I loved this article and couldn't have said it more eloquently myself! His insights are humorous yet prove to be quite truthful to those who know that life is about following your heart and being true to your higher self.
Featured Essay
The Curse of Civilization:
The 40 Hour Work Sentence
by Craig Manelli
The most grievous injustice in life has to be that of the 40-hour workweek. If I could have just 5 minutes alone with the slithering toad that contrived this licentious concept, perhaps I could attain just a fraction of the retribution, which is, undeniably, my due.
I struggle daily with the societal notion that in order to be a "well respected man" (or woman) one must appropriate the better part of his time each day to the drudgery that is work. I have come to the incontestable conclusion that some people are simply not destined to be a part of the work force. Myself, being one of the aforementioned individuals. Ever since I first came to the horrifying revelation that leaving childhood behind necessitated obtaining gainful employment, the quality of my life has been declining steadily. If memory serves me, this divulgence came to me as I accepted my High School diploma. While my classmates reveled in their newfound "freedom", I mourned the loss of innocence and autonomy from mundane responsibilities. To me, it seemed like a cruel irony. A sick joke played by a sadistic joker. I had the freedom to be a man, to pursue any ventures, which stimulated my mind. However, I had not the time to pursue such things due to the 40-hour workweek. This would prove to be the albatross, which would hang tenaciously from my weary neck for the rest of my disconsolate life.
Each morning I wake to the acrimonious cries of a wretched little incubus, which masquerades itself as an innocuous household appliance called "the alarm clock". Things inevitably get progressively worse from here. Once the initial shock of being rudely ripped from the serenity of R.E.M. stage sleep dissipates, the real misery begins. At this point its time to sell my soul. Now don't run for your crucifixes, and start burning these pages yet. I haven't made a pact with the old guy downstairs. I, as does everyone who is not afforded the luxury of a last name such as Kennedy, must sell a little piece of my soul each day. Each hour I spend toiling for the profit of others is an hour of my life, which can never be replaced. This terrifies me.
Of all the trite axioms and aphorisms, which are frivolously tossed about daily, perhaps none is truer than the age-old adage: "time waits for no one". Bearing this in mind, it is not hard to comprehend where my resentment of established work ethics originates. Assuming that we have only one life to live, our time on this Earth is truly a precious and radically finite commodity. Consider this: there are 24 hours in a day. The average person is expected to dedicate 8-9 hours daily to performing a task, which in most cases does nothing to further his intellectual, artistic, or physical capability. To add insult to injury, it is often a necessity for many of us to spend considerable time commuting to and from our respective places of business. When all is said and done, it would not be unreasonable to assume that the average working class individual spends between 10 and 12 hours daily on activities which are about as stimulating as counting the hairs on one's head. Of course, as usual, there are exceptions. There are those fortunate few who actually enjoy their occupations. To those auspicious few, I tip my hat.
Ok, so we have established that 40-50% of each workday is donated to someone else's gratification. By this I simply mean that each hour that I spend at a job, performing whatever menial tasks are expected of me, the organization I work for is profiting. If they weren't, let's face it, I wouldn't be in their employ for very long. Conversely, while they are profiting from my drudgery, I am trading copious amounts of precious life away for monitory compensation. What is an hour of your life worth? $10? $20? $50? I suppose the answer to that inquiry would be different for everyone. Speaking exclusively for myself, I don't believe one can put a price on life. If our mortality is indeed impending, how dare society demand that we trade it away for financial remuneration? It saddens me to consider what I might have accomplished, had I not been forced to sell my life away for a few dollars each week. Imagine if Mozart had been forced to take a day job. The world may never have blessed with the beauty of his music. The same may be said of Wagner, Nietzsche, Beethoven, Van Gogh, ad infinitum. Some of the most brilliant minds in history were owned by the "unemployed". Bach died virtually penniless, as did Edgar Allen Poe. Nietzsche died in a sanitarium.
