color, or more sweet or savory dishes. The list and the possibilities are endless. What is so interesting about it all is that regardless how different we are, we're still very much the same, but we're not the same. We simply have a lot of things in common.

While are lot of people I know aren't up to it, I find this exercise particularly fascinating when I do it with people whom I can't imagine I have much in common, say, young, radical people of color, or maybe middle-aged, white, self-professed, religious ultra-conservatives. I don't care who it is, or what they think, or what they think is right, I am always surprised by how much common ground we can find. Granted, these common points are not in politics or religion, but they are definitely there at the human, feeling level. We often share the same fears and apprehensions, have the same doubts, but are thrilled by similar things too, like literature, music, art, or just a sunny afternoon in the Biergarten. I think it's important that we take that in and not only savor it, but also remember it. Later, in the heat of an argument, it is all to easy to forget that our argumentation partner is a human being too, one with dreams, hopes, and feelings, just like myself. We may not and we may never agree on how to get to our goals, but at some point we realize that our goals are not all that different: a simple, secure life in which we have time to do things we enjoy with the people we love. It's surprising how little of that there is these days.

Let's face it, some people are bucking for a promotion, trying to score the big deal, make a fortune or win the lottery, and they lose sight of the fact that believing that having enough money will mean having enough time never really works out. Others are simply struggling to get by, working two or more part-time jobs, trying to keep the collection agents at bay and making the rent. In both cases, we have too little of what makes us human, and we have too little because we have simply forgotten what is really important in life.

Sometimes just knowing that others are struggling like you are is enough to form some kind of bond. Showing a bit of understanding, and even performing the random act of kindness with someone you normally would never, ever even think of associating with can do a lot to help you get off dead center. But, don't believe me, just because I'm telling you. Give it a shot. Find out for yourself.

What the system doesn't like, the system will fight

TPTB, or "the system", if we choose, like to have things their way. That's been pretty much standard for most of the history of humankind. The apathy of the Baby Boomers has mutated into an active I-don't-care in many of their offspring. Though most have believed throughout history that strong leadership and beneficial policies must come from the top, there is a growing number of people, both old and young, who know that's simply not true.

The pessimistic view sees everything is broken, and it is: our political and governance systems, our educational and training systems, our financial and economic systems, our legal and (so-called) justice systems, our religious systems ... and the pessimist is right, they are broken, most beyond repair. Those running or managing those systems never tire of telling us they are either not broken (which certainly doesn't ring true because we all see that they are) or that they can fix them, which they can't (or don't want to), otherwise they would. The optimists think we should support them in making the necessary changes, but sooner or later they realize that nothing is really going to change because, well, nothing is really going to change ... officially.

So, while some people are thinking about what can (or should) be done, others are simply doing it. There are any number of things ... little things, seemingly insignificant things, but important things ... that can be done. It all starts with talking, really. I don't mean talking about the weather with your neighbor or the cashier at the supermarket, I mean talking about things that matter with people who matter to you. The question cannot be "What can we do to change things?" Rather, the question is simply, "How can we make our (not my) immediate lives better?" But, what's "better".

This is pretty simple too: "better" is less stressful, more rewarding, more harmonious, move involved, more communal. Celebrating a birthday is always better with others than alone. Holidays are more enjoyable with family or friends than "just the two of us". Once we realize that a helping hand is worth its weight in gold, we can learn to accept support from others in doing whatever it is we think needs to be done. What starts at home, in house and garden, can slowly, but steadily expand to the immediate neighbors, the neighborhood and beyond.

The key, however ... and I can't stress this enough ... is finding what we share in common, not what makes us different. In other words, in spite of all differences between us, there is still a whole lot we have in common. These can be wishes, hopes, dreams or aspirations. The moment we realize that if my neighbor is doing well, I'm probably doing well, too. But, believe me, folks, that's where it starts. So, if you're already on good terms with your neighbors, expand your horizons, increase your action radius, find someone different to find out what you have in common. Just do it.

Maybe there's change in the air

Truth be told, I'm rather ecstatic about hearing that there are young people who aren't willing to worship the Golden Calf, even if most of them wouldn't know what that metaphor meant. There appears to be a growing number of young people who are realizing that what their parents and, maybe even grandparents, are telling them is hollow, empty, and untrue.

Let's face it, you can work your butt off and be let go at the very next downsizing. It's not personal, it's business. What you do doesn't matter. Only what the books look like matters. How much pain and suffering are inflicted upon how many people -- and I'm only talking about our oh-so-modern-and-advanced, industrialized West -- because of abject poverty or, what may be even worse, the fear of falling through the non-existent social safety net into that poverty? It is a well-know fact that fear causes stress and that too much stress will make you ill, if not ultimately kill you. Thankfully, more and more young people are realizing that the benefits never really justify the efforts. It's a gamble at best, and some people are simply dealt better hands.

