I recently came upon Greenpeace because my stepson is making a donation. I noticed that they now have a way for people to set up their own blogs. That’s cool. Whenever I find a site offering free blogs, I type ‘anarchist’ in the search to see what kinds of people set up blogs on that particular site. No anarchists probably means no serious discussions. At least, that’s what I’ve noticed. Three blogs came up when I searched on Greenpeace. One of the blogs, mmmurphy (see blog), seems to have come to a similar realization that I wrote about previously … on an individual level, we’re not doing what we need to do in order to change things.
This reminds me of a story. I worked at a grassroots anti-nuclear organization once and expressed to the executive director that I felt I wasn’t doing enough. The executive director told me that the feeling is common and I should do what I can and try to enjoy the slow times in order to rest for the fast times. I sort of nodded and said "yeah, I guess." But, I didn’t really internalize that.
When I started working again in the corporate sector, trying to help a company make money, it turns out that the above attitude of wanting to do more and feeling as though I’m not doing enough helped me rise above my coworkers because it helped me to work harder, do more, be more productive. And instead of telling me to relax and enjoy the slow times, my bosses told me to do more and work harder.
Two different experiences. Two different perspectives. Two different ways of doing things. And now, as I realize how important it is to do something, do more, work harder, risk more, I also realize that this attitude is not only valued by corporate-minded folks, but is encouraged and drilled-into people like me from a young age. It feels natural to me when I work a lot. I mean, sometimes it hurts physically or mentally, but overall it feels like it’s the right thing to do. Whether that work is profit-based or changing-the-world-based, it still feels good to work hard.
But what if working hard is a symptom of capitalism and other systems of oppression, exploitaiton, and domination? We know about the ‘rags to riches’ idea that gives U.S. partriots a strong sense of pride. Work hard and one will make more money and be happier. That’s an idea that I definitely grew up hearing. Also, the people in power benefit from me working hard to either change the world or make a profit because it prevents me from acting outside of the realm of the reality they’ve created. In other words, working hard is working hard and the powers that be like it.
So, were the hippies right? Drop out, work less, do less, just be, love one another and everything is going to be alright. I don’t know. I suspect it’s a balance between the two. In sociology, we know that one way to analyze a society is to examine the interplay between the individual and the institutions of the society. In this case, mmmurphy and myself have each experienced our lack of action on a personal, individual level. My analysis suggests that the idea of ‘working hard’ may extend beyond the individual and might be caused by a more institutional force, something larger than any one individual. It appears it may be a little of both. But I can’t help feeling that the institutional level is having a stronger impact here.