I was amused, in a “oh for fucks sake” way today when I found out that over 80% of workers experience anxiety on Sunday, thinking about return to work on Monday.
Then on Monday heart attacks spike. Thirteen to twenty-five percent higher than normal depending on the study.
Work is anything you do due to coercion. If you wouldn’t do the job if you didn’t need the money, then you’re being coerced by what Max called the whip of hunger. (These days also homelessness.) This is different from being a hunter-gatherer: nature didn’t deliberately set up a system where if you don’t work you die, it’s accidental. And hunter-gatherers are famous for not working when they have a surplus. (To be fair this is partly because it’s hard to store surplus, but many such societies actually forbid creating large private surpluses, as they understood where that leads.)
Now work because it’s truly necessary is fine, but as we all know, and as the late Graeber pointed out, something close to half of jobs are “bullshit jobs”. They either don’t need to be done, or they make the world actively worse. (That would include 90% of people working in finance, for example.)
What Graeber found is that people with “real” jobs, even janitors, might be unhappy, but they were a lot less unhappy than those in bullshit jobs making equivalent wages, because at least they felt like their job really needed to be done.
But this is a pattern that goes beyond jobs. The suicide pattern of teenagers is instructive: suicides drop a lot during summer vacation.
They also dropped during the Covid shutdowns, which I predicted at the time.
Because school sucks. You spend all day doing boring things that teacher tells you to. In the US at least you don’t even learn much, with massive rates of illiteracy because you aren’t really being taught (if that was the goal, it could be achieved much faster and more effectively) you’re being conditioned to do what your told, when your told, to give teacher what they want in the way teacher wants, and to keep your mouth shut when not called on.
You’re being turned into a good little wage slave. It takes years of coercive conditioning to make humans willing to put up with wage slavery and creating those people is the job of schools and teachers. Professors put the finishing touches on those who will wind up being senior wage-slave supervisors or otherwise entrusted with minor bits of power and expected to use it in the interests of the masters.
Adults have heart attacks because work sucks so much. Kids kill themselves.
We created this, as a species. We did this to ourselves. Is there truly no better way we can come up with?
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spud
but but bill clinton said the era of big government is over, and the freeing up of capitalism from the new deal, fair deal, GATT and the great society, means all will get rich and happy. and from nafta on wards we do not need to make anything at all, just manipulate paper and be self reliant. we now see the toll.
Farm workers in Mexico often face poor working conditions, including a lack of access to clean toilets, which can lead to them having to relieve themselves in the fields. This situation highlights the labor abuses that agricultural workers endure while harvesting crops like cilantro.
The World from PRX
Working Conditions for Farm Workers in Mexico
Poor Sanitation Facilities
Farm workers in Mexico often endure harsh working conditions, particularly regarding sanitation. Many laborers lack access to clean toilets and handwashing facilities. This deficiency forces them to relieve themselves in the fields, which can lead to serious health risks, including contamination of crops.
Labor Abuses
The situation reflects broader labor abuses within the agricultural sector. Workers face not only inadequate sanitation but also other challenges such as:
Low Wages: Many workers receive minimal pay for their labor.
Unsafe Working Environments: Conditions can be hazardous, with little regard for worker safety.
Debt and Exploitation: Some workers are trapped in cycles of debt due to inflated prices for necessities at company stores.
Impact on Food Safety
The lack of proper sanitation facilities contributes to food safety issues. For instance, fecal contamination has been linked to outbreaks of illnesses like cyclosporiasis in the United States, traced back to contaminated cilantro from Mexico. This highlights the urgent need for improved labor conditions and sanitation practices in the agricultural industry.
The World from PRX
Farm workers in Mexico face increased risks of infections and gastrointestinal illnesses due to inadequate sanitation and lack of clean toilets in fields. These conditions can also contribute to broader public health concerns when contaminated produce enters the supply chain.
PBS SoCal nchcureca.com
Labor laws in Mexico aim to improve working conditions for farm workers by strengthening access to labor and social protection rights. The government, along with international organizations, is implementing programs to ensure fair and decent working conditions, particularly for the vulnerable agricultural wage workers.
jointsdgfund.org apha.org
Alternatives include state-led sanitation rules and OSHA field sanitation standards requiring potable water, toilets, and handwashing facilities within a quarter-mile of workers, along with worker education on hygiene and facility maintenance.
dol.gov United Press International
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its socialism or barbarism, take your pick.
Feral Finster
“And hunter-gatherers are famous for not working when they have a surplus. (To be fair this is partly because it’s hard to store surplus, but many such societies actually forbid creating large private surpluses, as they understood where that leads.)”
I’ve not heard of any society that forbids creating surplus (as opposed to giving it away) , but predators also are seen as “lazy” when they are fed, when in fact, we are conserving energy.