The Labor Burden?

How many truly great jobs do you believe there are out there? Not just how many types of great jobs do you know, but what percentage of the population occupies something you would truly consider to be a great job. Something you could see yourself doing 40+ hours a week, joyfully.

I'll admit, I am a bit jaded in that area because I held two "great jobs" (according to others) and was bored to tears in both of them. The current one is also fairly decent but definitely not something I enjoy 40 hours a week. My performance is on point, I get along with my boss and co-workers, but the idea of going to an office 5 days a week around 40ish hours simply feels like too much to not get bored of it and eventually perhaps even detest it.



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The vast majority of the planet are not born and maintained rich. As such, the vast majority has to work for a living.

If we agree that most people on Earth work because they have to for survival, then how free is humanity? Obviously, having a 9-5 is not the equivalent of actual slavery, but it is work that is indirectly mandatory for the individual. Sure, you can quit a job or two you do not like, but eventually, unless you are otherwise taken care of financially, you will have to buckle down and labor. It should be noted, buckle down and labor for a large percentage of your lifespan if you are the average person.

So, how much of the population would you say are doing something they hate, simply because they have to for $$, and how many are actually, truly, enjoying a great and fulfilling career?

I should add, I fully believe those jobs exist as I know a couple people fortunate enough to occupy them, but I am wondering what percentage of total global employment great careers actually make up, and how much of it is just people busting their ass to survive.

 

If so many people hate/dislike their jobs is it more likely that they are all just ungrateful or that working repetitive tasks 40+ hours a week under supervision tends to generally suck?

That might be confusing two things. If your job is horrible then logic dictates that you do not love it. The fact that it's keeping you from poverty is pleasing. Your job is still horrible, you just accept it because of the money paid in return. This is the reason why every shitty job being done on the planet is being done - people need money to survive.

 

I think you misunderstand where I'm coming from. Obviously I am talking about 1st world "problems" here and obviously people in poorer countries and shittier jobs have it shittier. I've witnessed plenty of that first hand so I don't have a problem seeing that those of us in the 1st world have it easier. The same can be said in comparison to prior generations who had to work in arguably worse conditions for less pay. I don't want to go down the path of "others have it harder, therefore we're golden!" thinking.

What I am saying, strictly from a 1st world, if-you-could-have-it-fully-your-way, is that the vast majority would not choose to keep returning to the same place and activity over and over and over if they didn't have to because of bills and survival. Therefore, it is not a chosen or preferred way of spending time but one we are forced into.



Like I said earlier, I have no problem seeing that this is not the case for every person on the planet, which brings me to my initial question: How many truly good and enjoyable jobs are there out there. Fulfilling careers, something people would choose to do at least part time even if they had all the money in the world.

I rather agree with Plasma's breakdown further up in the posts where a good 90% are busting their ass to survive. Survival, obviously meaning something else in the 1st world than in developing countries.

 

I like this.

I grew up on Star Trek TNG and remember at like age 7 being fascinated by the fact that in their universe humanity had abandoned the old model of jobs and money and is more focused on fulfillment and honing yourself as best as possible
> full time <.

 

Thanks man,



I should point out that I've been gainfully full time employed for the last 10 years directly out of college so this isn't a couch potato rant. On the contrary, I am writing this precisely because of experiences made at work. My own and others around me.



I should also point out that it is obvious that at the current stage of humanity we won't be waking up tomorrow and finding out that labor needs have been magically abolished. This is at best the pondering of an idea of a what if...


I'm a bit at philosophical odds with labor, strictly speaking from a first world perspective where we have it good enough where we have the luxury to stop and think about it. This is mainly pertaining towards the attitude we seem to have towards work. This is due to literally thousands of observations I've made over the years, so take it as my subjective view if you will.


Having worked with thousands of people in the corporate world over the past decade, and several blue collar jobs throughout high school and college, my general impression was that the vast majority of people do not enjoy their job. At best they tolerate it because it pays the bills or has good benefits. The jobs are being kept out of necessity far more than out of professional passion and enthusiasm. You see this when people are fired. The family father of 4 who just got canned is not devastated and
contemplating suicide because he won't get to talk to Bob and Jim at the water cooler. His family depended on the job.



There are obviously a great deal of amazing jobs out there. At least it seems so from the outside looking in on them. Aside from the obvious, like rock star or athlete, there are people who became famous and wealthy by just doing their hobby. The list goes on, but I question for how long actually? How many of those amazing jobs are out there and what percentage of the population occupies them? I agreed with the scale someone outlined further up in the posts about some 90% doing grunt work.
Even if I'm wrong by a large margin, say 40%, it would still put us at half the population doing shit they hate, just to pay the bills.
This seems like a naturally imposed global oppression, something we as a species need to overcome. I say oppression to a varying degree since the cubicle warrior is nowhere as oppressed as the kid digging for diamonds so he may eat tonight.