The 40-hour workweek is the bane of civilization. It is a cancer which eats at the human spirit, until the only thing left is an over-weight, underachieving, prime-time addicted android which vaguely resembles a man, yet lacks the exuberance and creativity that is seen so clearly in the eyes of a child. Society takes humans and turns them into workforce-robots. We are the most recent incarnation of the Stepford generation. We've been literally brainwashed into believing that a strong "work ethic" is a virtue, which will somehow magically infuse us with a sense of pride and accomplishment. This is the most pathetic load of dung I've ever heard. Has anyone ever stopped to consider the possibility that if humans had more time to devote to ourselves, we might not need to artificially instill ourselves with false pride, based on the magnitude of our bank books, but rather on our intellectual and spiritual accomplishments. I can not count the times I have met some so-called "successful person", only to find that he or she possessed the I.Q. of sewer rat, with values to match. These types can usually be found congregating in and around government offices and state capitals.
Material wealth is not an indicator of one's success on this earth; happiness is, at least for me. Don't get me wrong, I love money. I adore it and all the things it can attain, but not at the expense of my soul. I believe true fulfillment can only come by being brutally honest with yourself, and staying true to oneself. Being forced to wake up each morning at an un-godly hour and mindlessly conform to a society which is suffering from acute brain atrophy is certainly not the path to self-fulfillment. There has to be a better way. Do I have the answer? No, but at least I have recognized the problem, and surely that is the first step towards rectification.
Craig Mannelli
Replies
i agree alot with craig. but then again, it used to be worse and some still have it worse-12-16 hour workdays, no benefits,no choices as to what kind of work a person wants to do.
most jobs i've had in the past 10 years are jobs i have brought my spriitual principles to and it has helped a great deal.
i went to school and worked and still had time for friends and other enjoyments.
it took people alot of bloodshed and hunger to get to a 40 hour work week. i am thinking about the rairoad workers who rebelled against rockerfeller and gould and frick-the railroad barons at the time.
yet, i understand how a 40 hour workweek is just as stifling to craig as 80 hours was to the rail workers.
i imagine the first place to start is gratitude-for having a job, for not having to work 80 hours a week and for the opportunity to grow. once the gratitude is all encompassing, i am sure something will come along that will make craig more grateful.
Fortunately, this curse is coming down right in front of our eyes... all the debt, interest, pensions, military, government, insurance, credit, religion, media, taxes, etc...all are part of the enslavement grid and they are all going to crumble down because they can't be sustained much longer.
Now is the time to realize that our security only lies within, and once we stop giving away our power we can learn how to create consciously and manifest our every hearts desire.
Great replies...wise ones!!
;-).
Nice soft words 'Warrior, but I cannot be so confident about the self-appointed owners giving up privilege just like that. They are well capable of rebuilding their slave-based empire after a collapse.
Security within is not much good while being imprisoned for life (unless one is a saint).
How many Crew members are we in this community? And how many of us are interested in putting our heads together just to confer (as a start) about what we could do together to end this universal slavery --- even if it might take ten years? It might be a long haul because just to understand the "nuts and bolts" of the social machinery the "owners" are using will take quite a bit of determination.
Very true Janos....I'm more then interested in putting our heads together to unite in a solution, but I think the first step is to do the inner work of clearing/deleting up all the old subconscious programs that keep us trapped in lack and limitation of every kind so we can prepare ourselves for higher and better ways of living.
Once we do this we can move ahead in confidence... I just requested a bunch of books that were recommended on the website that you gave the link to, can't wait to read them...Just fascinating!
As you said, "We, the oppressed, are millions; the oppressors are a few thousand". Truly, Enough is Enough, no more letting those power brokers keep up their shenanigans, It feels like this monstrous entity is almighty and powerful, but we are the ones who keep it alive and thriving becaues we continue put up with it. But since education and all the social institutions just perpetuate the problem, it is a creative challenge..one that more people are recognizing. Their are more and more people seeing through the various institutions that enslave and suffocate us. The days for innocent ignorance seem to be numbered as the collective unconscious grows MORE conscious.
