This, is what we call The System.
And the thing is, this path isn't -- at its core -- a bad thing. It's only become detrimental because it is now 'the' system.
It is uncommon for people to say they love the job they do.
It is uncommon for people to be pursuing their passion in life as a career.
It is common for people to question, re-think and fully reject the career they have chosen later in life, realising it is not fulfilling.
What is a good job? By our society's standards, a good job is the one with the highest income rate. But as we've established, money can not provide any source of happiness (SEE: http://childrenoftheawakening.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/contentment-and-why-new-shoes-wont-help.html), which most likely answers why unhappy employees outnumber happy ones by two to one*. So why do we continue to put ourselves through this system which lasts a life time, only to realise at the other end that we've achieved nothing from it? Because its 'the system'; and in this society, you can be shunned, alienated and outcasted if you don't follow it. It's not the 'norm'.
There is no denying we need many business and workforces in order for our society to function effectively. But let me ask you a question; how many of us actually know the ultimate goals of the companies we slave away for, day by day. What are they trying to achieve? To their goals match up with our visions for societies, our values, even our morals? In the most cases, not many of us actually think to question what the ultimate goals are of our companies, but they have people slaving away 9-5, five days a weeks, so they must be working towards something. The majority of people sacrifice the majority of their lives to these workforces, so it would be wise to question what exactly they are sacrificing their gift of living for. Are many of the companies even necessary, or a way to keep us busy?
As I mentioned at the beginning, the system is not necessarily a bad thing. However, it must be held in mind that it is a system, not the system. Lets change the way we view work. I want to find a good job, one that makes me happy, lets me do what I want to do, and allows me to have a positive and productive impact upon the world. Money is not my goal, happiness is. I have been given my talents and strengths for a reason; to use them, to fulfil my potential. Otherwise, we are simply letting ourselves waste away and corporations to grow stronger.
Are you really prepared to give up living to allow Ink. Co. to reach a new height of ink cartridge sales?
"And after all, if you do really like what you’re doing, it doesn’t matter what it is, you can eventually turn it – you could eventually become a master of it. It’s the only way to become a master of something, to be really with it. And then you’ll be able to get a good fee for whatever it is."
~ Matt Slick
"...if you say that getting the money is the most important thing, you will spend your life completely wasting your time. You’ll be doing things you don’t like doing in order to go on living, that is to go on doing things you don’t like doing, which is stupid. Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way."
Peace and blessings!
* http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/10/10/unhappy-employees-outnumber-happy-ones-by-two-to-one-worldwide/
I see what you're trying to get at, but I think your article misses a few major points.
ReplyDeleteFor starters, you talk about 'the system' as though the flow from primary school through to high school through to uni through internships through work is a thing that everyone does. In reality, in Australia only 16.5% of Australians ever complete a Bachelor degree, and only 9.7% ever complete an Advanced Diploma or Diploma.
You say "it's only detrimental because it's now 'the' system", which reads less like an informed opinion and more like a hipster stick-it-to-the-man pre-adult's musings.
What exactly is your point with this article? You're sort of floating somewhere between "only do what you love" and "bugger the corporations", but upon re-reading and re-reading I cannot for the life of me work out what your point is. What are you suggesting?
You then go on to say 'are many of these companies even necessary?'
Okay.. So is this about necessity or following dreams?
Because I guarantee that anyone who owns a business or created a company started with a dream and an idea, something they really wanted to do and follow.
And who are you to say any particular company is not necessary? Just because it doesn't fill a need for you, that doesn't mean that it doesn't serve a purpose for anyone else.
I fail to see how by actually working, one is giving up living. Is your point that we should refuse to do anything we don't inherently love? Whilst I am an enormous advocate for following ones dreams and doing what one loves, the society you propose is full of difficult workers with an unbased sense of entitlement unable to generate a solid income because they were told by hipster system-naysayers that there's something wrong with providing for yourself or your family any way you can. As though when you can't find any work in the particular field you love, these same people wouldn't call you lazy and to get off the government payments and go find a way to make a living for yourself.
Oh, how I'd love to live my life with the same pre-adulthood naive optimism one retains from still living at home, having not had to build a career or stand on my own two feet or even having completed uni, let alone having started it. But, alas, I cannot.