On top of all of this, we're faced with too many unsolvable problems these days. Yes, there are political blockheads who will never cease trying to tell us there is no such thing as science and global warming and pollution and blood-for-oil and addiction to fossil fuels that hard work will make you rich. But it's too easy to see them for what they are, namely, ignorant, obsequious pawns of merely monied interests. This isn't a new phenomenon, by any means, for in my own time, many of us realized just how phony the obsession with money was. A good number just opted out of the system -- they were called "beats" before my time and "hippies" in my time, and while they got the point right, they never quite figured out the process. I'm thinking that maybe that's what's changing.

Though not in the headlines every day, where they should be, there is an increasing number of people who are simply turning their backs on the "system" and doing what they know is right. They are establishing multi-generational living spaces, cooperative enterprises, locally owned utilities, public initiatives that are helping themselves and those around them live better lives. Have they solved the problems of the world? Of course not, but they have realized how much can be done if you simply do it. All of these efforts are, of course, set up within the boundaries currently permitted, but they have effects beyond that.

What's different? The attitude. In each and every one of these successful projects, the primary concern is WE. None of them are single-handed, individualistic, only-me-benefitting undertakings. They are about getting together to do more than any single person can and in which no single person has any more benefit than anyone else. This is bad news for "the system", and the system knows it.

There's never enough time

There's never enough time ... at least not enough to really do what we want. It seems the more "advanced" our society becomes, the less time we have for things, important things, like family, friends, rest, relaxation, reflection. All our conveniences and labor-saving devices have failed us. How many of you feel like you're working more than ever, even if it's only because your mobile (cell) is on making you "on call". When I travel -- which is way too often -- I see people of all ages, glued to their devices, be they smartphones, tablets, or laptops. Some very few are listening to music or playing games, but most of what I see looks like work: lots of spreadsheets, lots of calendars, lots of email windows with long, long lists, and serious-looking PDFs. There are some Luddite-likes on board; that is, people working on paper. But these, too, often look like printed versions of what others have on-screen. Sure, during normal working hours this doesn't strike me as odd, but I'm talking about evenings and weekends. I hate it when I have to do business travel at these times, and I avoid it as much as possible. But even when I must, I certainly see no reason why that should obligate me to do business then as well. Sometimes, we simply need some time to ourselves.

You see, our modern, average work week is somewhere between 35 and 40 hours. It seems to me that if this is what we are paid for (and granted, here in Europe, many employers have general-time and/or comp-time accounts for their employees, most of which I've ever heard about have upward limits ... and oddly enough, everyone I've ever talked to was always pushing those limits as it is), this is what is expected of us. I'm the last one to advocate just letting your pencil drop at 4 or 5 or whenever the working day is over, and there may be exceptions to the rule, but what happens when the exceptions become the rule? This is what I'm seeing too much of, and it bothers me. A lot.

What I see are too many parents who are either working or going back and forth to work, so the children are too often on their own or with a baby-sitter. I see men and women consumed by their jobs and unable to switch gears for the family. I see kids who are shuffled from school to sports activities to music lessons to tutoring sessions to who-knows-where-else so they'll have greater opportunities in life. But what opportunities are we talking about? It's clear: a life of work-work-work with little family and if you end up with one, not knowing what to do with it, because you never learned how, because you never experienced one growing up.

But here's the real issue: why do we work so hard and so long? Because we need (and there are some who want) the money. We do it for the money. In the end, it's about money. The house, the car, the alma mater, the boat, the plane, the power weekend in the Caymans ... but money, well, there's are some things it just can't buy, like peace of mind, love, friendship, compassion.

Recently I read that some US law firms started offering dual career paths for incoming associates. You could choose a modest, but decent salary, a 40-hour (only) week, and no real chance for advancement; or, you could opt for the standard career path: long hours, big bonuses, and a chance at becoming a partner one day. The encouraging news was they were having trouble finding recruits for the partner path. Maybe, just maybe, younger people are realizing how ridiculous our generation has made the world. At least it's reason for hope.

Are we getting anywhere?

My EU-project involvement brings me into contact with a lot of information about vocational education and training, the lack of qualified employees, youth unemployment, skilled-worker shortages, business-education interfaces, employability, and everything and anything that is related to topics such as these.

When seen in one light, it's all very depressing: more and more young people can't find work, businesses (especially major, global corporations) complain about everything they can't find but claim they need as far as workers are concerned, governments are broke and can't pay for education or training and there is no money for fundamental, employment-creating investments either, and skilled, older workers are being forced out of the labor market, because, well, they simply cost too much. And the outlook in all these areas is anything but rosy, too.

