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Posted by Seth Hoffman on Apr 20, 2021
When I was a child, I would feel disappointed when my parents would drop me off at daycare because they had to go to WORK. My Dad works long hours. When he gets home from driving a UPS truck until sundown to sit on the couch, and talk about the not so great things that happens at work. Although my Mom only worked three days a week, her 3-12 hour shift in the Emergency Room, proved to be so mentally, emotionally and physically exhausting that by the time she recovers from her shifts, it was time for her to go back to work. She would often be in tears because according to her, she cannot stand seeing people suffer and die and she cannot do anything about it. On the average, people spend about 90,000 hours of their lives working. Why does work have to consume people’s lives? Are working toward owning a huge home, society’s perceived way of life band wagon more important than actually “living or having a life?” Does our chosen field of work give meaning to our existence? Or should we dig deeper and seek a deeper meaning in our existence so a divine power will direct us to the path that we are supposed to take?
The dictionary defines work as “an activity which is done exclusively for the sake of something worthwhile; doing solely as a means to some externally desired end.“ Based on this definition, work Is an accepted part of life. Generations of children witness adults compelled to toil to survive to meet families’ basic needs. In today’s society, where technology, capitalism and progress sets the pace for everyone’s desired lifestyle, the main driver for work, to me, are most often meaningless wants. I struggled to write this essay. I am a young man, going to college with the purpose of ultimately finding work in my chosen field. Dropping a class today because I was failing it was quite discouraging. Is this current path I am in where I am really supposed to be? In this paper I would like to focus my discussion on labor and work and how it relates to humans and their relationship with nature; and labor as a means to explore how today’s progress has dictated human relationships. I am hoping to process my own existence and my purpose through this introspection.
Laborem Exercens was written by Pope John Paul II in 1981. He stated: “ I wish to devote this document to human work and, even more, to man in the vast context of the reality of work. … Work is one of these aspects, a perennial and fundamental one, one that is always relevant and constantly demands renewed attention and decisive witness.” Because work is the foundation of family life, of people’s existence so that they can provide, the Pope’s message aim to remind us that human labor should not only be looked at from an economic perspective. Work has to be seen as a privileged expression of humans, who have been created in God’s image. In a complex society, human greed: consumerism, capitalism has cast a shadow over the real purpose of human work.
Man and Work
“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.” Genesis
God has given mankind the entire world and all its resources and has endowed us with intellect and reason so we can transform and adapt nature to meet our needs for survival and experience fulfillment. Over many centuries humans have utilized nature for human purposes. The forests, oceans, mountains, all the living creatures, have helped forge human progress to where it is today. The Earth is a gift that humans should be looking after and not pillaged and treated with indifference when it has served its purpose. The earth’s natural ecosystems have been exploited by man. Many forests are left without trees, mountains have been left hollow, excavated to mine precious metals, animals that are responsible for the balance in our ecosystem are becoming extinct. Natural resources in otherwise self- supporting countries are being exported including agricultural products, that third world countries can no longer support the basic needs of its people. A prime example of this are Asian countries. In feature in National Georgraphic, Asian countries rank as one of the top producers of agricultural, forest, fishing, mining, and industrial products. Asia’s timber industry have fallen victim to illegal logging and timber smuggling, rendering Asian countries as having some of the worst deforestation rates in the world. Capitalists from other countries dominate this exchange of goods, bringing more wealth to the wealthy, the poor hungry and worst of all, negative environmental impacts such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, acres of barren land. The “throwaway culture” carries with it consequences that has resulted to piles of things, objects that pollutes our cities and oceans. The ladder mentality no longer fits in today’s world. For humans to survive, the Pope refers to the symbiotic, synergistic relationship between the Earth and humans. The feature Home, sends an imperative message that survival of humans depends upon the thoughtful co-existence of humans and nature. Man in order maintain harmony and balance, has to re-experience and observe Mother Earth as a valued gift that has to be nurtured, just as nature has fostered the existence of humankind.
Humans and its Association with Human Labor
One of the most interesting truths in Laborem Excersens explained the objective and subjective aspect of work. The objective sense, refer to the external aspects of work, the actual job one does, how this labor is being sold to the employer, (possessor of capital). With the necessary tools or machines, labor is perceived as a merchandize, the end result of work, and what it can provide, money, product, prestige. The objective view of work leads to materialism, economism, capitalism where humans are exploited in terms of wages, working conditions, benefits etc. The subjective dimension of work: the work, itself, is considered as an activity of the human person. Laborem exercens reminds us that “[a]s man, through his work, becomes more and more the master of the earth, and as he confirms his dominion over the visible world, again through his work, he nevertheless remains in every case and at every phase of this process within the Creator’s original ordering. And this ordering remains necessarily and indissolubly linked with the fact that man was created, as male and female, ‘in the image of God’.”
Some of the challenges that we face in today’s fast pace, technology founded, capitalism driven world that resonates with my are disparities in employment opportunities and the consequences of technology.