Don't worry die hard right wingers, I don't want YOUR money. I'm saying the system needs to not so much depend on it and what IT demands, but that's a separate discussion. Point is, I don't want anything from you.



The conversation tends to often go into "we have it so much better than other countries!" which is an obvious fact I've experienced first hand over decades. I wonder how many middle class commuters stuck in traffic from work for an hour are still thrilled, at that moment, because they're not in Africa.


Yes, we are more free than those who came before, having had to work far harder, longer, or even be enslaved. My point is, if there is a scale where slavery is at 100, we are not at zero quite yet.

Being property: Off the table, cool.
Labor to death: Off the table, cool.
Not getting paid: Off the table, cool.
Not having rights : Off the table, cool.
Not having to work: Off the table by a large margin but not completely.

Finally, work related stress and stress related illnesses have significantly gone up in the US over the past decade. https://www.officevibe.com/blog/infographic-stress...
so again, how many people are actually having a "good job" out there?


Conveniently, a new pharmacy seems to be popping up around every corner.

 

You are right to point out the necessity that demands labor. This is why I said it's not going to magically disappear over night.
Part of my point was that we have to do the work, for obvious reasons like self sustenance and survival. We are clear on why people are working for the most part.

As far as our landmarks in history and the development of more efficient means of labor goes, the same applies. We look back fondly on accomplishments, as we can and should nevertheless, for every "landmark" and amazing discovery and invention, there are thousands of people who simply grunt worked out a major chunk of their life span. Often, if not mostly for meager pay in a mindless, repetitive, sometimes hazardous environment. Most know who Andrew Carnegie was and what he did. One man with one name. What no one knows is who the tens of thousands of workers were who worked in his steel mills or on his railroad projects under difficult circumstances and shoddy pay. We might be looking back on his accomplishment but not on theirs. He, the one, had the great career and his name is known. They, the thousands, had grunt work and faded into obscure history.




I was focusing on the fact that precisely because of the necessity, call it nature or the way we do trade, the vast majority of humanity doesn't get to choose whether they want to participate in this very lengthy endeavor. People generally do not want to dig ditches, clean bathrooms, sit in cubicles, or whatever other typical disliked profession comes to mind. While I'm sure there are exceptions like with anything else, the people I dug ditches in college with hated their job. The people I worked in a supermarket with during high school, generally disliked their job. The people I worked with in my first two corporate jobs, who had far better benefits and salary than the first two groups mentioned, absolutely hated their job and alcohol and anxiety drugs were frequently consumed because of it.

These are obviously personal examples, so never mind my own biased stance, but if we ask ourselves, do people generally enjoy having a boss and dealing with said boss? Do people generally wake up at 6am on a Monday morning and feel thrilled about what's about to happen? Do people generally carelessly let the clock hit 5 on Friday afternoon, or do they count down the minutes so they can get the hell out?


This is where a "good" and "responsible" citizen tells us that's just "what we do", and expressing a dislike for labor is an unacceptable move. This is particularly so because it is immediately linked with welfare and living free off of someone else's dime, which I am obviously not advocating for. I am not advocating for anything other than perhaps a more honest attitude concerning labor in general regarding how many truly fulfilling jobs there are VS how many necessity-dictated grunt gigs the majority of society has to labor under.

Recently, I've picked up on a few well off celebrities, mostly actors and comedians talking about how getting a "real job" would be just the worst thing. Granted, they were usually surrounded by like minded friends, but there was a general consensus that having a 9-5 would be a terrible standard of living. Not just because it does not pay as well, but because it was kind of understood to be a bad way to have to go through life from their perspective. The interesting part was, these were generally people who all came from a blue collar background and who did work regular jobs before making it big. Meanwhile, agree with it or disagree (most will disagree), but much of today's 1st world youth simply do not want a regular job, but only to either strike it big or get a glorious career. Yes, celebrity worship is part of the equation, but not wanting to punch the clock for 40 of your best weekly hours is a part as well.

So as I said a couple times, I'm not advocating anyone quit their job today and go out into the streets protesting. I did however want to raise a conversation about what percentage of humanity is working fulfilling careers and what percentage is simply working because they have to. If we agree that a large percentage is working out of sheer necessity, then how free are we really if 40+ of our very best weekly hours belong to an activity we would not be doing if nature and circumstance were not forcing us to?