But I'm up for it as are most people that want to usher in an age of spiritual freedom and abundance for all!
Thanks, friend!
It should be noted that the 40 hour working week was something fought for very hard by workers who were exploited and forced to work very often up to 12 hours a day with little or no rights, as well as children who were forced to work. This stuff still goes on in other countries with sweatshops that work for the major corporations forcing workers to work for 12-16 hours a day, in horrible conditions, no rights, that also exploit children.
As such it should be seen that these Corporations if they could, would do much worse to the average working man than is currently being done in wealthy countries. They have simply taken their outrageous behaviour to other countries, while those in wealthy countries, though they must work 40 hour week, have it relatively good conditions in comparison.
The curse here is the Banking and Corporate objective of the wealthy 1% to control all labour on Earth, through debt, wage slavery and cyclical consumption. You are a slave that works for 40 hours a week because your labour has to be controlled at a certain price, as a commodity. This means that the Corporations can buy and sell your labour of a certain standard duration at a certain standard rate.
If people had the choice of controlling their own hours of work, then the Banks and Corporations would have no control over the labour pool, and would not be able to use you provide profit for the wealthiest 1%. Since your labour is owned by the wealthiest 1%, they dictate how long you will work and enforce it through debt, job competition, wage setting and popular consent. The Government just follows Corporate practice in this regard, since in reality, it is nothing more than a Corporate facilitator. A Corporation itself.
You have been enslaved, bought and sold, owned by Corporations and Banks who are your slave masters. Dare to fall out of line and you enter poverty and homelessness. You are a slave who has been fed the illusion of freedom. For a slave who thinks he is free will be a slave forever. The iron fist of the banking and corporate elite controls your material life. Those who are millionaires are just as much slaves to this system, and they serve to perpetuate it, to expand it, ever climbing up the pyramid, so they can join the highest the almighty wealthiest 1%. Those who work for "ethical" institutions or charities are inevitably caught up in the riptide of Corporate influence and cannot escape the all-seeing-eye.
The Almighty. The Lord of All. The Capstone of the pyramid.
The clothes you wear, the food you eat, the comforts and junk you have in your home were put there by Corporations and Banks to placate and molify you into subservience. So you will never join together and revolt. Your status and benefits depend on your support of the system. The more you perpetuate it and follow it's rules, the more crumbs you get from off the table. Your ownership of assets and property, acts as tools to divide your your fellow human beings, and if you ever fall out of line, they will take it all. The program is to acquire more and hoard, hoard, hoard. It is never enough, never.
To live a life of real freedom and have satisfying occupations, instead of mindless jobs that could easily be done by machines and serve no purpose other than to increase the profits of the Wealthy, we need to demand a change to the system. We need to put our differences aside and come together in sharing and caring to stand against the tyranny of the Banks and Corporations. Only together can we defeat them. Only in Love can we destroy this demon feeding off humanity. May we all find the courage to do so.
Nicely timed blog, and I welcomed your posted links Janosabel! I read already usefull reasons there. :)
I am now in my last fulltime workingweek, as from next weekend I want to be 'unslaved' and receive for a while the benefits from our government that I fed with taxes and duty payments. The time I win here is utmost important for my goals to investigate/repair Nature, and I have the feeling I'll be needed to assist a new wave of awaking humans. Unfortunately my parents and friends still don't get it, and are against my decision to stop working fulltime, so this blogpost is a welcome motivation.
Thanks and Love
Drome,
I am very pleased that you found supporting information through the links.
It is not easy to stand up alone when everyone else is advising you to be "sensible" and go for security at the price of being de-souled in the rat-race.
"...investigate/repair Nature..." a vitally important project
How long will be your "sabbatical"?
PS
Read also D. JoAnne Swanson's blog, and the web site where Craig Mannelli's piece appeared, and the many other web sites where a long overdue social innovation is discussed under various heading suh as Universal Basic Income, citizens Incone, Earthrights, Free Man On The Land, etc.
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