In any societal doctrine, each worker have to be treated with dignity and respect. Production and capital a mere instruments of labor and should not dictate labor practices. The Pope calls for the solidarity of laborers and the creation of laws and policies that protect the rights and welfare of workers. Opportunities for basic training and education should be provided to all so everyone will stem from an equal playing field. Social structures in society are inevitable, but responsible governments can offer those without trust funds an education that will inspire their thirst for learning or training in their chosen vocations. The world today is laden with venture capitalists and highly patronized corporation that thrive from outsourced cheap labors and laborers, humans who are sold and trafficked, threatened and retaliated upon, restrained, coerced, and discriminated. In the midst of our own selfish agendas, have we taken the time to actually ponder on who put together the cellphones, and Ipads that we cannot live without? The Pope mentions today’s mentality stem from the thoughtless acceptance of what a fully utilitarian culture that does not care for waste. Not valuing labor as it is supposed to has lead to the worsening “social, ethical and moral degradation of humans” and the money god that now dictate how humans should live has replaced family time, simple living and enjoyment of what is free and available: nature and human relationships.
The Pandemic should have given us all a wake- up call. As a negative consequence of how we have been living our lives, how we have been indifferent to our environment, and how we all have lost focus on what are the most important things in life, the economic struggles, the isolation, death and suffering the world has faced has brought about a new light to how life is supposed to be lived and how the reality of losing what one has worked so hard for.
During the Pandemic, everyone was in the same predicament:
· Everyone can potentially get sick and die.
· Everyone, has to isolate and quarantine.
· Everyone who used to work can no longer, and are forced to interact with their children, and family members 24/7, in one household.
· People whose jobs and responsibilities were most often overlooked were recognized based on their roles and contribution to society: the cook and baker, the grocer, the trash collector, the delivery men and women, post office worker, front line health care workers. These workers, are now seeing the subjective view of their worth, they contribution to society. The only experience that was available for families are their relationships with other family members, nature, and technology. Work can no longer be an excuse not to interact with people in your household.
· Work, which most often was the cause of physical and mental stress, realized how much work dictated the way they lived vs how they should live.
· Those who did not value health, now considers physical and mental health as priorities for survival vs material things.
· Technology, that has always been perceived as a blessed benefit of progress, has shown its good, bad and ugly. “Technology “can cease to be man’s ally and cane become an his enemy, as when the mechanization of work ‘supplants’ him, taking away all personal satisfaction and the incentive to creativity and responsibility, when it deprives many workers of their previous employment, or when, through exalting the machine, it reduces man to the status of its slave.”
During the Pandemic, the internet, provided inconsistent information that crippled many people in fear, hiding out in their homes. Those who are already suffering from mental and physical illness further isolated themselves and were dancing to the tune played by media outlets. Having no other source of entertainment, kids get sucked into the fake realities presented by social media stars and bloggers. Sitting for hours in front of a technological appliance, is now the new norm. Generation Z, can no longer communicate unless via text or email, their happiness dependent on social media likes, but worst of all,
Kids now a days no longer want to go to school, play sports or work. Being a virtual gamer, youtuber, blogger is now almost every kid’s life long dream.
Technology has also made us all vulnerable to security threats that can potential wreck havoc to someone for the rest of their lives. Our information are being sold to marketers whose businesses prey on human weaknesses. Technology, which was conceptualized as a tool for labor is slowly but surely taking over human lives; technology, according to the Pope is associated with a “paradigm of power, dominance, and manipulation,” and we are allowing ourselves to be hypnotized, helpless victims.
In Conclusion, God expects us to use our “talents” to care for ourselves, and our families, and the common good. This mandate also means using our own work to help others be more productive and to always be vigilant to not disregard or diminish the work of others. The indifference of humans, sacrificing connections with others, or working without consideration for one’s mental and physical health, working for the sole purpose of material things; lack of judgment therefore trampling and exploiting laborers for material gain; the lack of awareness and respect for the contribution of others; allowing technology and materialism to drive our progress will leave the future generation at an ethical, moral loss compromises our happiness and survival. Because work is personal and therefore ethical, the delicate balance the subjective and objective view of work, dictates for us to recognize that although “man is destined for work and called to it, in the first place work is “for man” and not man “for work and that “work is work with others and work for others.” This means that people should be “judged above all by the measure of the dignity of the subject of work, that is to say the person, the individual who carries it out; independently of the work that every man does, and presupposing that this work constitutes a purpose.
As someone who continues to struggle to find meaning and purpose in life, I realize that being a student, an athlete, a son, a friend, a brother, a grandson, a classmate, I too, engage in toil. I may fail and fall numerous times, suffer from rejection, disappointment and hurt. What drives me as a human, after writing this paper is the realization that living is a process. Work is one aspect of living. Every learning moment that I am experiencing will give rise to opportunities for interaction, relationships that will allow me grow as a future IT professional. Provided with moral and ethical direction, I should be able to find a healthy balance between work and living, improve my life as well as the lives of others. Better yet, I am slowly granted the insight on what my central purpose is: recognize my strengths and talents, own and develop them; work toward a meaningful contribution to society, acknowledge the contribution of others; and always, give back to others and conscientiously nurture Mother Earth.