I try to fight the depression, of course, and sometimes I'm more successful than others. One of the things that often keeps me from being successful is the amount of nonsense that you have to put up with if you bring up what appear to me to be ready solutions to the problem.

For example, it is a well-known and better-documented fact that corporate profits are once again at an all-time high. It is also well-known and documented that wages most places have either stagnated or have declined for the past few decades. The salaries and bonuses of top managers has exploded, forcing everyone to rethink executive compensation, so why not simply spread the work we have around a bit more? What is so bad about breaking the cycle of workaholicism and making the standard work week, say, only 25 or 30 hours? Take most jobs and simply cut them in half. Instead of bludgeoning one person to do the work of two or three, actually have two or three do the work.

Yes, yes, yes, I hear all you über-capitalists squealing, but it would cost a lot less than you think. Is it really a set-back of the CEO only makes 100 times the earnings of the average employee? Is it really the end of financial-market confidence if corporate profits only grew by 20% instead of 40%? And if everybody is doing it, would we notice any relevant difference in the relative standing of the "most profitable", or the "best run" corporations out there? I don't think so, and it has two additional, knock-on effects that are very much worth thinking about: increased tax revenues for government, and increased consumption, which in turn would benefit companies, and on and on and on.

Personally, I think this would be a huge leap forward, for as things are now, we're going nowhere fast. If you want things to be different, you have to start thinking differently. It's that simple.

On the road again

I just got back home again. I had to travel to Turin for two-and-a-half days for an EU project meeting. Sometimes I think I'm getting too old for this.

Some of my colleagues, and everyone who does travel much think I'm mostly on vacation. I'm not. Anyone who does travel regularly knows what a hassle it is anymore: worrying about missing train, plane and bus connections; those incessent, silly, ineffective security checks conducted by unmotivated individuals who are more than overworked and underpaid; the unexpected surprises at the hotel, including what's for breakfast (which can vary considerably from country to country ... Italy tends toward sweet); very often eating alone, and the mere living out of a suitcase, well, it's not precisely my idea of fun.

As usual, it was get into town in time for a late dinner; meetings all day, regardless of the weather; the whole project team gets together for dinner; and meetings the next day and out to catch the bus to the airport. Sightseeing: none. Free time: none. Simply enjoying the ambience of a foreign city: none. Getting some insight into the local customs and culture: none. My question is, what is so vacation-like about that? Oh, right, I wasn't in the office.

With smartphone and internet access everywhere, I'm also expected -- whenever -- to check my work mail and return calls and well, do more or less what I would do if I were in the office. Too often, though, this takes place after normal working hours. After all, if I'm in a meeting, I simply find it impolite to be taking other calls and working my mails when I'm supposed to be paying attention, contributing, and ... you all know the drill.

So, my question is: what's so great about work in the modern world? And, also, why, if computers are supposed to be such productivity enhancers and labor-savers why is it that I find myself simply working more and enjoying it less?

The answers are actually quite obvious: computers are neither productivity enhancers nor are they labor savers; ubiquitous internet and mobile phone access are neither either. All these "conveniences", these "technological advances", these "innovative work practices" are, in the end, are ways to keep me chained to my work for longer hours. Productivity overall might have increased, but in many cases, I'm sure that productivity pro hour has declined.

Yes, I was on the road again, but I'm feeling a lot more like roadkill than the happy traveler.

May day

I love today. It's one of the nicest holidays we have here in Europe, and at the same time it is a call for help, for rescue. As with so many things, we can't have it both ways.

The 30th of April, of course, is Walpurgis Night ... I know you all knew that ... and it's still (fortunately) celebrated in many areas of the Continent. Oh sure, there is a lot of demon driving-away going on, but it is the "official" end of winter in these climes. Reason enough to celebrate. In good European tradition, if you are going to party long into the night, why not just party through the next day as well. And so it goes, that many communities with have their Dance into May, so that today, can be properly observed as a holiday; that is, by doing nothing.

I have no problem living amongst the non-Calvinists and non-Puritans. I've thought about it long and hard, and to be perfectly honest, I can't think of a single good thing that's come of those ideas. Psychologically, Mr. Calivn was a bit of basket case, but that never stopped anybody from declaring the crazy person the bearer of The Big Guy's word. True, He does have a habit of picking outsiders, but not a one of them was looney. That should have been a tip-off, but who am I to say.

