Corporate Servitude

Disclaimer

This post is kinda #NSFW,  so if your boss catches you reading this and you get that termination-with-immediate-effect letter, just know I warned you.

Apologies

I believe apologies are in order for lack of content provision over the past fort night. There is really no explanation nor excuse for this happening. I'll make up for with multiple posts this week. Cool?

Okay, let's get to it.

by John D. B.

Why do we work?

I am currently in the market for a new job actually. This got me interested in why I actually feel the need to seek new employment. then that led to me asking myself why I'm I employed in the first place? 

At face value this question is really straight forward, right? But as straight forward as it is, it surely has more answers than I can cover in this one post so I'll try highlight three keys ones (for me).

1. Money

Money might be the root of every evil for some but it sure is one of the things that run the world. From time in memorial, money and in turn wealth determined the social status of a person. This is the case even for the remotest of places and/or communities of the world. 

In the literary sense all human beings are equal. We are all warm blooded homo sapiens with a mind that more advanced than any of the other creatures created by the higher power we individually identify with. This is an over generalization and surely one that has it's short coming but you get what I'm lying down, right?

This being the case, I believe that in the vain attempt to establish individual uniqueness (despite it existing naturally) we have instinctively stratified all the societies we belong to along contour lines of key aspects that are widely accepted across all of them: religion, riches/wealth, race just to name but a few.

That said, money holds a dear place in all our daily lives. From being the grounds of statistics to show how poor some of our countries are, to making headlines the world over about greedy leaders and their massive corruption scandals. The MEMES on this one.. crazy.

courtesy of The High Dude

At the heart of why we work, whether for a large corporate worth billions of dollars, or at a construction site for minimum wage, we do it for the money. We need the money. Working is just a means to an end. Money is to work what an orgasm is to sex; in my opinion that is.

2. Pride

In part one of the The Decency of Subtle Lies series the human personality development  as advanced by Sigmund Freud (the father of psychoanalysis) is discussed. Why is this relevant? Well, check out the meaning of "pride" the noun as provided by Google Search.

a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.

Pay particular attention to the first part of the definition, a feeling/deep pleasure or satisfaction. This I have found and thus have reason to believe is also one of the key reasons one would find themselves hitting that 9 to 5 hard. 

Why else would one "kill" one's self by burying their noses in turns of coursework, studies and research if  not for the pride that comes with the title promised at the end of that tunnel. Ask a child what they ant to be when they grow up and the answers you get will speak for themselves: Doctor, pilot, Engineer, Lawyer. My answer to this question from around age 12 - 17 was: Aeronautical Engineer, then here I am well over 7 years later, a graduate in a totally different discipline, in a career route nowhere near Aeronautics. 

photo courtesy: Engineering_memes

Looking back, I think the only reason I wanted to become an engineer so bad was because I associated this profession with a certain level of pride. I was ready to walk the tight rope, jump over all the hoops just to become one. Some may argue and say this is a great reason to be in the line of work you are in, and maybe they are right. My only issue with it might be who it is you are seeking to make proud. 

So... do you derive any feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction from what you do? Or do you just crawl out of bed half depressed every morning, struggle to get to work on time, just to take a bucket load of crap from your arrogant ass of a boss just for sake of it? Are you in your line of work by your own choice or are you proxy to the pride of your primary care giver?

3. Circumstance 

Having recently graduated college and especially after being fully dependent on my parents, my current job is more circumstantial than it is by choice. In as much as I like to defend myself and say that I only took the job to increase my professional market value, deep down I know I didn't have much of a choice. 

There was no way I was moving back in with my parents, not after all the freedom that came with being on my own. Their house, their rules ergo being on my own was an opportunity I couldn't miss out on. The result is working in a small tech support company with a bunch of sassy albeit stuck up clients for kinda awesome but petty boss... plus the pay is barely enough.

Are you loving your servitude yet?
courtesy of: Before It's News

The half a loaf is better than no bread conundrum has most of us at the mercy of many a greedy people with positions of influence. Circumstances in our daily lives force our hand to accept and appreciate the little we are getting while blindly subscribing to hopes of greater gains in the long run. 

As outlined in the article wherefrom the above cartoon image was sourced, information overload has proved an effective way to instill a sense of love for one's servitude.

Get Off the Hamster Wheel

So are we just doomed to chase after dreams of luxury and fine living, work our asses off to make enough money to get that dream car, dream house... that dream life? We were never really born with this dreams so it goes without saying that somewhere along the course of our lives, we pick up certain ideologies that in turn form said dreams.

By so doing, we effectively surrender to the system. We are the living blood, that heart to it's sole reason for existence. We feel like we can't get off the system fully because we are in too deep and we'll always be. They, who ever they are, have the upper hand because they already sold you the dream. You now live your life chasing it.

This like any oppression revolves more around psychological captivity more than physical torment. Once your mind is lost to the servitude that you are doused in, this becomes your natural state of being. It stops feeling wrong.

The only way to get of this hamster wheel is to embrace your inner god. You have the power to create your own destiny. If you can't cut yourself off from the system without effectively destroying your chances of a happy life, create your own path to happiness within it. Work, yes, but don't forget to live. Laugh at random things on the street, dance to imaginary music, be happy for the problems and the pain are just part of the process if you are on the right track.

Work and live.