The Vicious Circle

it goes round and round and round

Work

Why is it that the norm today is basically what we called indentured servitude in years past? Think about it…We’re told from childhood to do well in school so we can get better schooling in college and then get good jobs and have more than our parents did. It’s all part of the American dream. Work hard and you’ll get what you deserve…but it doesn’t really work that way does it?

I watched my father go from being a mechanic to become a salesman in a strong niche market and he did his job well…then one day he got sick…life threatening sick. We were always told that the company is there for you and you have a job for life type things but in reality his company was self insured and his illness cost them. Not long after he was let go. The American dream was changing but no one told us.

The thought is that you work hard and the company respects that and rewards you. You get promoted …you get raises…you become a team player. The reality is that you are expendable and you will always be expendable. The company can get someone newer to the field and train them for less money….they can sub out your work…or they can just find someone willing to do it cheaper. If you are good at what you do then you have a reasonable expectation that you’ll be ok but the older you get the more you cost the bottom line and honestly there are many young people out there that can do what you do and they don’t expect as much.

With work also comes fear. We work hard and finally get to that point where we are ahead of the game….we have the new house, car, children, etc. And the company knows this and thats a double edge sword because now we don’t want to lose these things and have to work harder to maintain them. You might start to realize that your position isn’t as stable as you would like….the boss knows this….he depends on this because he needs you to be subservient. Whips are a thing of the past fear of losing those things you hold dear keeps you doing what they want.

Ok, maybe this all sounds a little Orwellian and I’m sure not all companies and bosses feel and think this way but it is the way most people find themselves at some point in their working life. You really are just a cog in the machine and when you break you can and will be replaced without any care as to your wants and needs. Most Americans are in debt and living paycheck to paycheck slugging away at the bills hoping no unexpected emergency comes up. The fear of these things keeps us rooted working too much too hard and hoping for the best hoping the unexpected never happens.

Last year my company informed me it would no longer be paying for any health insurance as it cost to much but they did give me an extra $10 a week to help me adjust. Thats right…ten dollars….forty dollars a month. You can’t get insurance for forty dollars a month…you can’t even get bad insurance for forty dollars a month. So now the $62,500 I earn a year just went down but I should be happy because this helped the companies bottom line. I am a construction Superintendent/Project manager/Carpenter/Laborer I do it all and while $62,500 might sound pretty good there are some draw backs. The first being no truck allowance. When you drive 2-3ooo miles a month it gets to be some serious money for gas and maintenance. Then there is the inevitable taxes which take a huge chunk out each week. I can hear some of you saying well go look elsewhere and get more money and a truck allowance. If you said that then you haven’t been comprehending what I’ve written. This is actually one of the better companies but they are all changing and adopting the attitude that they can get more for less with a younger work force. You can get much more with subbing out to the immigrant crews. As Americans a great deal of our life is spent working and many people don’t have much to show for it at the end of their lives and yet we keep teaching our children that this is the way…this is the American dream….work hard and you’ll be rewarded…How many of you are happy with your work?

Being an American I hear we are the best country all the time but how can that be when other countries treat their work force so much better. They have mandatory vacations of x amount of days yearly ( a friend in England has 52 vacation days a year another has 46 in Italy) Many countries have workable universal health care, and sadly for us most countries work less hours than the average American. Maybe I’ve become jaded or just bought into too much but it’s time to change some things Life shouldn’t be about work and things it should be about being happy and enjoying this wonderful world we live in not just dreaming about it and hoping one day to see it.