Relaxation, hobbies, raising children or reading a book are dismissed as laziness. That’s how powerful the mythology of work is.It is strange world in which we live; "the nine-to-five feels like a relic of a bygone era."
Life has become so much about work that I feel I have to defend myself when not working. I feel guilty when I play bridge. Guilty at this middle age!
Yet, despite all the busyness, what most of us do is darn useless. Pointless. Bullshit jobs. Which is why we refer to some jobs as "essential services" while most of the rest are, ahem, dispensable to varying degrees.
During crises, like the one that is unfolding all over the world, "essential services" are becoming self-evident. Doctors. Nurses. Hospital staff. EMT. Police. Garbage truck drivers. Food truck drivers. Supermarket employees. Farmers. ...
Meanwhile, the entire sport-entertainment industry has been shut down. No basketball. No soccer. No March Madness! ...
With school closures, parents are also beginning to understand the value of teachers. Parents are already feeling tired and frustrated after a day homeschooling their kids.
If only we remembered these valuable lessons learned during a crisis. If we did, then we will correspondingly reward the essential services versus the completely discretionary and luxury services. We will pay nurses and teachers and hospital custodial staff a lot more than what we pay them now. And we will not pay sports and movie people multiples of millions of dollars either.
I know we won't. We will take for granted teachers and nurses, and shower ball players our adoration and hard-earned money!
There is also another lesson that we are learning: Society will not function if people do not have any money to spend. Even Mitt Romney is proposing that we pay every American: "Every American adult should immediately receive a one-time check for $1,000 to help ensure families and workers can meet their short-term obligations and increase spending in the economy." And Romney is no socialist, remember?
If only we will remember this after the crisis abates, and do more to improve the social safety net and, perhaps, even talk about universal basic income.
But, we won't.
Because ... we are who we are!
I, for one, thank all those making sure that the essential services are provided especially during these difficult times.
We owe a profound debt of gratitude to all our health professionals and everybody who’ll be on the front lines of this pandemic for a long while. They’re giving everything. May we all model our own behavior on their selflessness and sacrifice as we help each other through this. https://t.co/F3tsJTqd4c— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 17, 2020
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