No, what pleases me even more about today, is that International Labor has chosen it to be their day to celebrate. Once again, it's the world, and it's the US who just can't fit in. I know, I know, there are lots of folks across the Pond who would drop dead of shame if it were even intimated that they may have something to do with the Red Terror. If Irony weren't dead, we'd be astounded that the only Communists left are the biggest closest Capitalists going: the Chinese, but what we won't do to not offend our preferred trading partners.

Thanks to a good friend, I was pointed to a statement by a Republican congressman who maintains that over 80 of his Democratic colleagues are in fact Communists. I don't know how he knows. But what I do know is that he has no idea about communists, or politics, or economics, or ... he's simply proof positive that even nut-cases can find a job, even if the job isn't a real one.

Yes, Walpurgis Night is a night for pagan revelry, and the day after the night before is a chance to put work in its place. The truth of the matter is that the Grand Master of the Misunderstood, our friend Karl, got it right: we should work to live, but we should never live to work ... but, oh, I'm sorry, only my European friends can think about that now. My American friends have to wait until September.

Leap day

Ooops! missed a day ... jumped right past it. Hey, that's why they call it Leap Day, don't they. I mean, that is what they call this extra day in February that comes around every four years, isn't it? And if it isn't, well, it should be.

I personally think the day should be a holiday. After all, it only comes every four years. It's only there to make the counting right (after all, we've already done the time the day represents), so it only seems fair that we shouldn't have to work because we've already done everything we needed to do up till now.

Once again, it's the little people who are getting screwed. Oh, it's not that the big folks, the rich and famous, have the day off and we don't. No, that's not it at all. Truth be told, though, all of those folks don't have to work anymore, so if they do, it's for the pure fun of it, so every day is, in a sense, a holiday for them.

The rest of us, though? Well, I don't know about you, but as for me, this working thing gets me down sometimes. Same old grind, same old same-old. Considering what comes out of it all in the end, I also think that most of us work way too much as it is. I read recently that if we had plowed our productivity gains over the past 50 years into working time instead of into profit (which only a few have benefitted from, I might add), we'd only have to be working about one day a week. OK, in that case, we wouldn't have a debate about February 29 at all. As it is, though, I think it should be a holiday. After all, we've already got a name for it.

A further call

Well, I didn't really figure out a good solution to my problem. In the end, I simply left the vocational issue open, for it is becoming increasingly clear that the lines are blurring between professional and vocational, at least as far as the world of work is concerned. Unfortunately, that world of work is starting to get the upper hand.

That sounds like I'm about to start shirking responsibility, but that's not it at all. My point is that too much of what we do in life is centered around work, as if making a living (regardless of whether in a professional, service, crafts or trade manner) is the most important thing about our existence. Sure, we all have to eat, and we would like something meaningful to do during daylight (or nighttime - for your night owls) hours, but it seems sad to me that we would define who we are through what it is we do for a living, regardless of whether we spent a lot of time preparing for it or not.

No, what bothers me about the focus on work is the notion of economic utility that underlies it. Of course, this isn't my own brain child, rather I read further in Postman and he describes this as one of the least clearly defined, yet surely impacting, narratives of our times. It would seem that we've made it into the supreme measure of all things, and this is what is so problematic. It is tightly linked to the other "gods" (as Postman phrases it) that we serve, namely consumerism and technology. While he sees consumerism as the ultimate false idol, I think economic utility is much more perfidious.

Economic utility reduces everything to money, including knowledge and people. It's not what we know that matters, it's how much it is worth (in money terms) to others and whether we can sell it or not. This thought is, if pursued to its end, the quintessential instrumentalizing of whatever it touches. If what we learn and what we know and what we hold to be good, and true, and right is subject to the measure of dollars (or euros or ... ) and cents, it means that truth goes to the highest bidder and those of us for whom no economic value can be determined are expendable. Postman points this out quite cogently in relation to modern education, and I believe that he hit the nail square on the head. The recent financial crisis cost the little people billions in cash and future rewards, yet not a single person was held accountable for the roles they played in what happened. Why? According to the narrative of economic utility, no wrongs were committed. Unfortunately, both the responsible and the newly liable know that this is not true.

As I pointed out last time, education is about making a life, and life and lives are worth more than can be translated into monetary value. Education, especially higher education, should enable the student to function in the world of work, to be sure, but we should not expect for a moment that this solely means that what is learnt is directly marketable in the workplace. Thinking critically, making informed decisions, knowing how to sort fact from opinion, and many other skills are particularly necessary in today's world, and their lack - from Enron to Iraq - have cost a lot of people a lot of money, but an even higher cost in loss of life.

Maybe it's time we started thinking about what is really valuable and what it is worth to us as a whole, not just individually. And maybe there should be a closer tie-in between what we profess and that to which we feel called.